From an electoral hunting lodge to a royal summer palace—Sophie Charlotte’s “Court of the Muses”
The original building, a small palace named Lietzenburg or Lützenburg, was erected between 1695 and 1699 not far from the village of Lietzow, which was one Brandenburg mile (about 7.5 kilometres) from the centre of Berlin. It was commissioned by Electress Sophie Charlotte, the second wife of Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg, who in 1701 declared himself “King Frederick I in Prussia”. In its modest dimensions, based on Dutch exemplars, this little summer residence, built to the plans of Johann Arnold Nering, accorded with her wishes for a rural retreat away from the official court life of the City Palace in Berlin. However, once she had been elevated to the status of first “Queen in Prussia”, she decided that the little Lietzenburg no longer adequately reflected her new position. Extensive enlargements based on the designs of the Swedish architect Johann Friedrich Eosander culminated in a splendid Baroque threewing complex in line with the latest French taste.