SCHLOSS PARK | reflections

On a chilly day in February I set out by bike to visit Schloss Park in Pankow, in the north of Berlin. I was looking for statues of royalty as part of my research to find more statues of women.

I thought one of the queens or other female royalty might be represented in stone here, as this was used as a home or summer home for the Prussian royalty.

Queen Elisabeth Christine, wife of Frederick the Great (1715-97), actually took up residence there while her husband lived in Potsdam. According to Wikipedia he initiated the separation maybe in part because it appeared he wasn’t interested in women.

Of course, there were probably portraits done but no statues. What I found in terms of statues was this young boy by a reflection pool where Koi (large Japanese goldfish) were sleeping in the icy water.

He and the pool might have been placed there as part of garden landscaping by the court gardener Peter Joseph Lenné who updated the landscape design from 1827 to 1829. Lenné also did the redesign of Tiergarten from hunting grounds to a landscaped area full of pathways, bridges and open spaces. The Tiergarten design was done in 1833.

The property became public after the end of the monarchy in 1920 and was used for public art exhibitions. During the Nazi time “degenerate art” was stored here. In 1960 the GDR government converted the palace to a state house and later an official guest house for political visitors including Indira Gandhi and Fidel Castro.

The palace is now open as a museum, but I just visited the grounds which are now also open to the public – to wander, bike through, practice tai chi and yoga, or just spend time and relax.