The building, constructed in the English Neo-Gothic style Babelsberg Palace is lying in Babelsberg Park On the banks of the Havel River. The palace and park were built for Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (later Emperor Wilhelm I) and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. There is even a "Pleasure Ground," an English garden dedicated to enjoyment. It served the royal couple as their summer residence for more than 50 years. The first palace, built between 1833 and 1835, was only the size of a small cottage and was designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
As heir to the Prussian throne, Prince Wilhelm commissioned the architects Ludwig Persius and Johann Heinrich Strack to expand the palace between 1844 and 1849. Wilhelm and Augusta actively participated in the design and furnishing of their summer residence.
After the Second World War, the castle's furnishings were lost to looting. From 1949, the palace was used as an academy for political science and law. Later, it became a university for film and television.
