The following is a list of sights of Potsdam, the capital of the German state of Brandenburg in Germany.
Sanssouci Park
The historic park of Sanssouci covers an area of about 290 hectares and is thus the largest and best known in the March of Brandenburg. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Frederick the Great and Frederick William IV influenced the park in the contemporary architectural styles of Rococo and Classicism and had an artistic synthesis of architecture and gardens constructed, whose centrepiece is the vineyard terraces and the palace of Sanssouci that crowns them.
The New Garden (Neuer Garten) is a park, roughly 100 ha in area, that lies in the north of Potsdam and borders on the lakes of Heiliger See and the Jungfernsee. In 1787 Frederick William II had a new garden laid out on this site, hence the name. The park was intended to reflect the prevailing fashion for the English garden, in contrast to the outmoded style of the Baroque ornamental and vegetable garden at Sanssouci.
Bordering the Tiefer See on the River Havel lies Babelsberg Park, covering an area of 114 hectares. In 1833, on the order of Prince William, later Emperor William I and his wife, Augusta the landscape gardener, Peter Joseph Lenné, and Prince Hermann of Pückler-Muskau began turning the rolling terrain that sloped down towards the lake into a park.
Potsdam Wildlife Park (Wildpark, 1834 to 1838), one of the oldest examples of the linkage of courtly tradition and landscape gardening. The wildlife park has an area of over 875 hectares and is located west of Sanssouci Park.
The Prussian tolerance, which is highly visible in the city, is also expressed by Potsdam's churches: In the centre of Protestant Potsdam, stands a large Roman Catholic church, and the oldest Russian Orthodox Church in Germany is found here. Churches were built for settlers from various corners of Europe: the Swiss, French, Bohemians ...
French Church, (1752/1753). Based on the Roman Pantheon and built for French settlers, consecrated in 1753, builders: restored by Knobelsdorff, Boumann, in the past years.
Church of the Redeemer, well outside the town centre, on the banks of the Havel, in the style of an Italian basilica, stood for years in the shadow of the wall in no-man's land, consecrated in 1844, architect: Persius.
Church of Our Saviour (Erlöserkirche). Evangelical church in Potsdam-West, consecrated in 1898, builder: Möckel
Church of Christ, wedged between residential buildings continues to be the one-time Old Lutheran church, consecrated in 1903. Today the church is used independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Christ parish (SELK). Builder: Grabowsky.
Pentecostal Church, (1894). This church stands between [g] and the New Garden in an idyllic garden setting, consecrated in 1894, architect: Tiedemann.
Hermannswerder Island Church, a Neogothic building that belongs to the Hoffbauer Foundation, consecrated in 1911, builder: Gebrüder Bolle.
Frederick Church on the Weberplatz, (1752/1753). Centrepiece of a settlement for Bohemian weavers in Babelsberg (formerly Nowawes), consecrated in 1753, builder: Boumann.
Oberlin Church, Babelsberg, (1904/1905). focal point of the Oberlinhaus, inter alia a lyceum for deaf-blind people, consecrated in 1905, builder: Tiedemann.
Old Neuendorf Church in Babelsberg, built 1850-52, rebuilding started in 1998[1]
Parish Church of St. Anthony, Roman Catholic church for Babelsberg, consecrated in 1934, architect: Fahlbusch.
Chapel of Klein-Glienicke, near the city's boundary with Berlin, which meant that the church fell into ruin as a result of its proximity to the Berlin Wall, consecrated in 1881, architect: Reinhold Persius.
Bornstedt Church, Italianate church that watches over the graves of famous Potsdam townsfolk, consecrated in 1856, builder: Stüler.
other village churches in the incorporated villages:
As a garrison city Potsdam had a city wall with several gates. With their flamboyant architectural styles they were more built for show that for defence. Of the city gates only three have survived.
Russian Colony of Alexandrowka (1826/1827) with its Alexander Nevsky Memorial Church (foundation stone laid 1826, consecration 1829)
Potsdam-Babelsberg (around 1900) and the villa colony of Neubabelsberg as well as the Bohemian Weavers' Quarter (Weberviertel)
Brandenburger Straße is the shopping street of Potsdam in the city centre, and is a pedestrian zone, bordered by St. Peter and St. Paul's Church and the Brandenburger Tor.)
Potsdam City Palace (Stadtschloss), (1662 to 1669, 1744 to 1752; was damaged in 1945, its rebuilding as the state parliament (Landtag) should be finished in 2012)
Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus), built in the baroque style in 1753 to a design by Andrea Palladio for the Palazzo Angarano in Vicenza that was never executed.
Neuer Markt, almost entirely preserved baroque square.
Luisenplatz, (ab 1733), baroque square between Brandenburger Straße and the entrance to Sanssouci Park.
Bassinplatz with St. Peter and St. Paul's and the French Church.
Platz der Einheit, central square with modern and historic architecture.
Glienicke Bridge, (end of the 17th century), well known for the exchange of agents during the Cold War.
The steam-powered Pump House (1841–43) for the fountains of Sanssouci Park, designed by Ludwig Persius in the shape of a mosque on the bank of the Havel River
The former War College (Kriegsschule) (1902) on the Brauhausberg hill
The Emperor's Station (1905–09) (Kaiserbahnhof), originally the Court Station (Hofstation) in Wildpark, has been used since its recent restoration as a Management Academy (Akademie für Führungskräfte) for the German rail system.
Karstadt department store with art nouveau facade and atrium (1905, 1928–29)
Villa Rohn also called the Löwenwilla, named after the lions (Löwen) in front of the facade. Owned since 1941 by the Fritz von der Lancken family, a resistance fighter against the Third Reich.
Herbertshof, named after Herbert Gutmann, with its Arabic Room (Zimmer Arabicum)
Villa Gutmann (only a small part has been renovated)
Villa Kellermann
Villa Kutscherhaus, Persiusstr.
Villa General Ladental
Villa Mendelson, named after the Jewish merchant
Villa Mosler
Villa Fritz Rumpf
Villa Sarna with its lion frieze
Villa Spillner, Böcklinstraße/Tizianstraße
Villa Starke (Potsdam-Babelsberg)
Villa Stülpnagel, Hegelallee 5, with impressive frame and panel door (Kassettentür); large historic map of Berlin in Russian script in the fireplace room.
Villa Wiener, Konrad Adenauer lived here in 1934
Villa Lademann, Heinz Rühmann lived here during filming, the house was built by the brother of Otto Lilienthal, Gustav Lilienthal
Andreas Kitschke (2001), Die Potsdamer Kirchen (in German), Passau: Kunstverlag Peda, ISBN3-89643-530-2
Potsdamer Schlösser in Geschichte and Kunst (in German) (4 ed.), Leipzig: VEB F.A. Brockhaus Verlag, 1984, ISBN3-325-00030-4 (Hrsg: Staatliche Archivverwaltung der DDR, Staatliche Schlösser and Gärten Potsdam-Sanssouci)
References
^"Official site". Alten Neuendorfer Kirche. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
^"Official site" (in German). Berliner S-Bahn Museum. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
^"Official site" (in German). Extavium. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
^"Official site" (in German). House of the Brandenburg-Prussian History. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
^"Official site" (in German). Jan Bouman House. Retrieved 16 October 2015.