Articles by Aoife Caitríona Lau

'A fantastic creation, with the magic of a strange, dreamed, longed-for world': Inside Schloss Charlottenhof, the Prussian royal family's exquisite sanctuary

The desire for a retreat from the cares of the Prussian court and the formality of palace protocol created Schloss Charlottenhof, Brandenburg, a neo-Classical masterpiece. Aoife Caitríona Lau explains more; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.

By Aoife Caitríona Lau Published 15 February 26

The Rococo jewel nestled into vineyard terraces that's a visual index of 'a king’s Enlightenment belief in knowledge, cultivation and the civilising power of Nature'

A summer picnic in 1743 prompted Frederick the Great to create a retreat for himself outside his capital at Berlin. The result was the creation of Schloss Sanssouci in Brandenburg, as Aoife Caitríona Lau explains.

By Aoife Caitríona Lau Published 9 November 25