Köpenick: a palace on an island and the “green lungs” of Berlin
Abstract
Not surprisingly, the name "Köpenick" itself has Slavic roots and means "Island area." In 1245, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, after the six-year-long Teltow war against the Margraviate of Meissen, captured the fortress of Köpenick. Köpenick Palace Maurice Tricatelle / Shutterstock The Köpenick Palace is located in the old town area on Schlossinsel, which has a bridge connecting the island to the mainland. Köpenick Town Hall Copula / Shutterstock The Köpenick Town Hall was founded in 1905 for the independent city of Köpenick. The town hall is located in the heart of the old town with its pretty streets, the church and the Köpenick Palace. The new town hall of Köpenick became world famous exactly one year after its opening, when the unemployed shoemaker Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, dressed in a captain's uniform, arrested the mayor of the city, Georg Langerhans, and appropriated the city treasury. The Captain of Köpenick Mo Photography Berlin / Shutterstock In front of the Köpenick Town Hall there is a monument to "The Captain of Köpenick." In truth, Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt was not a captain at all; he was an East Prussian shoemaker and a grandiose swindler. The musical, telling the story of "The Captain of Köpenick" is successfully staged at the local town hall and at the famous Admiralspalast Theatre in Berlin.
