New Garden in Potsdam

14 May 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Old Dairy-Farm on Jungfernsee, today a restaurant © Biberbaer/cc-by-sa-3.0

Old Dairy-Farm on Jungfernsee, today a restaurant © Biberbaer/cc-by-sa-3.0

The New Garden (German: Neuer Garten) in Potsdam is a park of 102.5 hectares located southwest of Berlin, Germany, in northern Potsdam and bordering on the lakes Heiliger See and Jungfernsee. Starting in 1787, Frederick William II of Prussia (1744-1797) arranged to have a new garden laid out on this site, and it came to be known by this rather prosaic name. The New Garden is one of the ensembles comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin,” a status awarded in 1990.   read more…

Theme Week Potsdam – Sanssouci Palace

22 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Sanssouci - Aerial view © Sven Scharr/cc-by-3.0

Sanssouci – Aerial view © Sven Scharr/cc-by-3.0

Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is notable for the numerous temples and follies in the park. The palace was designed/built by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King Frederick’s need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. The palace’s name emphasises this; it is a French phrase (sans souci), which translates as “without concerns”, meaning “without worries” or “carefree”, symbolising that the palace was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power.   read more…

Peacock Island in Berlin

8 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Frigate Royal Louise in front of Peacock Island © Susanne Heldt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Frigate Royal Louise in front of Peacock Island © Susanne Heldt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Pfaueninsel (“Peacock Island”) is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam and Brandenburg. The island is part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular destination for day-trippers. Pfaueninsel is also a nature reserve in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive and a Special Protection Area for wild birds. Pfaueninsel is an island of 67 hectares in the river Havel between the Großer Wannsee and the Jungfernsee. It is mostly woodland with some open areas, including lawns and fields. The total size of the protected area, including some water-covered areas, is 98 hectares.   read more…

Theme Week Potsdam – Babelsberg Park

20 September 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Babelsberg Castle © Times/cc-by-sa-3.0

Babelsberg Castle © Times/cc-by-sa-3.0

Babelsberg Park is a 114 hectare park in the northeast of the city of Potsdam, bordering on the Tiefen See lake on the River Havel. The park was created in rolling terrain sloping down towards the lake by the landscape artist, Peter Joseph Lenné and, after him, by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, by order of Prince William, later Emperor William I and his wife, Augusta. Babelsberg Park is sponsored and managed by the Berlin-Brandenburg Foundation for Prussian Palaces and Gardens (Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg).   read more…

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