Schloss Britz

Schloss Britz is the historic manor house of the former village of Britz in Berlin's Neukölln district. Originally built as a half-timbered house in the 16th century, the estate was converted into a solid stone house in the early 18th century. Over the centuries the property changed hands several times, with owners including prominent Prussian statesmen such as Count Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, who had the interiors decorated with wall and ceiling paintings. In the 19th century the estate passed into private middle-class ownership before the architect Carl Busse transformed it between 1880 and 1883 into a grand country house in the Neo-Renaissance style. This remodeling gave the building its present palace-like appearance, complete with a stair tower and stately interiors. After it was sold to the City of Berlin in 1924 and underwent a comprehensive restoration in the 1980s that returned it to its 1883 state, the palace is now home to the Schloss Britz Cultural Foundation.

In the faithfully reconstructed rooms, you can experience the domestic culture of the Gründerzeit, Germany's period of rapid industrialization in the late 19th century. Alongside its permanent exhibition, the museum hosts changing special exhibitions, readings, and concerts. Overnight rooms on the upper floor are used by the Neukölln district as guest rooms. The adjoining manor farm, with its historic 19th-century farm buildings, houses further cultural institutions, including the Museum Neukölln and the Paul Hindemith Music School. The architecture of the farm buildings is marked by unplastered brickwork in the Italian rural villa style of the Schinkel school.

The roughly 300-year-old manor park covers about 1.8 hectares (around 4.4 acres) and is known for its old trees and winding network of paths. Originally laid out as a Baroque kitchen and pleasure garden, it took on its current look largely in the late 19th century. Besides lindens, horse chestnuts, and beeches, the park is home to Berlin's oldest ginkgo tree. A particular highlight is the copy of the famous Milkmaid bronze figure, which is based on a fable by Jean de La Fontaine. Immediately nearby is the Horseshoe Estate (Hufeisensiedlung), a pioneering example of modernist urban planning and architecture that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.