Charlottenstrasse

Since you’ll be walking down Charlotte Street for the next several hundred meters, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you a bit about the queen behind the name. Her husband Frederick, whom we’ve mentioned several times already, was the Elector of Brandenburg before crowning himself King of Prussia in 1701. Not to be confused with their son, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, who would later become the first official King of Prussia. The subtle difference in phrasing can really make all the difference here. But anyway, let’s get back to Charlotte, who, like many other queens, had a significant influence on her country and was an important figure of the Prussian court. Renowned for her contributions to the arts, music, and sciences, she was the one who commissioned the construction of the famous Charlottenburg Palace, a magnificent example of Prussian Rococo and Baroque architecture. Initially, she had a summer residence built, where she would invite poets, musicians, philosophers, and other artists to join her. Expanded and embellished over time, Charlottenburg became Berlin’s most prestigious palace. If you’d like to visit, it’s about 6 kilometers west of the Brandenburg Gate and you can easily take public transport to get there. Once you’re there, you’ll also see a beautiful park designed by one of the royal gardeners of the Palace of Versailles in France, as well as a royal mausoleum, a belvedere housing a collection of porcelain, a pavilion filled with Romantic-era paintings,and an elegant greenhouse-like structure called an orangery, where classical concerts are performed by musicians dressed in period costumes. Queen Charlotte’s street runs through the historic Mitte district, showing you significant elements of Berlin’s heritage. As for us, continue straight ahead until you reach Schützenstrasse.