Monbijou Palace - Residence of Queens

Residence of Queens

From 1712 the little palace served as the summer residence of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, who in 1706 married Frederick William I of Prussia, the son and successor of Frederick I. Both she and her father-in-law are attributed with naming the palace "Monbijou", from the French mon bijou (“my jewel”). In 1717 tsar Peter the Great of Russia and his court lodged at Monbijou for two days while traveling abroad. According to contemporary reports, the Russian guests left the property in “a complete mess” after their departure. Dorothea’s son, Frederick the Great, had the palace modernized and considerably enlarged as soon as he had acceded to the throne. His architect, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, superintendent of all royal buildings and architect of Sanssouci, had new extensions and outbuildings erected which extended the original size of the grounds by several times on the Spree river side. In 1742 the “Berlinische(n) Nachrichten” reported that the keys had been turned over to the queen mother, which “delighted her immensely”. Dorothea spent the summer months at Monbijou, giving formal dinners, masquerade balls and concerts there, pleasures she had long done without under the Spartan reign of Frederick William I. The palace had its own jetty, since the court members often preferred to arrive in comfort via the waterways instead of being jarred over rough roads.

The palace was long uninhabited after the death of Queen Sophie Dorothea in 1757. In 1786 it became the chief residence of Queen Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, who had been humiliated by her husband, King Frederick William II of Prussia (popularly known as “Der Dicke Lüderjahn”, ca. “the portly voluptuary”) because of his girth and his numerous affairs and two official morganatic marriages. She died at Monbijou in 1805. After that, the palace had outlived its usefulness as a residence for members of the court.