July 15-17, 2015: Potsdam was on my itinerary for getting over jet lag and trying to appreciate rococo – not one of my favorite styles. As it turned out I didn’t have any jet lag. I got just enough sleep on the short flight from Boston, that even without my usual arrival day nap I was able to stay awake until a reasonably normal bedtime, and get up with everyone else the next day.
The rococo part went better than I expected, too. Potsdam’s signature sights – Schloss Sanssouci and several related buildings – owe their existence to Frederick II, the third Hohenzollern King of Prussia. (Also known as Frederick the Great, and as Old Fritz – take your pick.) Frederick loved rococo, and was still using it well after it had gone out of fashion everywhere else and been succeeded by the more austere style of Neoclassisim. But perhaps my problems are really with baroque rather than rococo – I found Old Fritz’s decorations lighter and more playful than I expected – and that was before I trekked across the extensive park to the Chinese pavilion, a truly delicious folly.
I had bought my ticket, good for all the buildings in the park and with a timed admission to Sanssouci, a couple of months ahead of time, but it turned out that I needn’t have bothered. In fact I would have got in five minutes earlier if I had waited, but I don’t know how common that is – there were certainly plenty of people around later on. Although you need an entry time, no one seems to care how long you spend inside. You’re handed an audio guide and left to your own devices.
After the Schloss I went next door to the much less popular New Chambers, originally an orangerie, repurposed as extra quarters. But I did not visit the art gallery on the other side of the Schloss, figuring that between Boston and Berlin I didn’t need to look at any more pictures. Instead I took a bus round the outside of the estate to the New Palace (the transport pass I bought in Berlin also covered Potsdam). The cafe there was a mistake, providing a very mediocre sandwich, and the palace itself was in need of renovation.
I finished my Sanssouci visit with the Chinese pavilion, and it’s hard to say whether it was worth the trek across the park to get there – especially as there was no shade: without my umbrella/sunshade I wouldn’t have done it. The building is small, and bears little relationship to anything authentically Chinese, but it is a remarkable example of Chinoiserie. The inside isn’t very interesting, but I loved the gold statues, exemplifying western views of China, placed all round the little building on the outside.
Given the heat and the distances, I decided to skip the other attractions in the park (mainly Schloss Charlottenhof) and after making it back to the entrance took the bus into town, getting off for a welcome coffee on the edge of a park at Platz der Einheit. (Turned out that the coffee would probably have been better, although not the view, if I had walked a block north.) Consulting the map I had bought at the T.I. on arrival, I discovered that I could catch the bus to Schloss Cecilienhof right by the cafe. Cecilienhof, built for the German Crown Prince as WWI got underway, was the site of the Potsdam conference at the end of WWII. As I had previously visited the site of the Yalta conference, it seemed only fitting to add the Potsdam site.
The palace, built in fake medieval style (see my preceding post) would not be worth the bus ride except for the historical associations, but there is plenty of information available, and the grounds are pretty. Heading out there also got me a look at one of Potsdam’s many lakes.
So Potsdam was a success? Well, not entirely. I don’t usually visit Europe in the summer, so I don’t usually worry about air conditioning when I’m in Europe. However, a memory of a very hot and uncomfortable visit to London in early July 2006, led me to do some research. Instead of reading only recent hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com, I looked at the ones from last summer, and as a result, for almost all my July and August accommodation, aside from Norway, I booked places with AC. (Thanks to the reviews I was able to avoid a place in Berlin that turned its AC off at night!) However, for Potsdam and Schwerin, where I would only spend two nights apiece, and where I found no good options in the city center with AC, I would do without. My first night in Potsdam, this turned out reasonably well – opening the window cooled my room down. The second night, not so much. It had been a very hot day, and my room was on the top floor, facing west. The room finally cooled down enough for sleep around 1:00 am, by which time I had provided dinner for an annoying insect.
I was glad to have seen Potsdam, and aside from the lack of AC, my hotel, the Am Grossen Waisenhaus, housed in a former barracks, had been fine, with helpful staff. If I forget the sandwich at the New Palace cafe, I had eaten well, with a good breakfast buffet at the hotel, pork and mushrooms just up the street, and reasonable Indian fare nearer the center. So I thought the town definitely worth a day trip, and even a stop over, but not in high summer.
Thank you !