Paretz Palace, Neoclassical palace in Ketzin/Havel, Germany.

Paretz Palace is a two-story neoclassical country house in Paretz, part of Ketzin/Havel. Its 60-metre facade is pale yellow with a white upper story and central section, topped by a red tiled roof with dormer vents. Regular rows of rectangular windows with dark frames and blue-gray shutters flank a recessed arched entrance. Inside, a long hall has pale wood floors, patterned wallpaper panels framed by orange-red borders, a white fireplace mantel, and a set table.

Friedrich Wilhelm bought the Paretz estate in 1797 for 85,000 Prussian talers while still crown prince, and architect David Gilly replaced the early 18th-century manor with a plain country palace, finished with its interiors in 1797/1798. After the king died in 1840, his seven surviving children ordered the rooms left untouched as a memorial, and the Hohenzollerns kept that wish until 1945.

The royal rooms are hung with printed landscape wallpapers, known as Pariser Tapeten, framed in panels; the dining room has chinoise bird wallpaper with printed borders of vine leaves and lilac. Most motifs were printed in Berlin workshops, though some animal and plant designs were imported from China. The rooms were left untouched after 1840 as a memorial to the parents.

Paretz Palace stands in the village of Paretz, part of Ketzin/Havel in Brandenburg, about forty kilometres west of Berlin and well outside Potsdam. Visitors reach it by road from Berlin or Potsdam; the palace and its English-style park, laid out between 1797 and 1804, are best explored on foot. The interior can be seen on guided tours, since the reconstructed wallpapers and rooms are shown in company.

The palace holds portrait busts of Queen Luise and her gold-plated toilet service originally from the former Royal Palace in Berlin. These valuable personal items connect the summer residence directly to the royal household in the capital.