Potsdam City Palace
Encyclopedia
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was the second official residence (the winter residence) of the margraves and electors of Brandenburg, later kings in Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
, kings of Prussia and German emperors. It stood on the Old Market in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, next to the Church of St. Nikolai and the Old Townhall.
The baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
palace was constructed on the site of an earlier fortification from 1662 to 1669 under Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, and was rebuilt by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
Hans Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff was a painter and architect in Prussia.Knobelsdorff was born in Kuckädel, now in Krosno Odrzańskie County. A soldier in the service of Prussia, he resigned his commission in 1729 as captain so that he could pursue his interest in architecture...
under Friedrich II
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
from 1744 to 1752, who performed additional interior decoration. It stood as one of the most important examples of Friderizian rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
.
During an allied bombing attack on 14 April 1945 the City Palace was bombed and burned out, some parts of the main walls remained. The East German Communist Party
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
decided to remove the ruin in 1960. The formerly cohesive New Market lost its face. The only building of the castle that was left standing was the stables, in which today the Potsdam Museum of Film can be found. In 1991 it was attempted to build a new theatre on the site of the City Palace, but this failed as it would have obstructed the view of the Church of St Nikolai. Only the skeleton of the building had gone up before it was torn down.
From 2000 to 2002 the Fortuna Gate of the castle was rebuilt on the Old Market, funded by, among others, the donations of Günther Jauch
Günther Jauch
Günther Johannes Jauch is a German television host. He is a member of the Hamburg Jauch family, but currently lives in Potsdam, Brandenburg with his wife Thea Jauch and his four children.- Biography :...
. During the preliminary ground analysis old vases and other artifacts were dug up, and even parts of the old fortifications were excavated. As the erection of a protective roof would have been too expensive, the resulting hole was filled in again at the end of the summer of 2000. 2004 began with the laying of wires around the area of the City Palace. In the process the Old Market was lowered to its old height (about 46 cm deeper) and paved with granite. On the day of German unity the work was finished at a cost of 10 million euros, whereupon the neighbouring buildings received new stairs (the Nikolai Church had lost its Schinkel Stairs).
On the 20th May the Landtag of Brandenburg
Landtag of Brandenburg
The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany.It has 88 members of parliament, currently belonging to four parties.-History:...
decided to rebuild the Potsdam City Palace in its historical form by 2011. Constructions are planned to begin in 2010, old sections would be rebuilt. The Landtag parliament would then occupy the inside. The cost for the project was put at 120 million euros, of which the actual building would take 80 million, with the remaining 40 million being spent on the rebuilding of the crossroads and the façade. A private investor offered to pay for the building of the palace so long as he could build a shopping centre next to it, but this was not acceptable. A heated argument broke out over whether a new tram bridge should be built to solve the traffic problem (at a cost of €10m), supposedly because the tram lines would otherwise not come by the palace.
Since 16 February 2006 a new plan has been put forward. Under this the City Palace would only retain the northern side of its historic façade. The side wings have 5 tiers instead of the original 3, so another façade would be built there. The southern façade would be built in a more modern fashion, without the approach, and in this part of the building would contain the plenar hall. The advantage would be that the inner courtyard would remain and could be used for future events. The Landtag would still move into the building as before, although the castle would be rebuilt according to its historical layout. In November 2007 Hasso Plattner
Hasso Plattner
Hasso Plattner is a cofounder of software giant SAP AG. Today he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP AG.- Biography :Hasso Plattner is a German entrepreneur...
donated additional 20 million Euro to rebuild the outer facade with its historic details.
External links
- 'Das Potsdamer Stadtschloss in Gefahr' (1949), historical short movie about Potsdam city palace warning against its demolition.