Caputh (also known as Kaputh) is a village in the municipality of

Schwielowsee Schwielowsee () is a lake in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated to the south and west of the city of Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part o ...

Potsdam-Mittelmark Potsdam-Mittelmark is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the western part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring administrative units are (clockwise from the north) the district of Havelland (district), Havelland, the free cities of Brandenburg (town), ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Caputh got a railway station in 1904. Since the early 20th century it was seen as a remote residential area by wealthy urban people.

Sights

The following sights are to be found: * Caputh Palace, built in 1662 by Philip de Chiese, quartermaster general of Elector

Frederick William of Brandenburg Frederick William (; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "the ...

. In 1671 Frederick William gave the palace to his second wife

Princess Dorothea Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Princess Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (28 September 1636 – 6 August 1689), was Duchess consort of Brunswick-Lüneburg by marriage to Christian Louis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Electress of Brandenburg by marri ...

, who had it expanded and richly furnished with rich interior design, including valuable furniture and paintings. Notable is the Tile Hall (''Fliesensaal'') of 1720 with about 7,500 pieces of

Delftware Delftware or Delft pottery, also known as Delft Blue () or as delf, is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed earthenware, a form of faience. Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherlands was the major cen ...

tiles, placed by order of King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

. The park was designed by

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...

in 1820. Today the palace is a museum of the

Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg The Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (; SPSG) was founded by a treaty of 23 August 1994 between the German federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg as a public foundation following German reunification. The treaty came ...

. * The Caputh village church is a work by

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

. Built in a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

form, it was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in 1852 in the presence of King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the th ...

. * Summer house of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

in Caputh, built in 1929 and designed by

Konrad Wachsmann Konrad Wachsmann (May 16, 1901 in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany – November 25, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) was a German Jewish modernist architect. He is notable for his contribution to the mass production of building components. Originall ...

. Einstein, though a non swimmer, was a passionate recreational

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

on the lake, but was only able to use his retreat until the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

takeover in 1933. After

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

and the

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

to the Einstein family, the house is now a property of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. The Einstein Forum, directed since 2000 by

Susan Neiman Susan Neiman (; born March 27, 1955) is an American moral philosopher, cultural commentator and essayist. She has written extensively on the juncture between Enlightenment moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics, both for scholarly audiences ...

, uses Einstein's summerhouse for conferences, workshops, and lectures. * The exhibition ''Einsteins Sommer-Idyll in Caputh'' in the community centre (Bürgerhaus) Caputh is devoted to

and his summer house in Caputh. The wooden house, built in 1929 by the architect

, is Einstein's only preserved residence in Germany. Its history is illustrated by numerous documents, photos and models. Furthermore, the work of Albert Einstein during his time in Berlin and Konrad Wachsmanns's path of life are recounted.

Famous residents

- Physicist *

Norbert Glante Norbert Glante (born 8 August 1952, in Caputh) is a German politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 until 2014. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Socialist Group. During his time ...

- Politician

References

External links

Exhibition ''Einsteins Sommer-Idyll in Caputh''
in the community centre (Bürgerhaus) Caputh Villages in Brandenburg Localities in Potsdam-Mittelmark {{Brandenburg-geo-stub