For over 50 years it was the summer residence of Prince William, later German Emperor William I and King of Prussia and his wife, Augusta of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German Empress and Queen of Prussia.

[1] The building, designed in the English Gothic revival style, was built in two phases over the period 1833–1849.

The contract to plan the palace was given to the architects Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was in charge of the works until his death, in 1841, Ludwig Persius and Johann Heinrich Strack.

On 22 September 1862 in the palace and adjoining park the discussion between King William I of Prussia and Otto von Bismarck took place that ended with the nomination of Bismarck as Minister President and Foreign Minister of Prussia.

The palace is administered by the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg.