Crown Prince's Palace

Crown Prince's Palace at Unter den Linden boulevard was a residence of the ruling Hohenzollern house of Prussia. Today it serves as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events.

Crown Prince's Palace (Kronprinzenpalais) next to the Staatsoper, located along Unter den Linden boulevard overlooking Bebelplatz and the adjacent Princesses' Palace (Prinzessinnenpalais) are impressive town palaces, the former residences of Hohenzollern royal family members. The Prince's Palace was converted from a townhouse by Philip Gerlach in 1732, to become a town palace for Crown Prince Friedrich, the future Friedrich the Great (1740-1786). It remained a royal residence until 1918 when the Hohenzollern dynasty came to an end. The Crown Princesses' Palace – today's Opera Café immediately to the right of the Staatsoper had been built for the daughters of Friedrich Wilhelm III (1797-1840) in 1811 with an extension, the attractive covered bridge, connecting it to the Princes' Palace. The present building is the 1969 reconstruction by Richard Paulick.

Crown Prince's Palace architectural features

Major alterations to the Crown Prince's Palace took place 1856-57 under Johann Heinrich Strack. The original sloping roof was replaced by a third floor and the façade was embellished. Amongst the most impressive features are the colossal pilasters, the columned portico, and thick entablature with classical ornaments. In 1859 Wilhelm I, the first German Kaiser, was born here. Among the features preserved from the original 1733 townhouse are the outdoor staircases, the balcony, the ionic columns ad the attic balustrade.

Crown Prince's Palace was home to the world's first permanent contemporary art collection

After the end of the Hohenzollern dynasty in 1918, the Prince's Palace was transformed into the Fine Art Department of the National Gallery housing the world's first permanent contemporary art collection. It is said to have influenced the foundation of MOMA in New York. From 1919 to 1937 paintings by Oskar Kokoshka, Otto Dix and Paul Klee were amongst the collection. This was also the Berlin venue for the controversial "Entartete Kunst" or "Degenerate Art" exhibition, to use the Nazis' term. The Nazis' aesthetic sense clashed with the avant-garde of the 1920s and 30s, especially expressionism, and the regime responded by mocking and then closing down the exhibition in 1937.

German reunification agreement was signed in Crown Prince's Palace

The building was shattered by WWII bombardments but was rebuilt in the 1960s by the GDR State under Richard Paulick's direction and during the GDR days it provided accommodation for distinguished foreign dignitaries including Indira Gandhi. The formal German reunification agreement was signed here on August 31, 1990.