With nine paintings from all of the artist's creative phases, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG) owns one of the world's largest collections of works by Caspar David Friedrich, whose 250th birthday is being celebrated in 2024.
The paintings are all exhibited in their own room in the New Pavilion of Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace. Friedrich's development into one of the most important - if not the most important - artist of German Romanticism is closely linked to the Prussian royal court: After all, it was the 15-year-old Crown Prince Frederick William (IV) who asked his father King Frederick William III to acquire the pair of paintings ‘Monk by the Sea’ and ‘The Abbey in the Oakwood’ (now on display at the Alte Nationalgalerie) for him in 1810, thus helping the artist to make his breakthrough. Over the course of the 19th century, the royal family acquired further works by Friedrich and even in the 1970s, the (West Berlin) Palace Administration was able to expand its collection of paintings by the famous Romantic artist.
We invite our visitors to rediscover Friedrich's works in our collection.
