The restrooms are situated opposite the bus station.

Nr. 1: Terrace with view to the Park “Sans Souci” and the fountain

Standing at the terrace of Sanssouci you have a great view to the vineyard as well as the park of the castle and if you look further to the southeast you will recognize the old town of Potsdam with the green dome of the Saint Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirche) next to the train station.

Frederick II had the natural slope laid out in the shape of terraces to cultivate vine. Fig trees were planted behind glazed green doors directly at the terraces walls. In summer, the terrace is also decorated with lemon trees growing in pots. In front of the castle you see the great fountain, culmination of the path to the main park. The fountain is surrounded by various sculptures representing Roman gods and the four Elements. During wintertime the sculptures are covered with wooden boxes to protect them against cold and sharp frost.

Take your time to stroll down the vineyard and enjoy the famous fountain view to Sans Souci.

But please do not forget that the tour continues and you must be back in time at the bus! We rather recommend to come back on your own after the tour to discover the park at your leisure time.

Sans Souci Castle

According to the sketches of King Frederick II (the Great), the architect Hans Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff built the summer palace between 1745 and 1747, where the king, according to his own words, wanted to live „without worries”.

Only the middle part of the castle is dated from this period.  The side wings were built in the 19th century; one wing for the kitchens and the other was dedicated to the women of the house. The roof is adorned with vases and supported by bacchantes (helpers of Bacchus, Roman God of Wine). The Marble Hall (Marmorsaal) is located under the dome. In this hall Frederick II held his famous “Round Table meetings“ (Tafelrunden) where he invited important personalities from politics, science and culture to dine, debate and philosophize together. As an example, one of his many guests was François Marie Arouet alias Monsieur de Voltaire.

The left wing was designed for hosting guests and includes five double apartments. All were arranged in an exquisite way, only with one big deficiency: They were connecting rooms. That means that the guest on the very far left had to go through all the other rooms in order to attend his own: no possibility of privacy!

The right wing was reserved to five private rooms for the King, including his library filled with books in French. They were talking French at court; only the common people spoke German.

Frederick II stayed in the Castle of Sans Souci for almost 4 decades, usually only during summertime.  He died in his office on August 17^th 1786, around 2:20 a.m. at the age of 74, only in company of his dogs and one of his servants. The armchair where he died is still visible at the castle. Already during his lifetime, he had a crypt built for himself on the east side of the terrace.

Please walk to the end east of the terrace. Take a look to the sculptures on the facade of the castle. These are Bacchantes and you have the imagination that they are very pleased getting the first drink of the day or still being drunk from the party last night.

No. 2: The Grave

The grave of Frederick II is surrounded by busts of roman emperors. In his last will he stated that he had lived as a philosopher and that he wanted to be buried as such. He gave precise instructions regarding his funeral. By no means had he wished for a state funeral, but a modest ceremony at midnight instead. No speeches should be held, no music should be played, and no guests should attend.

However his nephew and successor, Frederick William II, who was very controversial towards Frederick II. did not respect his last will and organized a lavish funeral in the Garrison Church (Garnisionkirche ) in the centre of Potsdam. The father of Frederick the Great (King Frederick William l), had already been laid to rest at this church – and because Frederick II strongly disliked his father, he would have refused being buried close to him.

In fear of destruction of the grave during World War II the coffins were evacuated. For decades it became a real odyssey. At first they were hidden in a bunker in Potsdam, then in a salt mine in Thuringia, later on in a church in Marburg. At last, in the 50s, they were transferred to the castle Hechingen in the region of Baden Württemberg, the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family.

Finally after the reunification of Germany the last will of Frederick II could be fulfilled. The coffins (father and son) returned to Potsdam and on August 17^th, 1991 Frederick found his final resting place in the vineyard at the occasion of the 205^th anniversary of his death. Although we cannot really talk about “rest” with around 5 million visitors per year!

Fredericks father, the „soldier-king” was buried in a mausoleum in the Church of Peace (Friedenskirche), in the park of Sans Souci. Maybe you have already noticed the bell tower of the church above the treetops?  It is a copy of the bell tower of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.

The grave of Frederick II is usually covered with flowers, but often you might find potatoes instead! Many visitors place them to commemorate that Frederick II promoted the cultivation of the potato all over his kingdom to feed his people.

Placed next to the original grave you can find 11 small stones all, of them with names engraved.  Frederick II buried his best friends close to him: his greyhounds. He preferred them to humans!

We are now on the North side of the castle. On your right you´ll find the round colonnades.  Its shape allows you to look almost directly to the “mountain of ruins” (Ruinenberg). It is about 50 meter high.

The ruins are still exactly as Frederick II had planned them.Its style is based on and inspired by the Colosseum and the Forum Romanum in Rome.

Another special feature is the large water basin in the centre of these ruins.  Do you remember the steam engine house in town? From there the water of the Havel was pumped to this water basin. It ran through water pipes by gravitation to the fountains of the garden and arrived there again with a pressure of 5 bar.

Nr. 1: The New Palace (Neues Palais)

The castle was built after Frederick II has won the Seven Year War in 1763. With this victory, he made Prussia the 5^th powerful kingdom in Europe next to England, France, Austria and Russia.

As usual in those times of Absolutism this building was a pure object of prestige . The architects Gontard and Büring edified a castle with more than 300 rooms.

At the time of Frederick II, the New Palace was used as a party and accommodation palace for the guests of his court, in particular at the 1^st. floor on the right.  This is the oldest part of the castle. Do you notice that the stone is darker there?  This small part is built of bricks. For cost reasons, the rest of the castle was constructed with large blocks of sandstone, painted red and covered with about 64 km of white lines. These “bricks” are not authentic, because they are only painted! You don’t believe it? Approach the castle and check for yourself. Most of the inhabitants of Potsdam are not aware of these facts. On the 1000^th city anniversary (1993), the building was entirely renovated from the outside. In 1856, the eldest son of the later Emperor William I settled down in the castle. He became Emperor Frederick III but died of cancer after just 99 days in office.

His eldest son William II succeeded him on the throne and became the last German emperor. He arranged the castle to be modernized: a new heater steam plant, light electricity, bathrooms, toilets and even an elevator were installed.

In this castle he also signed the declaration of war on France in August 1914. Ten thousand soldiers and civilians cheered for the emperor on this occasion.  “We rejoice in the war”. The slogan of the time: „We’ll be back for Christmas“, that indicated that a short war was expected, turned out to be a big mistake.

In 1918, when the war was lost, Wilhelm II abdicated and went into exile to the Netherlands. He even stipulated in his last will, that his body and his belongings would only revert to Potsdam under the condition that Germany becomes a monarchy again.

Even though the majority of the interior of the New Palace no longer exist, the visit is worthwhile. Parts of furniture from other destroyed castles in Berlin were installed into the Palace. If you visit the interior you will be impressed by the size of the rooms. The floor area of the Marble Hall counts an impressive 600 m² and a height of 21m.

The Grotto Hall with his shells, minerals, gems and stones, which are delicately inwrought in the walls, is also remarkable. Frederick II also built a baroque theatre within the castle. It is used up to this day with various performances every month.

Turn around towards the buildings located in the front of the castle.

No. 2: The Communs (Economic areas)

Are these two other castles? – No, they are not! The building on the left served as a kitchen and bakery. The one on the right housed the laundry and the servants. You might be surprised that buildings used for such trivial purposes were also luxurious! The answer is easy: The New Palace needed a superb vis-à-vis and the park a sumptuous perspective. Likewise, the external flight of stairs – a major construction – participated in the ornamentation.

Later, William II built a tunnel connecting the kitchen to the castle, so that the dishes may arrive hot. The tunnel didn’t exist yet during the reign of Frederick II. You can imagine the great number of servants who, mainly during the balls, had to run from the Communs to the Palace. No matter how fast they were running: often the dishes have turned cold! We could almost say „this could be the invention of the lunch buffet”.

Today these two buildings are part of the University of Potsdam and do not belong to the museum itself.

This is the end of our tour! Thank you for your attention!

You can also take the public bus which leaves every 20 minutes in direction to Sans Souci, the historic centre of Potsdam and lastly to the station.

If you don’t want to stay here, go can go with our bus to Sans Souci, the city centre  (Luisenplatz / Brandenburger Tor), to the port or to the central train station.