- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1559 · 16th century
- Style
- Renaissance architecture
- Architect
- Rocco Guerrini, Francesco Chiaramella de Gandino
- Coordinates
- 52.5410°, 13.2126°
History
The citadel was built from 1559 to 1594 for Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg on the site of a medieval castle, to designs by the Italians Francesco Chiaramella da Gandino and Rochus Guerrini, Count of Lynar. The Julius Tower and a Gothic hall survive from the earlier castle. During the Napoleonic Wars the French took the fortress without a fight, and the Prussians recaptured it after a siege in 1813. From 1874 to 1919 the Julius Tower held the Imperial War Treasure in gold coins, drawn from French war reparations. Under the Third Reich army laboratories for chemical warfare agents operated here, and since the 1990s the citadel has been a cultural centre and museum.
What to see
The square fortress with four bastions is surrounded by a moat and the waters of the Havel, entered through a gate with a 19th-century gatehouse. The Julius Tower offers views over Spandau. The exhibition “Unveiled” shows Berlin monuments removed from their pedestals, including a giant head of Lenin. In winter thousands of bats hibernate in the casemates and can be watched in a special room.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q206211
Popularity: articles about this site in 21 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).