Tom`s travels: Rheinsberg Palace (04/09/2022)

On a sunny Sunday, our friend Miriam, Ania, and I decided to take Miriam's car and drive to the town of Rheinsberg and visit its famous castle. The ride was just over an hour, and after reaching the destination we parked the car in a parking lot close to the town's main monument. From there we then walked through part of its lovely laid-out garden, entering by the southern gate. A small bridge then led to the castle proper, located on a small island, surrounded by the park and on the eastern shore of the Grienericksee. The castle, which is actually more of a palace, is a classic example of the so-called Frederician Rococo architecture style and served as a basis for Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. Originally, a medieval moated castle used to stand on its spot, then rebuilt in 1566 as a water castle in the Renaissance style. After being damaged during the Thirty Years' War, it was then sold the following century, in 1734 to the Prussian king, Frederick William I, who, in turn, gave it to his son, Crown Prince Frederick, later King Frederick the Great. Frederick the Great moved into the palace's southern wing with his wife, Princess Elisabeth Christine in 1736 and had then the structure considerably extended and improved in the following years. Frederick himself described his years at Rheinsberg Palace as the happiest of his life but he then had to leave in 1740 when he ascended to the throne. His brother Henry inherited the building having it further worked on until it got its present neoclassical aspect. After reaching the castle we admire its elegant architecture from the side facing the lake which opens up towards it and with two flanking towers. We enjoyed the nice view of the palace and the lake and then proceeded to visit the interior of the building. We bought the entry ticket and then went on to visit the many rooms with the restored original Frederician interior decoration from the mid-18th century. We passed through some really impressive rooms, many of which were also important such as the Hall of Mirrors, the Shell Hall, the bedrooms of the monarchs, and others. The rooms were also decorated with furniture and decor from the palace's period, including some nice paintings and tapestries. On the ground floor was also an interesting vaulted room with scenery inspired by Italian palace grottoes. After the visit to the interior, we then headed back out, and walked a little more through the lovely gardens, reaching the western side of the lake from where we had a picturesque view of the palace reflecting on the waters. Here was also a tall obelisk on a low-sloping hill facing the castle, erected in 1790 by Henry to honor his brother Prince Augustus William of Prussia and other generals and soldiers who had fought during the Seven Years' War. From this nice viewpoint, we then headed back to the palace and walked around it and then on through the town grown around the building. We stopped for ice cream and then decided it was time to go back to Berlin.