Potsdam · DE
Park Sanssouci: Palaces, Gardens & a King's Dreams
A clockwise loop through Frederick the Great's UNESCO park, from the Neues Palais to the Belvedere
What's the walk about?
Welcome to Park Sanssouci, the sprawling UNESCO World Heritage park where Frederick the Great built his retreat 'without a care' and where three generations of Prussian kings kept adding palaces, temples, and gardens. On this clockwise loop we begin at the colossal Neues Palais, wander east past the gilded Chinese House and Schinkel's Italian Roman Baths to the lakeside Church of Peace, then return west along the northern ridge: the Picture Gallery, the famous vineyard terraces of Sanssouci Palace, the Historic Windmill, the Orangery Palace, and finally the Belvedere on the Klausberg and its whimsical Dragon House. Along the way you'll meet Voltaire, a stubborn miller, a beloved sister, and a king who asked to be buried beside his dogs.
What you'll see
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1
Neues Palais & University of Potsdam
Palace & University
Frederick the Great's colossal New Palace faces two matching baroque palaces built for his kitchens and servants, the Communs. Since 1991 they have housed the University of Potsdam, so students now take lectures in a king's service wing.
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2
Temple of Friendship (Freundschaftstempel)
Garden Temple
A small open rotunda of eight Corinthian columns that Frederick the Great raised in memory of his beloved sister Wilhelmine of Bayreuth. Inside sits her marble statue, surrounded by medallions of the great friendships of antiquity.
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3
Rehgarten & the Four Seasons Statues (Spring)
Garden Sculptures
Frederick the Great's former deer garden, one of the earliest landscape gardens on the continent, where a four and a half metre marble Flora marks spring beside the Hauptallee.
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4
Chinese House (Chinesisches Haus)
Garden Pavilion
A gilded rococo tea pavilion in the shape of a clover leaf, ringed by life sized golden figures sipping tea and making music. Frederick the Great's dream of China, built by people who had never been there.
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5
Roman Baths (Roemische Baeder) & Charlottenhof
Garden Ensemble
A dreamy slice of Italy on a Prussian pond: Schinkel and Persius turned a crown prince's sketches into a cluster of villas, pergolas and a Roman bath that was never once used for bathing. Charlottenhof Palace, his summer villa, lies just a short stroll away.
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6
Villa Illaire
Villa
A cream-coloured Italianate villa with a square tower, built for the king's cabinet councillor Ernst Emil Illaire. Persius's plans turned a plain gardener's house into a little piece of Tuscany beside the Marlygarten.
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7
Church of Peace (Friedenskirche)
Church
An Italian basilica mirrored in a quiet pond, built by the Romantic king Frederick William IV around a 13th-century Venetian mosaic. It is also the resting place of the king himself and of Emperor Frederick III.
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8
Sanssouci Picture Gallery (Bildergalerie)
Art Museum
A long golden hall east of Sanssouci Palace, built by Frederick the Great between 1755 and 1764 as the oldest surviving purpose-built museum in Germany. Inside, Caravaggio, Rubens and van Dyck hang frame to frame above a marble floor.
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9
Sanssouci Palace, Vineyard Terraces & Great Fountain
Palace
Frederick the Great's single-storey summer retreat crowns six curved vineyard terraces above the Great Fountain. The king who called it his 'place without worries' is buried on the top terrace, his grave strewn with potatoes.
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10
Historic Windmill (Historische Muehle) & Neue Kammern
Landmark
A working Dutch windmill beside a royal guest palace, forever linked to the legend of the miller who dared to sue Frederick the Great. Rebuilt after burning in 1945, its sails have turned again since 1993.
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11
Orangery Palace (Orangerieschloss)
Palace
A 300 metre Italian Renaissance palace stretched along the ridge above Park Sanssouci, built by the 'Romantic on the throne' Frederick William IV. Inside waits a hall of fifty Raphael copies; above, twin towers with the best view in the park.
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12
Paradise Garden (Paradiesgarten)
Garden
A hidden, walled pocket of Italy below the Klausberg, laid out in 1844 for Queen Elisabeth. Water cascades past ferns and oleander to a tiny open air Roman pavilion where the royal couple dined.
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13
Belvedere on the Klausberg & Dragon House
Landmark & Cafe
Frederick the Great's last building, a Roman style viewing pavilion, crowns the Klausberg hill, while sixteen gilded dragons guard the Chinese pagoda below, now a cafe. The perfect place to end the loop with a view and a slice of cake.
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