posted 08-12-2003 01:51 PM
hiSome info on castles/ palaces around Berlin you can find on www.spsg.de the organisation who administrers the old royal Prussian/ imperial German Castles and Palaces. Besides the welknown palaces in Potsdam, they own the charming not so well known small castle of Königs Wusterhausen, which is not so far from Berlin. It was originally a medieval castle. It was the favourite haunt of Frederick William I, who used it as a hunting lodge and held his famous Tabakskollegium or "tobacco round" here. http://www.spsg.de/index_132_en.html
Another nice palace of them near Berlin is Oranienburg, a palace built by princess of orange who married one of the electors of Brandenburg http://www.spsg.de/index_129_en.html
Further of Berlin but certainly very nice and worth a journey is Rheinsberg (in my mind is this probably the nicest one to visit with a group of 250 people, it is has a great park, the palace is charming and not so well known, like the palaces of Postdam). Once built for Crown Prince Frederick (later Frederick the Great). Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff took over the planning of the U-shaped building from the architect Johann Gottfried Kemmeter. After his accession, Frederick gave the palace to his brother Prince Heinrich in 1744, who lived there for 50 years. http://www.spsg.de/index_128_en.html
On http://www.reiseland-brandenburg.de/pages/schloss.html you can find a map of the brandenburg state, which indicates where the castles are around Berlin.
http://www.maerkischeallgemeine.de/kulturportal/?loc_id=76 contains a list of castles and palaces in Brandenburg in German.
[This message has been edited by ipflo (edited 08-13-2003).]