Schloss Tegel

Schloss Tegel stands in Berlin’s Reinickendorf district as a country house beside Lake Tegel. The estate once belonged to the Elector of Brandenburg before becoming the Humboldt family home in 1766. Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt spent their childhood there, and later Wilhelm rebuilt the house between 1820 and 1824 with designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The building still belongs to their descendants, the Heinz family, who keep it as a private residence. A small museum inside displays items linked to the Humboldts and is open for guided tours in summer. The park around the house was shaped first by the Humboldts’ tutor, Gottlob Kunth, from 1777 to 1789. Wilhelm later worked with Peter Joseph Lenné to expand the gardens, and the whole park gained monument protection in 1983. Near the lake grows the ‘Dicke Marie’, an oak said to be about eight centuries old. Close to the house lie deep lakes, and in the park stands a tall granite column topped by Bertel Thorvaldsen’s statue of Spes. The column marks the tomb of Wilhelm’s wife Caroline and is framed by a simple stone bench. Visitors walk through the classical house and its grounds to see the Humboldt family’s private museum. The park offers paths beside the lake and past ancient oaks and formal lawns. Near the house the deep lakes reflect the columns and tombs, while the graves of Wilhelm, Alexander and their descendants lie in orderly rows. The column with the Spes statue stands at the heart of the burial ground, surrounded by the quiet garden where the family once gathered.