Potsdam tour palace & park
Sanssouci city center

1. Sanssouci Palace

Frederick the Great's dream castle, secluded on a small vineyard. Wine still grows here today, albeit behind glass. The Rococo-style castle has only 8 rooms, each with access to the garden. Only for the king, his dogs and his exclusively male visitors such as the French philosopher Voltaire. People discussed, always in French, and made music - the king himself played the flute and also composed. Here Frederick came closest to his ideal as an absolutist ruler.

Visit from the outside on foot. Only when booking the “Sanssouci Palace Tour” option. Tour and ticket included

2. Sanssouci Park

The park is the real attraction. Completely integrated into the landscape of Potsdam, it connects the Sanssouci Palace with the vineyard and the large fountain in front of it over 2km with the new palace, the king's large guest palace with apartments for his relatives when they visit. In between there are many disappeared paths with plenty of plants and attractions such as small castles, Roman baths or the Chinese tea house.

3. Palace Orangery in Sanssouci Park

The castle orangery houses the orangery - because it has an excellent view over the park. Many of the exotic plants in the park have to go there in the winter. At the same time, the Roman-style castle was a new eye-catcher on the mountain ridge.

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4. Historic mill

This mill still stands here because its owner got involved in a legal dispute with the king. And actually won! In the first instance, however, only. But cheers to the Prussian constitutional state. Grain can still be ground here today. A visit with a great view over the park is definitely recommended!

10 minutes, entry included

5. Picture Gallery, Sanssouci Park

Like all Prussian kings, Frederick the Great collected pictures and paintings. The only unusual thing was that he accommodated them in a specially built castle. A feast for the eyes.

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6. New Chambers, Sanssouci Park

A private castle just for the guests and the servants. There was no space for this in the main palace, which itself only consists of 8 halls. Important guests such as the French philosopher Voltaire naturally stayed with the king directly on top of the vineyard. But this little castle is anything but a junk room.

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7. Vineyard terraces, Sanssouci Park

This and the large water fountain are, so to speak, the “postcard view” of Sanssouci Palace. It was warmer in the 18th century than at least in the 20th, but Potsdam was a bit far north for wine growing. The king's gardeners helped with a trick: they hid the precious vines behind glass. This helped in the winter and also the spring like a spring bed covered with glass. So a delicious wine could be produced. If necessary, there were also deliveries from France and Italy... A lake was created specifically for the fountain further up, artfully clad with a ruin, the Ruinenberg. However, this was no longer completed during Frederick's lifetime.

15 minutes, free entry

8. Chinese House

More than just a tea pavilion. The gem was intended to immerse visitors in the world of China à la Mode Chinoise, furnished with precious furniture and delicate Chinese porcelain. The whole thing was lavishly decorated with gold.

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9. Roman Baths, Sanssouci Park

The designers of Sanssouci Park's longing for antiquity knew no bounds. King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV, who was also enthusiastic about Italy, particularly stood out here. Of course, people rarely bathed; the interior was intended to excite the sense of sight and the imagination.

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10. Potsdam Peace Church

King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV's love of Italy reaches its climax here, in the Friedenskirche. In true Italian style, the bell tower, the campanile, stands alone. separated from the main structure. This is nestled around a small artificial pond, in which it is reflected in an ideal way. This is also where the ruler found his final resting place, far away from the hustle and bustle of Berlin and the Hohenzollern burial place in the Berlin Cathedral.

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11. Charlottenhof Palace

Everyone has their own pleasure, and every royal child has a castle. At least if it was the Crown Prince or Princess. Especially since the Berlin Palace was far from becoming vacant when the heirs to the throne were married, but a suitable place of residence was needed. It wasn't always new construction: like here, the thrifty kings sometimes expanded and converted an existing house. The interior completely met the taste of the would-be monarchs with an oriental (sultan's) tent, embedded in a living room. There is also a seductive garden with its own little hill with fir trees - for the always melancholy Crown Princess Elisabeth, who comes from Bavaria and loves her homeland.

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12. New Palace

King Frederick II called it a “fanfare.” What he meant was a boast, but of course he didn’t use this embarrassing German word. Above all, he wanted to impress his relatives. This castle also boasts 600 rooms and can certainly keep up with Buckingham Palace. Divided into "apartments", the royal relatives were given their own holiday apartments for their stay, with a reception room, music room, bedroom and writing room. Some bathrooms are in small side cabinets. There was no need for a kitchen for the gentlemen, who were housed far away in the so-called “common” buildings, known as “communs” in French, because of the inevitable smell of the kitchen. Which is why the food was usually cold upon arrival. Later rulers also used the building for themselves, for example the last Emperor Wilhelm II. Frederick, however, enjoyed the distance from his "hunchbacked" relatives: the long avenue through the park to his small castle on the vineyard measures an impressive 2 km.

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13. University of Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais

Who wouldn't want to study in a castle? The Potsdam students are so lucky. But not entirely, strictly speaking, the headquarters of this small but fine university is located in the "Communs", the so-called "common" buildings of the New Palace. The servants were housed here, separated into palace servants, including the kitchen, and the palace guard, i.e. officers and soldiers. Everything is connected with fabulous arcades, which form a huge courtyard with the castle.

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14. Nauen Gate

Probably the most impressive city gate in Potsdam, of the four preserved from every direction. Designed entirely in the medieval Romanesque style, it is impressive due to its sheer size compared to the rather squat two- to three-story buildings in Potsdam. Beautiful cafés and restaurants particularly invite you to visit this square

30 minutes, free entry

15. Dutch Quarter

Even before, you had to do something if you wanted to have good skilled workers. It was like that in the 17th century. The Dutch canal builders, whom the Great Elector brought with him from his exile as heir to the throne during the Thirty Years' War, were allowed to build their accommodation in the traditional Dutch style. This red brick-built district impresses with the impression that you are in Holland. This impression is rounded off with many small shops, whether handicrafts or antiques, as well as bars and cafés. Not just for tourists, Queen Beatrix also honored this district with a royal visit.

15 minutes, free entry

16. Belvedere Palace on Pfingstberg, New Garden

A beautiful viewpoint on every hill was the goal of the royal builders of the palaces and gardens of Potsdam. Of course, often enough to look up at it as an addition and eye-catcher to the gardens themselves, rather than to enjoy the view from up there. Who has the time and is the arduous climb worth it (back then)? Decide for yourself!

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17. Restaurant & Café Drachenhaus, Maulbeerallee

Today a small café, it was originally built for the winemakers in the Potsdam vineyard. Nevertheless, it had to look nice, so they decided to go with the then hip Chinois fashion. Built entirely in the traditional Chinese pagoda style, the senses of sight and taste will get their money's worth here.

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18. Brandenburger Strasse, Potsdam

Potsdam's main street, now a busy pedestrian zone. But unlike some unsuccessful versions from the 70s, it impresses with its ensemble of beautiful town houses with small, individual shops for browsing or pampering. The small department store with its original Art Nouveau glass roof is outstanding. Many houses date from the Baroque period. In keeping with the spirit of the time, Potsdam's city center was laid out strictly geometrically, in squares that you can drift through to your heart's content.

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19. Potsdam City Palace/Brandenburg State Parliament, Am Alter Markt

This castle was also blown up in the disastrous period of early socialism, although the war-destroyed building, a pearl of northeast German Baroque, could easily have been rebuilt. For decades, a desolate landscape of streets and trams tore this historic area apart. Today the city palace, residence of the Prussian kings (before Frederick II), stands in the center of the city again. Outside with the baroque splendor, as well as the inner courtyard. Today the rooms are also used by the supreme sovereign: the people of Brandenburg in the form of the state parliament.

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20. St. Nikolaikirche Potsdam, Am Alter Markt

This church catches everyone's eye: it rises imposingly above the smaller and modest houses in the old town. The dome proudly reaches up to the sky, surrounded by colonnades. Be sure to plan a visit.

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21. Steam engine house, Breite Straße

People were certainly open to modernity and its advantages, such as the mechanical drive of an elevator in the New Palace for the somewhat weighty Empress. Not so much their industrial look. This was then rather romantically hidden behind an oriental building, in accordance with the latest fashion. Here in the form of a mosque with a minaret, as a chimney for the steam turbine that still generates electricity today.

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22. Alexandrovka Russian Colony

These immigrants should also be able to live comfortably in the usual high-rise buildings. However, they did not come to distant Prussia entirely voluntarily: their absolutist rulers had given each other gifts. An amber room from Berlin was once given away to Tsar Alexander, who thanked the soldier king Friedrich Wilhelm I with a series of "Long Guys". Here, however, it is said that it was a Russian choir that brightened up the Russian princess's wedding party with their singing should. Descendants are said to still live there today.

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23. Babelsberg Castle

A highlight on every Potsdam tour. This castle, built entirely in the English style with lots of battlements and turrets, was a new building for the then Prussian Crown Prince and his wife Augusta. He later went down in history as Kaiser Wilhelm II. Already very old, he climbed the beautiful medieval tower (a copy of the Eschenheim Tower in Frankfurt/Main) every day with his study and a great view over Potsdam's castle landscape. You can do it too, but only if we plan this visit in good time.