Schloss Köpenick (English:Köpenick Palace) is aBaroque water palace of theHohenzollern electors ofBrandenburg which stands on an island in theDahme River surrounded by an English-style park and gives its name toKöpenick, a district ofBerlin.
The castle was originally built on the foundations of a Slavic castle (6th century) in 1558 as a hunting lodge by order ofElector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg. The building in aRenaissance style was located on the river island at the site of the former medieval fort. Joachim II died here in 1571. In 1631 it served as the headquarters of KingGustavus Adolphus of Sweden, where he - without results - asked his brother-in-lawElector George William for assistance in theThirty Years' War.
Frederick I of Prussia had the lodge rebuilt and enlarged from 1677 and lived here together with his first wifeElizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel. In 1730Frederick II of Prussia, then Crown Prince, and his friendHans Hermann von Katte faced the court-martial for desertion at Schloss Köpenick. Today the castle surrounded by a small park serves as theMuseum of Decorative Arts, run by thePrussian Cultural Heritage Foundation as part of theBerlin State Museums.
Since 1963, Köpenick Palace has been used by the Kunstgewerbemuseum as an exhibition space. Being renovated in 2004, the palace accommodates museum of arts with the permanent exhibition "RoomArt", featuring the decorative arts of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods. The museum also presents the outstanding masterworks in interior design from the 16th to 18th centuries.
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52°26′38″N13°34′22″E / 52.44389°N 13.57278°E /52.44389; 13.57278
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