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Post by betsie on Sept 23, 2010 10:16:29 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2010 14:03:03 GMT
This is a revelation! When you said Potsdam was well worth a visit, in your thread about Berlin, you certainly were not exaggerating! All that green and gold, the expanses of lawn and trees, and the scale from the monumental to the intimate ~~ it makes a garden setting that is regal yet friendly, and quite beautiful. What is that park-like space, please? I love the swoops and arches in the town. That two-story door and window combination using what I'm now thinking of as "Potsdam green" on the brick facade is wonderful. In the bottom picture -- that must be an old city gate, right? Any idea what the onion dome to the left of it is topping, or what the green (!) building beyond it is?
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Post by betsie on Sept 23, 2010 16:12:14 GMT
The first 5 pix are all of the sanssouci estate/park, built for Frederic the Great. There are more palaces in the park, but I only posted pix of his own palace, and the orangery (3rd from the top). Apart from the formal gardens in the pictures, there's a huge formal park with vistas and many statues in 18th century style, as well as the "Chinese summer house". The Communists actually demolished a few of the old palaces there.
The red houses with green shutters were built for the Dutch water management experts whom Frederic brought in to help him drain the swamps. The houses are typically Dutch, I spotted them as soon as we entered the city by bus!
Freddie did some good stuff (and probably a pile of bad stuff as well). He introduced compulsory education before any other country did. Not much, but at least the people became literate.
The green roof in the background is another church.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2010 16:43:39 GMT
Oh wow, heavy baroque period there. The first photo with the caryatids puts my caryatids to shame. Whenever I see photos of places like Potsdam, though, no matter how green and summery they look, I immediately imagine how they look in the the winter snows. Brrrrr....!
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Post by onlymark on Sept 23, 2010 16:47:02 GMT
betsie, I'm not sure if you'd know but I went to a wedding once in Potsdam about 5 years or so ago. I could have sworn blind the reception was held at The Orangery (3rd from the top). It looks like the place but not knowing the area I'd hesitate to say it definitely was.
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Post by betsie on Sept 23, 2010 17:51:15 GMT
betsie, I'm not sure if you'd know but I went to a wedding once in Potsdam about 5 years or so ago. I could have sworn blind the reception was held at The Orangery (3rd from the top). It looks like the place but not knowing the area I'd hesitate to say it definitely was. What a marvellous place for a wedding, Mark! There's a road you can't see on the pic, just behind the fountain, so access would be easy.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 23, 2010 17:56:39 GMT
Yes, those row houses are strikingly Dutch. Beautiful place! Did Potsdam escape heavy shelling during the War?
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Post by betsie on Sept 23, 2010 19:17:47 GMT
Yes, those row houses are strikingly Dutch. Beautiful place! Did Potsdam escape heavy shelling during the War? I think it wasn't as bad as Berlin, Lagatta. But some of the historic buildings are still showing war damage but are being renovated now.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 24, 2010 13:54:51 GMT
Great pics, Betsie, never made it to Potsdam, just to Potsdamer Platz ;D
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 24, 2010 14:36:23 GMT
Thanks for the answers, Betsie. That must have been a funny feeling -- like something in a dream -- to suddenly find yourself in the Netherlands while in a foreign country.
I looked up Sanssouci. Frederick the Great actually designed much of it, frequently over the objections of his architect.
The town areas you show seem cheerfully bustling and alive with people shopping, strolling, & sightseeing -- nice!
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Post by betsie on Sept 24, 2010 15:09:05 GMT
Hi Bix. There's an old windmill next to his palace, which he insisted had to go when he planned the palace. Since it was a young parliamentary democracy, the miller refused and took him to court. The judge said the windmill had to stay and Frederic just had to accept it.
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Post by betsie on Sept 24, 2010 15:11:49 GMT
Great pics, Betsie, never made it to Potsdam, just to Potsdamer Platz ;D Now that is an architectural disaster area! It used to be the Picadilly circus of Berlin in the old days. None of the new office blocks have designs that show any consideration for the others, and it's become nothing more than a very busy traffic junction. Shame.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 27, 2010 18:25:27 GMT
Thanks Betsie, I enjoyed your photos very much. I have never been to Potsdam so it is nice to see your highlights.
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Post by Jazz on Sept 27, 2010 19:32:23 GMT
Great photos, thanks Betsie. I have always had a vague idea of Potsdam and with your post I began to search a bit. Potsdam is a city which is ¾ green and the rest urban, this must be unique today! It was severely damaged in WW2 and so it is remarkable to see that some of these beautiful buildings survived. … ‘Frederick was a proponent of enlightened absolutism. For years he was a correspondent of Voltaire, with whom the king had an intimate, if turbulent, friendship. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and promoted religious tolerance throughout his realm. Frederick patronized the arts and philosophers, and wrote flute music. Frederick is buried at his favorite residence, Sanssouci in Potsdam’. ….
Postsdam has a rich history and the most significant in recent history is the Potsdam Conference at the conclusion of WW2.
….'July 17 – Aug. 2, 1945) Allied conference held in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam after Germany's surrender in World War II. Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill (later replaced by Clement R. Attlee) met to discuss European peace settlements, the administration of defeated Germany, the demarcation of the boundaries of Poland, the occupation of Austria, the definition of the Soviet Union's role in eastern Europe, the determination of reparations, and the further prosecution of the war against Japan. The four occupation zones of Germany conceived at the Yalta Conference were set up, each to be administered by the commander-in-chief of the Soviet, British, U.S., or French army of occupation. Poland's boundary became the Oder and Neisse rivers in the west, and the country received part of former East Prussia. Stalin refused to let the Western powers interfere with his control of eastern Europe’….
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Post by betsie on Sept 27, 2010 19:36:58 GMT
Glad to hear that, Jazz and Mitch, nice to meet you, Mitch.
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Post by imec on Sept 28, 2010 1:38:16 GMT
Really enjoyed this, thank you! I find the building at the top of the staircase structure in the third picture very interesting.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 29, 2010 10:31:46 GMT
Your photos are wonderful Betsie! Thank you so much.
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Post by betsie on Sept 29, 2010 10:54:40 GMT
Glad you liked them, Tod and Imec.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2010 15:43:20 GMT
Hi Bix. There's an old windmill next to his palace, which he insisted had to go when he planned the palace. Since it was a young parliamentary democracy, the miller refused and took him to court. The judge said the windmill had to stay and Frederic just had to accept it. The over-the-top beauty of the buildings is indisputable, but this ancient court dispute is the kind of thing that makes a place truly interesting. Wonderful factoid, Betsie ~~ thanks!
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