Built by Elector Friederich III in 1699 as a summer palace for his wife Sophie Charlotte, this regal estate, the largest palace in Berlin, is framed by a baroque-style garden.The grandest of Berlin’s surviving royal pads consists of the main palace and three smaller buildings dotted around the lovely palace park. The Schloss has origins as the summer residence of Sophie Charlotte, wife of King Friedrich I, and was later enlarged by Frederick the Great. Highlights include opulently furnished private royal apartments, richly festooned festival halls, collections of precious porcelain and paintings by French 18th-century masters and lots of silver, vases, tapestries and other items representative of a royal lifestyle.The palace's oldest section, the Altes Schloss, is an extravaganza in stucco, brocade and overall opulence. Highlights include the Oak Gallery, a wood-panelled festival hall draped in family portraits; the lovely Oval Hall with views of the gardens; Friedrich I’s bedchamber, with the first-ever bathroom in a baroque palace; and the fabulous Porcelain Chamber, smothered top to bottom in Chinese and Japanese blue ware.