Schloss Rheinsberg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

Where the palace stands today, there was a moated castle in the Middle Ages. In 1566 the von Bredow family had a Renaissance-style water palace built, which suffered badly during the Thirty Years' War. In 1734 King Frederick William I bought the estate and gave it to his son, Crown Prince Frederick. Between 1736 and 1740 the crown prince had the house expanded by Kemmeter and Knobelsdorff into an early example of Frederician Rococo; Antoine Pesne painted the ceiling in the Hall of Mirrors. Frederick later called the Rheinsberg years the happiest of his life.

In 1744 Frederick gave the palace to his brother, Prince Henry, who lived here from 1752. He had the house and garden remodeled in the style of early Classicism and cultivated a court of the muses. Georg Friedrich von Boumann and Carl Gotthard Langhans supplied designs, including for the staircase and the Shell Hall. After Henry's death in 1802 the palace remained in Hohenzollern hands and was accessible as a memorial to Frederick the Great; Theodor Fontane and Kurt Tucholsky made Rheinsberg known through literature.

After 1945 the palace served in the GDR as a sanatorium for diabetics. Today it belongs to the SPSG and, after extensive restoration, is a museum again. The rooms show the original decorations from around 1740 and the Classicist finishes of about 1786, supplemented by paintings and decorative arts. The ensemble also includes the Kurt Tucholsky Literaturmuseum and, in the Kavalierhaus, the Musikakademie (music academy) with the palace theater.

Highlights

• Hall of Mirrors with ceiling painting by Antoine Pesne
• Restored room decorations from the time of Crown Prince Frederick (around 1740)
• Early Classicist rooms of Prince Henry (around 1786), including the Shell Hall
• Summer apartment of Prince Henry (April to October)
• Location on Lake Grienericksee with the Lustgarten pleasure garden

Permanent exhibitions

• Grand Tour Rheinsberg – Tour through the restored rooms from the time of Crown Prince Frederick (around 1740) and Prince Henry (around 1786), with paintings and decorative arts.
• Sommerappartement des Prinzen Heinrich – Additional part of the visit, included only with the summer ticket (April to October).

Operated by

Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG)

Admission & discounts

Winter (January to March, November to December): €10, reduced €7, valid for the Grand Tour and the Kurt Tucholsky Literaturmuseum. Summer (April to October): €14, reduced €10, also including the summer apartment of Prince Henry. Free admission for, among others, children under 7, people with a disability of GdB 100 (companion admitted free with marker B/H), holders of a press card and of the palace annual pass; groups are exempt from these rules. Reduced: pupils, students, trainees, BFD/FSJ, people with a GdB of 50 or higher, recipients of ALG I.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: not available
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Accessible inside by elevator and step-free from outside via a mobile ramp; a stairlift is available. There are threshold steps between the exhibition rooms, and the palace courtyard with cobblestones is only partly passable by wheelchair. Handrails on all stairs; seating available to borrow. Guest toilet reachable step-free (door width 91 cm, grab bars). Assistance dogs welcome; the multimedia tour is also available in Leichte Sprache (plain language).

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Stroller-friendly: not available

Family rally with the palace backpack (April–October, Tue–Sun, €3 plus admission), regular children's tours for ages 5 to 10, an app tour for children aged 6 to 9, and family tickets. For conservation reasons, strollers may not enter the exhibition rooms.

Getting there & parking

By bike via the junction signposts of the Ruppiner Seenland ("Radeln nach Zahlen", cycling by numbers).

Amenities & dining

• Lockers

Lockers for small luggage (up to 35 x 35 x 50 cm) in limited numbers; for safety reasons, luggage may not be left in the entrance area.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Rentable spaces include the Hall of Mirrors, the palace courtyard, the hedge theater and the palace kitchen; inquiries to eventlocations@spsg.de.

Plan your visit