New Palace Potsdam

Following the end of the “Seven Year War” of 1763, Frederick the Great (1712-1786) initiated the construction of the imposing Neues Palais (New Palace) in the Sanssouci park. The palace with its magnificent banquet halls, wonderful galleries and princely apartments was a demonstration, a sign for the unbroken efficiency of the Prussian state after years of war marked by exceeding deprivation.  A century and half later, the last ruling Prussian monarch experienced in the New Palace bitter fateful hours. Kaiser Wilhelm II. (1859-1941) resided here with his family, until he abdicated in 1918 as a result of the revolutionary uprising in the country and fled to Netherlands. Visitors experience today the pomp in the palace, with which the Prussian monarchy decorated itself once, as well as the eventful history of the palace.  

 

^{Foto: Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Leo Seidel}