If you walk along the Grosse Allee through Sanssouci Palace Park, you come to the last important Baroque palace complex in Prussia, the Neues Palais in Potsdam. For me, the New Palace with its adjacent buildings is one of the most beautiful buildings in the palace park.
Tour around the castle grounds
After the Seven Years’ War, Frederick the Great had the magnificent and costly New Palace built in 1763. He commissioned the master builder Büring, who had already built the Chinese House in the palace park. However, the ideas of Frederick the Great and the master builder must not have coincided and the master builder was dismissed before completion. Carl von Gontard replaced him in 1764 and completed the New Palace.
Anyone walking around the beautiful building will be amazed at how long the palace is. The three-wing complex has the stately length of 220 metres. The central part is defined by a two-and-a-half-storey building section with a 55-metre-high tambour dome. On top of the dome are three shining golden graces carrying a cushion with the royal crown. The figures symbolise Aglaia (the shining one), Euphrosyne (the joyful one) and Thalia (the festive one). I find it interesting that the dome was only built to define the appearance of the building. Nothing of the dome should be visible in the building.
If you take a closer look at the exterior walls of the Neues Palais, you will notice that only the southern side wing, where the royal flat is located, is made of red brick. During the construction phase there was a problem with the procurement of bricks. The master builder decided not to wait for delivery and to fake the appearance of a brick wall by skilfully painting the outer wall.
What I find impressive are the countless statues that have been placed on and around the building. There are said to be 267 larger-than-life statues on the main building alone. In addition, there are 196 groups of putti on the side wings and 163 statues on the ground floor in front of the pilasters. If you look at the windows, you will also notice the 244 figuratively designed keystones. Frederick the Great commissioned various artists for these countless artistic works, otherwise it would certainly have taken many years to complete the magnificent pieces.
Why did Frederick the Great build the castle?
The construction of the Schlosser had not only purely practical reasons for Frederick the Great, but was also intended to show Prussia’s role in Europe. He, the great Prussian ruler, wanted to demonstrate his power and set up a monument to himself as a victorious general. This becomes particularly clear when one takes a look at the inscriptions on the central risalite. There it says “Nec soli cedit”, which translates as “Even the sun he does not yield”.
It was certainly too expensive to use the beautiful building “only” as a show object for external presentation. So they killed two birds with one stone and were able to present their guests with a magnificent summer house in which lavish parties were held and, of course, the “visitors” could also stay.
The New Palais as a venue for festivities
The annual festive weeks always took place in the Neues Palais between April and October. The king’s siblings and their families, selected members of the Berlin court and princely guests travelled to the palace, while the Hohenzollerns met in Potsdam.
Guests lived and celebrated in 200 rooms, four banqueting halls and the beautiful theatre hall. In the southern wing, the king had a flat at his disposal. Two special guests had their own specially furnished flats in the New Palace. Frederick’s long-time companion Marquis d’Argens could reside in the Marquis d’Argens flat and the king’s oldest living brother in the Heinrich flat. The heir to the throne and the king’s unmarried sister Princess Anna Amalie also had their own flats. All “other” guests had to make do with guest rooms.
The New Palais as a summer residence and museum
After Frederick the Great died in 1786, the ruling family rarely used the New Palace for festive events. It was not until 1859 that Crown Prince Frederick William, later Emperor Frederick III, moved into the beautiful palace during the summer months. The 99-day emperor had some modernisation work carried out, which was pushed ahead by his son Wilhelm II after his death. He had steam heating and electric light installed in the palace. Each quarter received its own bathroom and toilets, and in 1903 they even installed a lift in the north staircase.
With the abdication of Wilhelm II after the November Revolution in 1918, the New Palace became a museum palace. After the Second World War, the Soviet army looted the palace’s furnishings.
Today, many of the rooms have been reconstructed and can be visited. Visitors can expect magnificent banqueting halls, grand galleries and princely flats as well as the baroque Sanssouci Palace Theatre in the south wing. Here you can experience the arts and crafts of the 18th century in their original context.
View “behind” the New Palais
Circling the building, I come to a large open space located between the Communs, the Triumphal Gate and the Court of Honour. This space is called the Mopke, a term I have never heard before.
The Mopke was used by the imperial court as an event space. Military ceremonies and festivals, for example, took place there. Visitors could watch the spectacle from the stairs and the porticoes.
The communes form the end of the grounds around the palace building. They served to accommodate additional guests and officials of the king and the servants. Kitchen and utility rooms were also located there.
I find it very exciting that Wilhelm II had a connecting tunnel built under the Mopke. This led from the Neues Palais to the Communs. It must have been very practical when the food prepared in the kitchen had to be taken to the banqueting halls or to get from one building to the next without getting wet.
I find it difficult to reconcile the use of the building with its appearance. A representative staircase leads into each of the two parts of the building, domes and ornaments make the building look very stately. Behind such a rich façade should have been the kitchen? Quite astonishing, but in keeping with the idea that the entire Neues Palais was built for representative purposes only. People wanted to show off themselves and their power.
I particularly like the portico that connects the two parts of the commune and in the middle of which stands the 24-metre-high dome-crowned Triumphal Gate.
Today, almost the entire complex of the Communs is used by the University of Potsdam. Especially in summer, students sit on the stairs and in the shady colonnade and enliven the stately buildings.
Address:
Neues Palais
Am Neuen Palais
14469 Potsdam
Opening hours:
November – March
Wednesday-Monday: 10-16.30 h
Tuesday: closed
April-October
Wednesday-Monday: 10-17.30 h
Tuesday: closed
Entrance fees (Grand Tour + King’s Apartment):
Adults: 14,-€
Discounts are offered.
Visits from the outside are free of charge.
Leave a Reply