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Potsdam, Germany - The Palaces - 20 July 2003

Posted by Edmond on Thursday, October 2, 2003 · Comments (0)

I found it amusing that a palace is "Schloss" in german (those german speakers, please don't take any offence). Despite the expression, the palaces around Potsdam are elegant and grand in every respect and the palaces in the equally large Park Sansoucci took me quite some time exploring/commuting to. I should also not forget to mention Gleinicke Palace, which is located outside of Potsdam and sits on a hill overlooking a large lake. Despite the long trip from Berlin via the S-bahn, I felt that this was a very pleasing day out to the capital of Brandenburg.


Background

Judging by the large number of tourists hopping on and off the shuttle bus, Potsdam and its palaces in Park Sansoucci must be one of the popular tourist destinations outside of Berlin, or even Germany. Getting tickets for the guided tours of Schloss Sansoucci was also an endless battle. Much to my disappointment, the guided tour ended up being in German - avoid if you don't understand german.

Otherwise, Park Sansoucci was an amazing place for a wander, with its palaces, mansions and ornamental houses surrounded by classical gardens. The most photogenic of these has to be the China House, with its oriental-style painted exterior and golden statues. It took more than half the day to get through the main attractions, including the tower climb at the Orangery Palace and the unguided audio tour of the New Palace.

Before returning to Berlin, I made a brief stop at Glienicke Palace - according to the guide book, visitors get to see great views of Lake Havel. The palace takes its influences from Venetian architecture, however, this did not seem very obvious to me until I finally found the entrance to the gardens (the gate entrance was not very obvious). At the end of the garden, a long walkway had been where the whole expanse of the lake can be viewed. Although the palace did look a bit bland, the gardens and lake views more than made up for this.


Technical

Canon EOS 300V Zoom and Canon A20 Powershot for the digital photos.


Links

Palaces and Brandenberg


© Edmond, 2002