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Potsdam
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"The first fine day should be devoted to Potsdam, without which a complete impression of Berlin can scarcely be obtained," intoned the prewar
Baedeker
, a nod to the fact that
POTSDAM
, although not officially part of Berlin, was the natural completion of the Hohenzollern capital, forming an almost seamless extension of its western suburbs. Although founded as far back as 993, Potsdam was of little significance until 1660, when Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector, decided to built a new residence there. His successors - most notably Frederick the Great, who made it the main seat of his court - oversaw a stunning triumph of man over nature, whereby the swampy marshland of the Havel and its lakes was gradually transformed into the proudest adornment of the Prussian kingdom, a glorious planned townscape replete with palaces, parks and gardens. It was precisely because Potsdam was such a national showpiece that the "Big Three" of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union held their victorious conference there after World War II, showing the Germans in the most unambiguous way possible that they had been totally and utterly defeated, and thus eliminating any possibility of a repetition of the "stab in the back" legend which had quickly gained currency after World War I.
Potsdam's
Altstadt
, notwithstanding grievous losses in the war and the hamfisted attempt by the GDR regime to give parts of it a "socialist" makeover, is a fine example of a Baroque and Neoclassical town, even if it is overshadowed by the nearby parks. Of these, the wondrous
Park Sanssouci
is rightly the most famous and visited, but there are two other splendid areas of landscaped greenery in the
Neuer Garten
and
Park Babelsberg
. Nor is Potsdam resting on its laurels with regard to its distinctive heritage. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Germany,
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