Thursday, 3 October 2013

Potsdam

Potsdam - 

Today we travelled to Potsdam, specifically to see Sans Souci the summer palace of Freddie the Great

Got our instructions from our friendly desk clerk last night and set off for the U-bahn (Subway to the Australians), 200 metres from the Hotel at Spittalmarkt. Train to Alexander Platz, changed to the S-bahn (Surface train) which took us to Wannsee and a couple of minutes wait and we were on the final leg to Potsdam.

From the Potsdam Hautbahnhof we got an express bus to Sans Souci and we spent the next 4hours wandering about the grounds of Sans Souci, Neues Palais and taking a bus tour of Potsdam the older areas.

The whole park area that Sans Souci and 3 other palaces of Frederick the Great  and his family occupy is truly a wonderful area. You look to the right and the left of the central path and it looks like a peaceful rural setting, with forest and meadow, full of sunlight and shadow. It is a huge park, we walked from Neues Palais to Sans Souci about 2km and could have continued for about another 800m to the street back downtown.

The city was obviously badly damaged in WWII and since there is no longer a DDR there have been huge works done restoring the grandure of the 18thC buildings, often rebuilding from scratch.

Sans Souci

The "Ruins" a folly part of the Sans Souci construction.
Roman and Teutonic "ruins" built for one of Freddie's heirs

Sans Souci Portico, this is duplicated behind me and must have been a grand entrance

The old Mill - ground the wheat for the Palace
It appears to be a working mill, the blades were turning quickly in a strong cold wind.

The first Brandenburg Gate, 20 years older than the one in Berlin with the
old church of Potsdam in the Arch

Rebuilt in the city 

This Church looks like it has also been rebuilt

The rebuilt Town Hall... soon to be the admin headquarters for the State of Brandenburg

More rebuilding after the fall of the DDR,
next to this  on the left, is the next rebuilding project. The
church of the guards 
A Mosque in the middle of Potsdam?
Nope, it was the pumping station for the waterworks of Sans Souci
Built in the 19th C, the minaret is the smokestack of a early steam engine



The right hand "Guest"quarters Neues palais


Back of the Neues Palais guest quarters on the left and right

The Kings Palace across the open parade ground from the guest quarters.
Freddie could put on a show of military might for his "guests". Apparently,
There are underground passages from the Palace to the guest quarters.

And again.... trying to rival  Schonbrunn and Versailles

The Orangerie Palace built by one of Freddie's brothers, I believe.
The matching staircases into the lower garden were magnificent 

Sans Souci again, from the point that most pictures are taken,
making you believe that there is a lot of water effects.

And the Fountain

1 comment:

  1. Why do they have to ruin that picturesque windmill with a banner?

    Looks great :)

    ReplyDelete