Prussia's former city of residence offers a variety of castles and parks. The best known sights, however, probably are the castle and the park of Sanssouci, that were added to the list of UNESCO world cultural heritages in 1990.
Especially Frederick II, or Frederick the Great as he was also called, put a lot of effort into constructing representative buildings around the castle during his reign. One of them is Belvedere on the mountain called "Klausberg" close to Potsdam, built between 1770 and 1772. The main aim of Frederick’s constructions was to beautify the area around the castle.
The Klausberg close to Potsdam lies directly next to the "Drachenhaus" (dragon house) seemed to be especially suitable for Frederick’s purpose. It offered a great view of the park of Sanssouci, the town of residence Potsdam and the beautiful surroundings full of lakes at the same time. After completing the construction of Belvedere, Frederick the Great often came to the impressive building to admire the nice view of park Sanssouci and the hinterland of Potsdam.
Although several other construction measures for the beautification of the area were planned, no buildings except for Belvedere (which actually means "nice view") and the simultaneously constructed dragon houses were actually completed.
The formerly S-shaped flight of steps at the north end of the building was renovated in 1839 because of damages due to humidity and was brought into its current form resembling a horse shoe. A second, more complicated renovation took place in 1903. The last German emperor Wilhelm II. extended the building to a residence building for his personnel and also added sanitary facilities.
The second world war destroyed Belvedere almost completely. In April 1945, shortly before the end of the war, the building was burned down to the ground. It took until 1990 for a reconstruction to be decided upon. After the complete restauration of the outer house in 1993, Belvedere was handed over to the "Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg" foundation. This enables visitors today to make a real time travel back into the glamorous age of Belvedere's construction.
- Tuesday - Sunday: Closed
- Saturday - Sunday: 10: 00 - 18:00 clock
- Monday - Sunday: Closed
- Last entering 30 minutes before closing time.
Events in Potsdam
ticket sales
Music Festival in PotsdamThe Music Festival in Potsdam will be held again in June. This year's theme "Music and gardens" ubiquitous. So even on the opening day in June. Interesting and unique you can take guided tours and visits to many different places. For those interested there is an Opera Workshop.
TICKETSDetails about the Music Festival in Potsdam can be found here.
The concert on the eve and Night of the Palaces in PotsdamThe Park of Sanssouci and Sanssouci Palace with its terraced vineyards and the New Palace are undisputedly the most important monuments in Potsdam, therefore provides the Night of the Palaces as an excellent temporal orientation, to learn more about the state capital of Brandenburg.
TICKETSDetails about the Night of the Palaces can be found here.