Pomeranian Adventure Tour -- Pot

Pomeranian Adventure Tour -- Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg in Germany. The city is located on the Havel River southwest of Berlin. It was the former residence of the Prussian kings until 1918.

Potsdam was probably founded in the 7th century as a Slavic village called Poztupimi. By 1317 it was a small German town, and gained its town charter in 1345. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) destroyed nearly half the town. It 1660 it was chosen as the hunting residence of Frederick William I, elector of Brandenburg, the core of the powerful state that later became the Kingdom of Prussia. It also housed a Prussian barracks.

As a result of the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, immigration to Potsdam increased. Its religious freedom attracted people from France (Huguenots), Russia, the Netherlands, and Bohemia. Both the population and economy grew. The diversity of the immigrants is still visible in the culture and architecture of the city.

Later the city was adopted as a full residence of the Prussian royal family. The royal residence and its majestic buildings were built mainly during the reign of Frederick the Great. One of these buildings is the Sanssouci Palace, famed for its formal gardens and Rococo interiors. In 1744, King Frederick the Great ordered the construction of a residence where he could live sans souci, "without worries," in the French spoken at the court. The palace, designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747, was a large single-storey villa with ten principal rooms. During the 19th century, the palace became a residence of Frederick William IV. He employed the architect Ludwig Persius to restore and enlarge the palace. The panoramic vista of the garden of Sanssouci is the result of Frederick the Great's decision to create a terraced vineyard on the south slope of the hills of Bornstedt. The individual parts of the terrace were further dived by strips of lawn, on which were planted yew trees. Low box hedging surrounded trellised fruit, making a circular ornamental parterre. In the middle of this wheel, 120 steps (now 132) led downward further diving the terraces into six. below the hill, a Baroque ornamental garden, modeled on the parterre at Versailles, was constructed in 1745. A fountain was built at the center of this garden 1748. From 1750, marble statues were placed around the basin of the fountain.

Berlin became the official capital city of Prussia and later the German Empire, but the court remained in nearby Potsdam, where many government officials also settled. In 1914 the Emperor Wilhelm II signed the Declaration of War in the New Palace in Potsdam. The city lost its status as a second capital in 1918, when World War I ended and Wilhelm II abdicated.

Potsdam was severely damaged by bombing during raids in World War II. The Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam was the site of the Potsdam Conference from 17 July to 2 August 1945. The victorious allied leaders (Harry S. Truman; Winston Churchill followed by Clement Attlee who replaced him when during the conference when Churchill's Conservative party lost an election; and Joseph Stalin) met to decide the future of Germany and postwar Europe in general. the conference ended with the Potsdam Agreement and the Potsdam Declaration.

The city was part of East Germany (GDR), and many of the historic buildings damaged during the war were torn down. The wall around West Berlin also cut Potsdam off from the city. East Berlin could only be reached through a long commute. The Glienicke Bridge across the Havel connected the city to West Berlin and was the scene of some Cold War exchange of spies.

After German reunification, Potsdam became the capital of the newly re-established state of Brandenburg. Continuing efforts are being made to reconstruct the original appearance of the city.

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