Bellevue Palace
Germany's sitting president works here — and the ballroom was designed by the same architect who built the Brandenburg Gate.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Berlin offline.
Erected in 1786 for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Bellevue was the first Neoclassical building in Germany and has been the official presidential residence since 1994. Its 20-hectare park runs along the Spree's north bank, placing it steps from the Victory Column and the Großer Tiergarten.
What to look for
- Corinthian pilasters across the main facade — the defining mark of its status as Germany's first Neoclassical building
- The two named flanking wings: the Ladies' wing and the River Spree wing
- The upper-floor ballroom, the only room retaining its original 1786 decoration, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans — architect of the Brandenburg Gate
Located in Tiergarten along the Spree, near the Berlin Victory Column — combine with a walk through the park.
Bellevue Palace is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Berlin, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Berlin pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Berlin
- Berlin WallBuilt to keep citizens in, not enemies out — and the death strip of anti-vehicle trenches and beds of nails makes that intent impossible to misread.
- Brandenburg GateFor 28 years a wall sealed it shut — now you walk straight through.
- ReichstagA fire in 1933, a battle in 1945, a dome in 1999 — you walk inside Germany's working parliament.
- Berlin Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion)Designed for the 1936 Olympics and still hosting European finals — the bowl has barely left the world stage.
- Pergamon MuseumThe Pergamon Altar and the collections of the Vorderasiatisches Museum once filled this hall — closed since 2023, with the North Wing returning in 2027.
- Fernsehturm BerlinA 368-metre Cold War statement that outlived the government that built it — and now stands for the city that absorbed it.