Biesdorf Palace

Schloss Biesdorf was built in 1868 and 1869 to plans by Heino Schmieden and Martin Gropius as a late-neoclassical tower villa on a T-shaped floor plan. Its signature feature is the octagonal tower at the southeast corner, with a copper roof and a belvedere, which gives the building the air of an Italian villa. The property changed hands repeatedly over the decades: in 1887 Werner von Siemens acquired the estate, then about 1,500 acres (600 hectares), and handed the villa to his son Wilhelm two years later. In 1927 the land passed to the city of Berlin.

On the night of April 20 to 21, 1945, fire severely destroyed the building, and the exact cause has never been established. Restoration took decades to arrive: after an initial facade repair from 2002 to 2007, the building was fully reconstructed between 2013 and 2016 at a total cost of around 8.5 million euros. Today the palace serves as the municipal gallery and cultural venue of the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district, with exhibitions of contemporary art and a focus on art in public space.

Around the building stretches the Schlosspark Biesdorf, roughly ten acres (four hectares), originally designed by the garden architects Eduard Neide and Albert Brodersen. It is freely accessible, with old trees and wide lawns that make for an easy walk. The natural pairing is a loop through the quiet park followed by a look at the rotating exhibitions inside. If you want a version of Berlin away from the tourist hot spots, this is a green, unhurried corner in the east of the city.