Baroque palace in Berlin-Pankow: summer residence of a Prussian queen, later GDR state guest house and site of the Nazi campaign “Degenerate Art”.
July 9, 2026 – October 31, 2026
Archaeological finds trace 350,000 years of climate history from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, and show how earlier societies adapted to extreme weather and what we can learn from this.
Countess Sophie Dorothea zu Dohna had a first palace built in the 1660s; around 1690 it was completely rebuilt for Elector Friedrich III. Queen Elisabeth Christine, wife of Frederick the Great, shaped the site most strongly; she used the house as a summer residence from 1740 to 1797, for more than five decades. The stuccoed great hall (Festsaal) on the upper floor is Berlin's only original surviving room design of the late Rococo.
During the Nazi era, from 1938, the palace served as a depot for around 3,750 works of confiscated “degenerate art”, which were to be sold abroad for foreign currency. After 1945, Schönhausen became the official seat of GDR President Wilhelm Pieck and remained the highest government building until 1964; from 1964 to 1990 it was a state guest house where, among others, Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev stayed. During the Peaceful Revolution, negotiations on German unification took place here.
Since 2005, the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten (SPSG) has cared for the palace. The permanent exhibitions show the layers of the building's history from the Rococo to the GDR, as well as, in five rooms, the palace's role in Nazi art policy.
| Adults | €8 |
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| Reduced | €6 |
| Groups | –Group bookings via the SPSG group service (gruppenservice@spsg.de, 0331 9694-222). |
| Families | €16Family ticket Schloss Schönhausen: 2 adults and up to 4 children up to the age of 18, valid for one day for this palace only; sold at the palace cash desk. |
Free admission for holders of the SPSG annual pass, and for holders of the Berlin Youth Card / European Youth Card (valid June 12 – October 31, 2026 and April 1 – October 31, 2027; registration at eyca.org).
The palace is wheelchair-accessible; there is an elevator, accessible toilets and lockers. Assistance dogs are welcome. The free “SANSSOUCI” app offers tours also in German Sign Language, in Easy Language, and for blind and visually impaired visitors.
| Family ticket | €16 · Family ticket Schloss Schönhausen: 2 adults and up to 4 children up to the age of 18, valid for one day for this palace only; sold at the palace cash desk. |
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With the family ticket (€16), up to 2 adults and 4 children up to age 18 can visit the palace on one day.
Tschaikowskistr.
Stop “Tschaikowskistr. (Berlin)”.
Parking available
Parking spaces are limited.
Tour buses should approach via Ossietzkystraße (a bicycle street, open only to residents).
Get directionsMuseum shop in the palace. Lockers for small pieces of luggage (up to 35 × 35 × 50 cm) in limited numbers. The Café Sommerlust in the palace garden (Tschaikowskistraße 1 / Am Westtor) is nearby.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
| Guided tours | yes |
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| Audio guide | yes (DE, EN) |
| Good to know | From April to October, the palace can only be visited on a guided tour from Tuesday to Friday, while Saturdays and Sundays are individual visits; from November to March, visits are guided, and there may be waiting times. The free multimedia app “SANSSOUCI” offers two tours (a walk-through and “Kunst – Menschen – Macht”, Art – People – Power); bring your own headphones, as no loaner headphones are available. |
