Rheinsberg

Rheinsberg, on the Grienericksee about 100 km northwest of Berlin, is built around Rheinsberg Palace, a Frederician Rococo residence that served as a design basis for Sanssouci. Crown Prince Frederick — later Frederick the Great — lived here before his 1740 accession and called these his happiest years; he later gave the palace to his brother Prince Henry. The palace's literary fame comes from Theodor Fontane's Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg and especially from Kurt Tucholsky's novella Rheinsberg, and the building now houses a Tucholsky literature museum alongside the palace museum. Since 1991 it has also hosted the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, an international opera festival for young singers held every summer in the palace theatre, courtyard, and open-air Heckentheater.

Rheinsberg is reachable by regional train (with a change) and by road from Berlin, about 100 km northwest.

The lakeside town centre is compact and walkable, with the palace and its park at its heart.

Rheinsberg Palace (Schloss Rheinsberg) — the Frederician Rococo residence on the Grienericksee, with its palace museum and Kurt Tucholsky Literature Museum.

Touring the palace and its park, and — in summer — attending the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg opera festival, are the main activities.

• Berlin — Germany's capital city, reachable by regional train
• Nearby towns in Brandenburg — explore the surrounding region