Contact Data

Description

The 67 hectares big Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island), acquired by Frederick William II. in 1793, is characterized by a very old tree population of about 400 oaks. Johann August Eyserbeck, Peter Joseph Lenné, and Ferdinand Fintelmann accentuated them with the traffic pattern and the grouping of the groves. Visible over a long distance is the white castle built in 1794, with its characteristic towers and the bridge connecting them. From here, one surveys the river Havel to Glienicke, the Neue Garten and Sacrow, and finally the white ruins of the dairy, the aviary, and the water birds´ pond at the centre of the island. The dairy was erected in 1795 as ruinous monastery grounds in a neo-Gothic style, as an optical counterpart to the castle on the other side of the island. It is an expression of the cult for naturalness of that epoch. Here, cows were held, and there was some dairy farming. Opposite to the former rose garden – the earliest ever in Prussia, which was restored in 1989 – (between castle and Castellan´s House), stone pedestals and beds with historical foliage plants refer to the Palmenhaus (House of Palms), which was destroyed by a fire in 1881.

Opening hours

Monday -Wednesday

10:00 - 18:00

Thursday

10:00 - 21:00

Friday -Sunday

10:00 - 18:00

Categories

Category

Visual Arts

Institution type

Museum