Originally built as a
Renaissance mansion in 1558, it was converted to a hunting lodge by
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. As part of the Tegel estate, it passed to the Humboldt family by marriage in 1766 and became their family seat - Alexander and Wilhelm lived there several years. After their mother
Marie-Elisabeth von Humboldt's death, Wilhelm took over the estate in 1797 and had the schloss rebuilt in the classical style between 1820 and 1824 by the architect
Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Wilhelm's daughter
Gabriele later inherited it - she married the
Prussian foreign minister
Heinrich von Bülow and after her death it passed to their daughter Constanze von Heinz, whose descendants still own it. The park was originally designed between 1777 and 1789 by
Gottlob Johann Christian Kunth, the Humboldts' tutor. From 1802 it was further developed by Wilhelm to designs by
Peter Joseph Lenné. The park was listed as a 'Denkmalschutz' (monument treasure) in 1983. On its western side, near Lake Tegel, is the 'Dicke Marie', an oak named after their cook by the Humboldts - it is sometimes dated at 800 years old. There are also 7.8 m deep lakes near the house itself. The park also contains Wilhelm's wife's tomb monument in the park in 1829, on a site chosen by her - it consists of a high granite column topped by a statue of the Roman goddess
Spes by
Bertel Thorvaldsen, favoured by Caroline and bought by Wilhelm after her death. Wilhelm and Alexander were also buried nearby, as were Caroline and Wilhelm's children and descendants up to the present day, beneath uniformly designed unornamented tombstones and rows of flat grave mounds. The column is framed from behind by a stone bench or exedra, simpler than Schinkel's usual style. File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P062848, Berlin, Schloss Tegel, Parkseite.jpg|Park of the Schloss Tegel, 1931 File:DBP 1964 455 Bauwerke Schloss Tegel.jpg|1965 Deutsche Bundespost stamp from the 1200 Years of German Buildings series == Bibliography (in German) ==