Clebrity Night Shot

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who married her prince charming, became a queen and loved by her people. Although two centuries have passed since Louise Queen of Prussia died, she remains what is called today a superstar. Her glamorous popularity is very similar to that of Princess Diana or the Austrian Empress Sissy. Berlin loved Louisa, as did the entire German-speaking Europe. Exactly, 200 years after her death, Berlin marks the event in exhibitions and festivals.

The non-conformist Princess and the lackeys.

In 1793, she had a pre-arranged date with Prussia's Crown Prince Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm). The prince fell in love with her and the two got married that same year. Frederick William's brother, Louis (Ludwig), married Frederike, Louise's sister, and it helped Louise perform a "soft landing" in the Prussian court. The pretty princess quickly gained the admiration of her subjects.

When Louise came to Berlin, so the legend says, she was greeted by a girl dressed in white who gave her a bunch of flowers. It touched the princess' heart, and she lifted the girl and kissed her, in contrast to the strict Prussian rules. The crowds of Berliners loved this loose behavior, but not the "lackeys" who argued that this was not a proper behavior of the future queen. Fuel was added to the fire by a sculpture created by the celebrated sculptor Gottfried Schadow, which depicted Luise and her sister in a way that seemed erotic. The statue terrified even the Crown Prince, who ordered to hide it from the public.

However, Louise continued her nonconformity over the coming years, and gained an immense popularity in the Prussian public, as much as Diana Princess of Wales two centuries later.

Leading the struggle against Napoleon

When Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick William) came to the throne, he started consulting with his wife about running the kingdom. Louisa was eminent t in foreign policy. Friedrich Wilhelm the 3rd was a pacifist and indecisive ruler, but all his efforts to conduct a policy of neutrality and peace, and maneuver his medium sized country between the major powers Russia, Austria and France, were unsuccessful. The queen played a key role in changing the attitude of the Prussian monarchy into a struggle against Napoleon and his allies.

The Emperor and the Queen

Louise felt a contempt for Napoleon and saw him as just upstart. The french ruler was aware of the influence of Queen Louise on her husband, but mocked her, calling her "an Amazon". After Napoleon defeated Prussia in 1806 in Jena and Auerstadt, the royal family fled to Koenigsberg, on the far eastern part of their kingdom and lived there in harsh and humiliating conditions.

July 1807 Luise tried to convince Napoleon, in a private conversation in Tilsit to moderate his policy toward defeated Prussia. Napoleon rejected it, causing Louisa to radicalize her position. Now, she called her people to take a patriotic stand and challenge Napoleon.

The Amazon's vengeance

At the end of 1809 the royal family could return to Berlin, although Prussia was still under the patronage of France. However, the tense situation weighed greatly on Louisa's health. July 19 1810 the queen died of pneumonia in the arms of her husband. An autopsy revealed a tumor which weighed on her heart. And so came to the world the myth that Louise died of a broken heart. This story also contributed to the nickname that granted to her after her death: the German Queen of Heart. Germany's greatest poets devoted their poems to the "Queen of Hearts."

Louisa was only 34 years old when she died. She did not live to enjoy her husband's victory over Napoleon. However, the old Prussian field marshal Gebhard von Bluecher, said on 30 March 1814, while overlooking defeated Paris from the top of Montmartre: "Louise got her revenge."

And now a few words about the events of Louise's year in Berlin and its vicinity, for those who plan to visit the city..

Nature, water and art

The Havel river's Peacocks Island (Pfaueninsel) on the western edge of Berlin, is the site of a combination of nature, water and art called "the queen's inner world." This event will end on October 31, 2010

A beautiful nature reserve today, the Peacocks' Island was one of my favorite places on the Prussian royal family. Well-known artists from around the world incorporated Louisa's personality with the atmosphere and landscape, and guests may watch the results by walking along a route with 18 stations. For the first time, visitors are permitted to enter parts of the park, which were so far closed to the public.

Louise's many faces

The second event is going to end as early as May 30. That is the exhibition "Louise, life and myth of the Queen" in Charlottenburg Palace. The palace curators put an emphasis on the queen's many faces: beautiful woman, bourgeois wife, political activist, philosopher, tough ruler, martyr, pioneer of German nationalism. Visitors meet the Queen at the palace rooms. At the foyer, the controversial sculpture of Louise and her sister is presented.

More than 350 paintings, sculptures, drawings and documents, including masterpieces by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Johann Christian Schadow and Gottfried Daniel Rauch, are shown in the "new flank" of the palace. They make it easier to get acquainted with the queen.

The grave

The mausoleum in Charlottenburg Palace park, where Louise is buried, also attracts visitors. Louisa's sarcophagus was cleaned and renovated professionally this year. For the first time since 1814 the mausoleum crypt is open to the public. An impressive marble portrait statue of Luise, created by Christian Daniel Rauch, is also worth seeing there.

Other highlights are a residential apartment of Louise, restored almost authentically, with real belongings of the queen from the years 1800 and 1810. 90 percent of the furniture are original, and there are also hand-painted silk rugs.

These rooms in the southern part of the new wing had been renovated in 1796-1797 to serve as a winter residence of King Friedrich Wilhelm 2, Luise's father in law. The king died before the completion of the renovation work, and Louise took advantage of the place while she was staying in Charlottenburg.

Louisa Queen of Heart

Finally, an exhibition held in Potsdam, near Berlin. The Potsdam Film Museum (Address: Breite Strasse 1A) presents the "Queen of Heart Louise" exhibition until 24 October 2010.

This special exhibition is accompanied by documentaries and fiction movies. In 1913 the first film ever about Luise was released. She is depicted there as a patriotic angel. From then on, the German audience has seen lots of Luise movies. Her image changed according to the political regime that prevailed at the time. During the Weimar Republic, the German movie studios produced six films about the queen - once as a maternal figure, another time as a positive leader who led her people out of their great distress. The first color film about Luise was screened at the end of the Second World War in theaters that survived by bombings. West Germany's young film industry which emerged in the postwar years, presented Louise as a reformer. Communist East German cinema described her, on the other hand, as a feministic character.

Germany's film and television cannot escape Louise even today. At the exhibition, one may see the costumes and requisites of Luise's movies, past and present, including almost all the costumes of the last movie which was called, unsurprisingly, "Louise Queen of Heart." You may find a lot of information about traveling to Berlin in my web site. Click here to visit there.