William Thirteen explores art and artifice in ‘Prussia’s Arcadia’…
‘On Rabbit Island neither the merest tree nor bush may ever be felled again!’
With this bold edict in 1793 Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II took possession of a small island in the Havel river, erected a fairy tale castle for his favourite mistress and re-christened it Pfaueninsel. While he disported himself here among the peacocks for only two short summers before dying in 1797, Friedrich’s royal proclamation initiated a playful discourse between untamed nature and carefully cultivated artifice—between illusion and reality—which can still be enjoyed today.
Following his father’s footsteps, Friedrich Wilhelm III and royal wife Luise welcomed life on the island as a romantic retreat, far from the stresses of courtly life in Berlin and the endless battles with Napoleon.
The Pfaueninsel was soon identified with the beloved Prussian queen and after her death a heartbroken Friedrich built a temple to her memory here. On one of our rare and recent sunny days I hazarded a journey beyond the Ringbahn to wander among the unfelled oaks and enjoy the ambiance and artifice of ‘Prussia’s Arcadia’.
Peacocks go free
After the thirty minute journey by S-Bahn out to Wannsee I hopped a bus for the short ride to the Pfaueninsel ferry landing, the only entrance to the island. Crossing the narrow channel takes less than five minutes but, as a protected nature reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site, access to the island’s flora and fauna is carefully controlled—no dogs or smoking allowed!
I’ve made the short crossing a few times before but today I was thrilled to see that one of the local residents was also boarding the ferry—a brilliant peacock queued up like the rest of us, though the ferryman gave the bulky bird a pass on the entrance fee. Our feathered friend amused himself during the crossing by accepting crumbs from fascinated children before waddling ashore once we reached the other side.
Wandering uphill, left past the ferryman’s house (now converted into the isla…