A CITY A WEEK AND WHY...POTSDAM, GERMANY

                                        

A CITY A WEEK AND WHY...POTSDAM, GERMANY

For the simplest reason of all.  For beauty.

 Until a recent visit, Potsdam had one primary association for me.  I knew it as the site of Potsdam Conference at which leaders of the victorious Allies--Truman, Stalin and both Churchill and Atlee--met in the summer of 1945 to determine the fate of post-war Germany and ultimately the fate of much of the post-war world.

Potsdam was chosen as the site for this now long ago conference not only for its proximity to Berlin but also for what Potsdam has in staggering abundance--that is, for its beauty.  Long the summer residence of Prussian kings and noblemen, Potsdam almost overflows with palaces of a particularly serene and soulful beauty.

The greatest of these is Sanssouci, the summer residence of Frederick the Great. While it is often compared to Versailles, it is just as often noted that Sanssouci’s appeal is more intimate and more personal.  Something of this perhaps shows through in this week’s photograph of a gilt figure decorating Chinese House, one of the Sanssouci’s many park pavilions. Its ornate playfulness seems scaled for human delight rather than for a colder, more static sense of grandeur.

A day in Potsdam is on our Berlin itinerary.  Space is limited and demand is expected to be high.  Please CLICK HERE for more information on the trip including deposit instructions.

…and CLICK HERE for a few more pictures of Sansscouci.