Old Palace, Berlin


The Old Palace, also called Kaiser Wilhelm Palace, is a former Royal Prussian residence on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1834 to 1837 by order of Prince William of Prussia, who later became German Emperor William I, according to plans by Carl Ferdinand Langhans in Neoclassical style. Damaged during the Allied bombing in World War II, the Old Palace was rebuilt from 1963 to 1964 as part of the Forum Fridericianum. Since then, the listed building has been home to the Law Faculty of the Humboldt-Universität.

History

The Prussian crown prince Frederick William hired his favourite architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel to design a memorial complex for Frederick the Great. However, after being disappointed with the expensive plans of Schinkel, he accepted the modest concept of the architect Carl Ferdinand Langhans in Neoclassical-style. As the construction of the palace was completed in 1837, the then crown prince William I began using the building as his residence until his death in 1888.
The palace was built with a pergola, a mezzanine and a vestibule.