1.
Berlin
–
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
2.
Museum Island
–
Museum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln. The Neues Museum finished in 1859 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt under the direction of David Chipperfield for the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and re-opened in 2009. It exhibits the sculpture collections and late Antique and Byzantine art, the Pergamon Museum, the final museum of the complex, constructed in 1930. It contains multiple reconstructed immense and historically significant buildings such as the Pergamon Altar, in 1999, the museum complex was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. A first exhibition hall was erected in 1797 at the suggestion of the archaeologist Aloys Hirt, in 1822, Schinkel designed the plans for the Altes Museum to house the royal Antikensammlung, the arrangement of the collection was overseen by Wilhelm von Humboldt. The island, originally an area, was dedicated to art. Further extended under succeeding Prussian kings, the collections of art. They are today maintained by the Berlin State Museums branch of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Museum Island further comprises the Lustgarten park and the Berlin Cathedral. Between the Bode and Pergamon Museums it is crossed by the Stadtbahn railway viaduct, the adjacent territory to the south is the site of the former Stadtschloss and the Palace of the Republic. These include the Priams Treasure, also called the gold of Troy, excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1873, then smuggled out of Turkey to Berlin and today kept at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Then, six months later, Peter-Klaus Schuster took over and set in motion a far more ambitious program intended to turn Museum Island into a Louvre on the Spree. The federal government pledged $20 million a year through 2010 for projects to enhance Berlins prestige and Unesco declaring the island a World Heritage Site. The contents of the museums were decided on as follows, The Pergamon, with the Greek altar that gives it its name, the Neues Museum presented archaeological objects as well as Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures, including the renowned bust of Queen Nefertiti. The Altes Museum, the oldest on the island, displayed Greek and Roman art objects on its first floor, the Bode Museums paintings went from Late Byzantine to 1800. And, as now, the Alte Nationalgalerie will cover the 19th century, the James Simon Gallery, a $94 million visitors’ center designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, is being built beside the Neues Museum. It will in turn be linked to the Neues, Altes, Pergamon, once the Museum Island Master Plan is completed, the so-called Archaeological Promenade will connect four of the five museums in the Museum Island. The Promenade will begin at the Old Museum in the south, lead through the New Museum, before World War II, these museums were connected by bridge passages above ground, they were destroyed due to the effects of the war. There have never been plans to them, instead, the central courts of individual museums will be lowered
3.
Berlin Palace
–
The Berlin City Palace was a royal and imperial palace in the centre of Berlin, the historical capital of Prussia, and subsequently Germany. It was located on the Museum Island at Schlossplatz, opposite the Lustgarten park and it was the winter residence of the Kings of Prussia and the German Emperors. In 2013 work started on reconstruction and a part of the exterior of the palace has been rebuilt, the completion is expected in 2019. The palace was built in the 15th century and changed throughout the next few centuries. It served as a residence to various Electors of Brandenburg and it was the principal residence and winter residence of the Hohenzollern Kings of Prussia from 1701 to 1918. After the unification of Germany in 1871, it was also the residence for the German Emperors. It became a museum following the fall of the German Empire in 1918, the palace was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II. Although it could have repaired, the palace was demolished in 1950 by the German Democratic Republic authorities. Following the reunification of Germany, it was decided to rebuild the exterior of the palace in the original style except for one side. The new building will have the cubature of the former palace, the interior will be modern, but the facades of one of the courts will be in the original style. However, the floorplan has been designed to allow potential future reconstruction of notable historical rooms, the building will house the Humboldtforum museum and congress complex, and is scheduled to be finished 14 September 2019. The palace replaced an earlier fort or castle guarding the crossing of the Spree river at Cölln, the castle stood on Fishers Island, as the southern end of the Museum Island in the Spree is known. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth, Margrave and Prince Elector of Brandenburg, at the completion of the castle in 1451, Frederick moved there from the town of Brandenburg. The castle also included a chapel, in 1454 Frederick II, after having returned via Rome from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, made the castle chapel a parish church, richly endowing it with relics and altars. Pope Nicholas V ordered Stephan Bodecker, then Prince-Bishop of Brandenburg and this collegiate church became the nucleus of todays Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, adjoining the site of the castle. In 1538, the Margrave Joachim II demolished the palace and engaged the master builder Caspar Theiss to build a new, after the Thirty Years War, Frederick William, the Great Elector, embellished the palace further. In 1688, Nicodemus Tessin designed courtyard arcades with columns in front. Not much is known about the alterations of 1690–1695, when Johann Nering was the court architect, martin Grünberg continued the alterations in 1695–1699
4.
Kitchen garden
–
The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. Most vegetable gardens are still miniature versions of old family farm plots, but the garden is different not only in its history. The kitchen garden may serve as the feature of an ornamental, all-season landscape. It is a source of herbs, vegetables and fruits, the kitchen garden has year-round visual appeal and can incorporate permanent perennials or woody shrub plantings around the annuals. A potager is a French term for a vegetable or kitchen garden. The historical design precedent is from the Gardens of the French Renaissance, often flowers and herbs are planted with the vegetables to enhance the gardens beauty. The goal is to make the function of providing food aesthetically joyful, plants are chosen as much for their functionality as for their color and form. Many are trained to grow upward, a well-designed potager can provide food as well as cut flowers and herbs for the home with very little maintenance. Potagers can disguise their function of providing for a home in an array of forms—from the carefree style of the cottage garden to the formality of a knot garden. A vegetable garden is a garden that exists to grow vegetables and other plants useful for human consumption and it is a small-scale form of vegetable growing. A vegetable garden typically includes a compost heap, and several plots or divided areas of land, plots may also be divided into rows with an assortment of vegetables grown in the different rows. It is usually located to the rear of a property in the garden or back yard. Many families have home kitchen and vegetable gardens that they use to produce food, in World War II, many people had a garden called a victory garden which provided food and thus freed resources for the war effort. With worsening economic conditions and increased interest in organic and sustainable living, food grown in the back yard consumes little if any fuel for shipping or maintenance, and the grower can be sure of what exactly was used to grow it. Organic horticulture, or organic gardening, has become popular for the modern home gardener. There are many types of vegetable gardens, the potager, a garden in which vegetables, herbs and flowers are grown together, has become more popular than the more traditional rows or blocks. The herb garden is often a space in the garden. These gardens may be informal patches of plants, or they may be designed, even to the point of arranging and clipping the plants to form specific patterns
5.
Kingdom of Prussia
–
It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more known as Frederick the Great. After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles and it was because of its power that Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful states, Prussia and Austria. The North German Confederation which lasted from 1867–1871, created a union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent. The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, the German Empire lasted from 1871–1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony. This was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power. Prussia is considered the predecessor of the unified German Reich. The Kingdom left a significant cultural legacy, today notably promoted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, in 1415 a Hohenzollern Burgrave came from the south to the March of Brandenburg and took control of the area as elector. In 1417 the Hohenzollern was made an elector of the Holy Roman Empire, after the Polish wars, the newly established Baltic towns of the German states including Prussia, suffered many economic setbacks. Many of the Prussian towns could not even afford to attend political meetings outside of Prussia, the towns were poverty stricken, with even the largest town, Danzig, having to borrow money from elsewhere to pay for trade. Poverty in these towns was partly caused by Prussias neighbors, who had established and developed such a monopoly on trading that these new towns simply could not compete and these issues led to feuds, wars, trade competition and invasions. However, the fall of these gave rise to the nobility, separated the east and the west. It was clear in 1440 how different Brandenburg was from the other German territories, not only did it face partition from within but also the threat of its neighbors. It prevented the issue of partition by enacting the Dispositio Achillea which instilled the principle of primogeniture to both the Brandenburg and Franconian territories, the second issue was solved through expansion
6.
Thirty Years' War
–
The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
7.
Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau
–
Louise Henrietta of Nassau was a Countess of Nassau, granddaughter of William I, Prince of Orange, William the Silent, and an Electress of Brandenburg. Louise Henriëtte was born in The Hague, the eldest daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and she grew up at the court of her father, the Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel. Louise Henriëtte had to abandon her love for Henri Charles de La Trémoille, Prince of Talmant, son of Henry de La Trémoille, however, attempts to conclude an engagement with King Charles II of England came to nothing. Finally she was forced to marry Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, the couple lived in Cleves for the first years of their marriage, but they moved to Brandenburg, Frederick Williams seat, in 1648. During her marriage, Luise Henriette followed her spouse and traveled between The Hague, Königsberg, Berlin and Cleves on campaigns, inspections, war and battle fields in Poland and she acted as her husbands political adviser and was described as a pragmatist. She managed, through correspondence with the Queen of Poland, Marie Louise Gonzaga and it was said of her, Few Electresses had been allowed so much influence. Luise Henriette had a new castle in Dutch style built in Bötzow in 1650-52 and called it Oranienburg and she was also involved in the design and development of the Lustgarten in Berlin. In 1663, she installed the first porcelain cabinet in Europe, in 1665, she founded an orphanage with places for 24 children. She was described as kind and gentle with a sharp intellect, her advice was vital for her spouse. During time of war, she made efforts to soften the damages upon society. A Protestant religious community known as the Luise-Henrietten-Stift in nearby Lehnin Abbey was named after her, with Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, she had six children
8.
Frederick William I of Prussia
–
Frederick William I, known as the Soldier King, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death, as well as the father of Frederick the Great. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel and he was born in Berlin to Frederick I of Prussia and Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. During his first years, he was raised by the Huguenot governess Marthe de Roucoulle and his father had successfully acquired the title King for the margraves of Brandenburg. During his own reign, Frederick William I did much to centralize and he replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, established schools and hospitals, and resettled East Prussia. The king encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times, in short, Frederick William I concerned himself with every aspect of his relatively small country, planning to satisfy all that was needed for Prussia to defend itself. His rule was absolutist and he was a firm autocrat and he practiced rigid, frugal economy, never started a war, and led a simple and austere lifestyle, in contrast to the lavish court his father had presided over. At his death, there was a surplus in the royal treasury. He intervened briefly in the Great Northern War in order to gain a portion of Swedish Pomerania, Frederick Williams reforms left his son Frederick with the most formidable army in Europe, which Frederick used to increase Prussias power. The observation that the pen is mightier than the sword has sometimes been attributed to him, although a highly effective ruler, Frederick William had a perpetually short temper which sometimes drove him to physically attack servants at the slightest provocation. His violent nature was further exacerbated by his inherited porphyritic illness, Frederick William died in 1740 at age 51 and was interred at the Garrison Church in Potsdam. The coffins were discovered by occupying American Forces, who re-interred the bodies in St. Elisabeths Church in Marburg in 1946. The original black marble sarcophagus collapsed at Burg Hohenzollern—the current one is a copper copy and his eldest surviving son was Frederick II, born in 1712. Frederick William wanted him to become a fine soldier, as a small child, Fritz was awakened each morning by the firing of a cannon. At the age of 6, he was given his own regiment of children to drill as cadets, the love and affection Frederick William had for his heir initially was soon destroyed due to their increasingly different personalities. Frederick William ordered Fritz to undergo an education, live a simple Protestant lifestyle. However, the intellectual Fritz was more interested in music, books and French culture, as Fritzs defiance for his fathers rules increased, Frederick William would frequently beat or humiliate Fritz. Fritz was beaten for being thrown off a horse and wearing gloves in cold weather. After the prince attempted to flee to England with his tutor, Hans Hermann von Katte, the enraged King had Katte beheaded before the eyes of the prince, the court declared itself not competent in this case
9.
Pariser Platz
–
Pariser Platz is a square in the centre of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the Unter den Linden. The square is named after the French capital Paris in honour of the anti-Napoleon Allies occupation of Paris in 1814, Pariser Platz is the square immediately behind the Brandenburg Gate when approaching the centre of Berlin from the Tiergarten in the west. The neo-classical Brandenburg Gate was completed in the early 1790s by Carl Gotthard Langhans, until 1814 the square was known simply as Quarré or Viereck. In March 1814, when Prussian troops along with the other Allies captured Paris after the overthrow of Napoleon, during the last years of World War II, all of the buildings around the square were turned to rubble by air raids and heavy artillery bombardment. The only structure standing in the ruins of Pariser Platz was the Brandenburg Gate. After the war and especially with the construction of the Berlin Wall, when the city was reunited in 1990, there was broad consensus that the Pariser Platz should be made into a fine urban space again. The embassies would move back, the hotel and arts academy would be reinstated, under the rules of reconstruction, eaves heights had to be 22 meters, and buildings had to have a proper termination against the sky. Stone cladding was to be used as far as possible, interpretations of these constraints, however, have varied to a great extent. The following is a partial list of buildings and structures on Pariser Platz, working anti clockwise from the Brandenburg Gate, Brandenburg Gate Haus Sommer, used by Commerzbank U. S. The S-Bahn station was opened in 1936 with the name Unter den Linden and was closed in 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall and it reopened on September 1,1990. The square itself is closed to traffic, but is served by local bus lines nearby. In Pariser Platz - design and construction of town square in Berlin, Germany, by Anne Vyne, in The Architectural Review, Pariser Platz - Interactive 360° Panorama
10.
Napoleon
–
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
11.
Altes Museum
–
The Altes Museum is a museum building on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 2010-11, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums, the museum building was built between 1823 and 1830 by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the neoclassical style to house the Prussian royal familys art collection. The historic, protected building counts among the most distinguished in neoclassicism and is a point of Schinkels career. Until 1845, it was called the Königliches Museum, along with the other museums and historic buildings on Museum Island, the Altes Museum was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. In the early century, Germanys bourgeoisie had become increasingly self-aware. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia was a proponent of this humboldtian ideal for education. The crown prince even sent Schinkel a pencil sketch of a large hall adorned with a classical portico, Schinkels plans incorporated the Königliches Museum into an ensemble of buildings, which surround the Berliner Lustgarten. The Stadtschloss in the south was a symbol of power, the Zeughaus in the west represented military might. The museum to the north of the garden, which was to provide for the education of the people, stood as a symbol for science and art—and not least for their torchbearer, the self-aware bourgeoisie. Schinkel had developed plans for the Königliches Museum as early as 1822/23, construction was completed in 1828 and the museum was inaugurated on 3 August 1830. In 1841, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV announced in a royal decree, in 1845, the Königliches Museum was renamed the Altes Museum, the name it holds to this day. The royally appointed commission, which was responsible for the conception of the museum and this precluded the incorporation of ethnography, prehistory and the excavated treasures of the Near East, instead, these artifacts were primarily housed in Schloss Monbijou. With the completion of the Neues Museum by Friedrich August Stüler in 1855 and this was followed by the Nationalgalerie by Johann Heinrich Strack, the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum by Ernst von Ihne after plans by Stüler, and the Pergamonmuseum by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann. Thus Museum Island evolved into the institution it is today, during National Socialism, the Altes Museum was used as the backdrop for propaganda, both in the museum itself and upon the parade grounds of the redesigned Lustgarten. Following Schinkels designs, the murals of the rotunda were restored in 1982, however, neither the ornate ceilings of the ground floor exhibition rooms nor the pairs of columns under the girders were reconstructed. The Altes Museum was originally constructed to house all of the collections of fine arts. However, since 1904, the museum has housed the Antikensammlung, since 1998, the Collection of Classical Antiquities has displayed its Greek collection, including the treasury, on the ground floor of the Altes Museum. Special exhibitions are displayed on the floor of the museum
12.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
–
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings and his most famous buildings are found in and around Berlin. Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of Brandenburg, when he was six, his father died in the disastrous Neuruppin fire of 1787. He became a student of architect Friedrich Gilly and his father, David Gilly, after returning to Berlin from his first trip to Italy in 1805, he started to earn his living as a painter. When he saw Caspar David Friedrichs painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog at the 1810 Berlin art exhibition he decided that he would never reach such mastery of painting, after Napoleons defeat, Schinkel oversaw the Prussian Building Commission. From 1808 to 1817 Schinkel renovated and reconstructed Schloss Rosenau, Coburg and he also rebuilt the ruins of Chorin Abbey. He believed that in order to avoid sterility and have a soul, a building must contain elements of the poetic and the past and his most famous extant buildings are found in and around Berlin. He also carried out improvements to the Crown Princes Palace and to Schloss Charlottenburg, Schinkel was also responsible for the interior decoration of a number of private Berlin residences. Later, Schinkel moved away from classicism altogether, embracing the Neo-Gothic in his Friedrichswerder Church, Schinkel died in Berlin, Province of Brandenburg. Schinkel, however, is noted as much for his theoretical work and these and other designs may be studied in his Sammlung architektonischer Entwürfe and his Werke der höheren Baukunst. He also designed the famed Iron Cross medal of Prussia, with essays by Kurt W. Forster and Wolfgang Pehnt, ISBN 0-86559-105-9. Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-88221-866-4, die Geschichte vom Leben und Sterben des Baumeisters Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Christoph von Wolzogen, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Unter dem bestirnten Himmel, edition Fichter, Frankfurt 2016, ISBN 978-3-943856-33-0. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Schinkel, Karl Friedrich, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, The Last Great Architect. Prefatory essay from Collection of Architectural Designs including those designs which have been executed and objects whose execution was intended by Karl Friedrich Schinkel
