Potsdam
When I work on my part of our family's European trip planning, I usually spend happy hours studying train timetables, both to find the shortest journeys for us from one city to another and also to find interesting in-between places where we can weekend between two of Randy's appointments. It felt strange, then, that before we went to Berlin I had not done any of this work.
However, I couldn't completely help myself when I saw how close we would be by rail from our hotel to Potsdam. For a time, Potsdam was the residence of the Prussian royal family (and eventually the Kaiser). It was there that Friedrich der Große (Frederick II) built his amazing palace Sanssouci (from the French, meaning "without cares"). It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site (collect them all!) in 1990. That is interesting, by the way, because the application for this would have been filed by the East German government, and many of the old imperial structures were neglected or demolished by the Communists.
Sanssouci was easy for us to get to. A little more than half an hour on the local metro to Potsdam, then a bus to the park, all included in our daily metro pass. We bought tickets for the next earliest tour, about an hour or so from our arrival, which gave us time to wander a little bit.
Across from the building now used as the visitors' center was a seemingly out of place Dutch windmill.
In 1737, Friedrich Wilhelm I granted permission to a local miller to build a windmill on this location. Friedrich Wilhelm II decreed his carpenters replace the older, dilapidated mill with this larger Dutch-style windmill. It was fully operational until 1858 and then received historical monument status in 1871. It was, unfortunately, heavily damaged at the very end of World War II, but was recently rebuilt in the old Dutch style. Still, it was a wonderfully odd addition to the palace grounds.
Our time to enter the main palace approached, so we walked toward the visitor's entrance.
Inside, we were given audio guides which we held up to our ears like phones. Ours were in English, and the park even had special guides for children. Unfortunately for Myles, he received the kids' guide; he knew the adults' guide would have much more information. During our tour, I once in a while would ask Myles if a particular detail was included in his audio. When it wasn't I filled him in the best that I could.
The palace was laid-out in a unique manner. There was an east wing, which was for the king) and a west wing (which was for the guests), both with gallery-hallways behind them. In the center was a rotunda room, Der Marmorsaal (marble room). And that was it, just one floor of rooms. Friedrich der Große wanted to build his own Versailles, and he did, but a smaller, more intimate version of the French palace.
Everything in this hallway, die Kleine Galerie, was proportioned to balance the space. The sofas and tables had no other purpose but to complement the narrow room. It was merely a room to pass through, and yet still be impressed with the King's taste and wealth.
Among the King's rooms, a hit with us was his music room. Friedrich der Große was a musician and a composer. His own flute was on display atop a period pianoforte, and our audio guides sampled a little of one of his sonatas.
The Marble Room was exactly as described--all marble on our level, and a magnificent gilded rotunda above.
Here was a room, too, that showed some of the King's desire to incorporate natural motifs into the decor.
In the West Wing, the guest rooms were able to open up to one another, which is how we passed from one to the next in succession. The guests themselves were intended to each room's great doors each individual room had that opened onto the vineyard. The King wanted his guests to experience nature and his gardens as part of their stay.
Servants' duties and the privy, on the other hand, were handled with almost hidden doors on the opposite side of the room.
There were a few things that captured our attention while we walked through the guest rooms. This painting, for instance, was by a Veronese Opera set designer by the name of Innocente Bellavite.
So impressed by Bellavite was the King that he commissioned the artist to design for him his own artificial ruins on a hill visible from Sanssouci. The ruins were a mix of ancient influences, like Greek, Roman and Norman. Myles took this picture with his camera after we were done with the house tour.
Brigid's favorite room was the Voltaire room. It was called this because the French writer was a frequent guest at Sanssouci, and this was his room. It was uniquely designed from the other guest rooms, with the painted yellow wood paneling. The other elements were all representative of the flowers, fruits, and animals found on the grounds at that time.
It was just a livelier room.
By the way, one of my favorite words in German is Eichhörnchen (squirrel). It is ridiculously fun to say, but it does not come up nearly enough in conversations.
As we made our way to the exit, we came upon a surprise, almost like running into an old friend. There was an Andy Warhol portrait of Frederick II with which we were already familiar. It was such an odd addition to the tour, but I always love bumping into Warhol.
I still wanted to see a little bit of the city of Potsdam, and get lunch for less money than out there at Sanssouci, so we only had a little time to walk around the garden.
We rode the bus back into Potsdam, though I wasn't quite sure where we would want to alight. I saw from the bus Jägertor, so we took the next stop. Of the three remaining preserved gates of the old Potsdam Wall, this one was the oldest, dating to 1733.
We walked further into Potsdam to collect the other two gates. The Brandenburg gate is older than the more iconic one of the same name in Berlin, and it was built to replace an older gate toward the end of the Seven Years' War as a triumphal arch.
Because there were two architects, the two faces were completely different.
We also saw Nauen Gate, which was also curious. It was built in 1755, replacing an older gate, and, at the direction of Frederick II, built in an English Gothic style.
The kids and I would have appreciated more time to hang around Potsdam, but we had to get back to Berlin to meet Randy and his colleagues for supper. Potsdam had so much in common with other smaller cities and towns in Germany that we have enjoyed that is was hard to leave. Berlin, being so much larger, more international, and terminally hipper, sometimes on the trip overwhelmed me. I had missed just soaking in the German-ness.
On our way to the train station, we came across a band playing on the street outside a bar. A crowd was gathering, a mix of younger people and families. It was a nice glimpse into some part of Potsdam life.
However, I couldn't completely help myself when I saw how close we would be by rail from our hotel to Potsdam. For a time, Potsdam was the residence of the Prussian royal family (and eventually the Kaiser). It was there that Friedrich der Große (Frederick II) built his amazing palace Sanssouci (from the French, meaning "without cares"). It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site (collect them all!) in 1990. That is interesting, by the way, because the application for this would have been filed by the East German government, and many of the old imperial structures were neglected or demolished by the Communists.
Sanssouci was easy for us to get to. A little more than half an hour on the local metro to Potsdam, then a bus to the park, all included in our daily metro pass. We bought tickets for the next earliest tour, about an hour or so from our arrival, which gave us time to wander a little bit.
Across from the building now used as the visitors' center was a seemingly out of place Dutch windmill.
In 1737, Friedrich Wilhelm I granted permission to a local miller to build a windmill on this location. Friedrich Wilhelm II decreed his carpenters replace the older, dilapidated mill with this larger Dutch-style windmill. It was fully operational until 1858 and then received historical monument status in 1871. It was, unfortunately, heavily damaged at the very end of World War II, but was recently rebuilt in the old Dutch style. Still, it was a wonderfully odd addition to the palace grounds.
Our time to enter the main palace approached, so we walked toward the visitor's entrance.
Inside, we were given audio guides which we held up to our ears like phones. Ours were in English, and the park even had special guides for children. Unfortunately for Myles, he received the kids' guide; he knew the adults' guide would have much more information. During our tour, I once in a while would ask Myles if a particular detail was included in his audio. When it wasn't I filled him in the best that I could.
The palace was laid-out in a unique manner. There was an east wing, which was for the king) and a west wing (which was for the guests), both with gallery-hallways behind them. In the center was a rotunda room, Der Marmorsaal (marble room). And that was it, just one floor of rooms. Friedrich der Große wanted to build his own Versailles, and he did, but a smaller, more intimate version of the French palace.
Everything in this hallway, die Kleine Galerie, was proportioned to balance the space. The sofas and tables had no other purpose but to complement the narrow room. It was merely a room to pass through, and yet still be impressed with the King's taste and wealth.
Among the King's rooms, a hit with us was his music room. Friedrich der Große was a musician and a composer. His own flute was on display atop a period pianoforte, and our audio guides sampled a little of one of his sonatas.
The Marble Room was exactly as described--all marble on our level, and a magnificent gilded rotunda above.
Here was a room, too, that showed some of the King's desire to incorporate natural motifs into the decor.
In the West Wing, the guest rooms were able to open up to one another, which is how we passed from one to the next in succession. The guests themselves were intended to each room's great doors each individual room had that opened onto the vineyard. The King wanted his guests to experience nature and his gardens as part of their stay.
Servants' duties and the privy, on the other hand, were handled with almost hidden doors on the opposite side of the room.
There were a few things that captured our attention while we walked through the guest rooms. This painting, for instance, was by a Veronese Opera set designer by the name of Innocente Bellavite.
So impressed by Bellavite was the King that he commissioned the artist to design for him his own artificial ruins on a hill visible from Sanssouci. The ruins were a mix of ancient influences, like Greek, Roman and Norman. Myles took this picture with his camera after we were done with the house tour.
Brigid's favorite room was the Voltaire room. It was called this because the French writer was a frequent guest at Sanssouci, and this was his room. It was uniquely designed from the other guest rooms, with the painted yellow wood paneling. The other elements were all representative of the flowers, fruits, and animals found on the grounds at that time.
It was just a livelier room.
By the way, one of my favorite words in German is Eichhörnchen (squirrel). It is ridiculously fun to say, but it does not come up nearly enough in conversations.
As we made our way to the exit, we came upon a surprise, almost like running into an old friend. There was an Andy Warhol portrait of Frederick II with which we were already familiar. It was such an odd addition to the tour, but I always love bumping into Warhol.
I still wanted to see a little bit of the city of Potsdam, and get lunch for less money than out there at Sanssouci, so we only had a little time to walk around the garden.
We rode the bus back into Potsdam, though I wasn't quite sure where we would want to alight. I saw from the bus Jägertor, so we took the next stop. Of the three remaining preserved gates of the old Potsdam Wall, this one was the oldest, dating to 1733.
We walked further into Potsdam to collect the other two gates. The Brandenburg gate is older than the more iconic one of the same name in Berlin, and it was built to replace an older gate toward the end of the Seven Years' War as a triumphal arch.
Because there were two architects, the two faces were completely different.
We also saw Nauen Gate, which was also curious. It was built in 1755, replacing an older gate, and, at the direction of Frederick II, built in an English Gothic style.
The kids and I would have appreciated more time to hang around Potsdam, but we had to get back to Berlin to meet Randy and his colleagues for supper. Potsdam had so much in common with other smaller cities and towns in Germany that we have enjoyed that is was hard to leave. Berlin, being so much larger, more international, and terminally hipper, sometimes on the trip overwhelmed me. I had missed just soaking in the German-ness.
On our way to the train station, we came across a band playing on the street outside a bar. A crowd was gathering, a mix of younger people and families. It was a nice glimpse into some part of Potsdam life.
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