Sanssouci Palace

Sanssouci was Frederick the Great's answer to grandeur by way of modesty - a single-storey Rococo palace of just ten principal rooms, built in 1745-47 atop a staircase of glassed vineyard terraces so the king could live 'without cares' among his vines and his flute music. Voltaire argued philosophy here; the Marble Hall and the gilded music room survive with their conversation almost audible; and Frederick himself lies where he asked to be, on the top terrace beside his greyhounds, his plain slab kept supplied with potatoes by visitors saluting the king who championed the crop. Around the palace spreads Potsdam's great park - the vast New Palace at the far axis, the gilded Chinese House among the lawns, the Orangery on its ridge - the ensemble inscribed as World Heritage in 1990 with Potsdam's wider palace landscape.

History

Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff designed and built the palace in 1745-1747 for Frederick the Great as a private summer residence where he could escape the ceremony of the court, a single-storey villa of just ten principal rooms whose French name means without worries. After the First World War it stayed with the Hohenzollerns until the Prussian administration of state palaces and gardens took it over on 1 April 1927; it came through the fighting of 1945 unscathed, though the old windmill in the park was lost, and most of the art sent to Rheinsberg for safety was carried off to the Soviet Union, with only a small part returned in 1958. Sanssouci fared well in East Germany and was placed on the World Heritage List in 1990, and in 1991, after reunification, Frederick's coffin was laid at night and without pomp in the crypt he had built on the vineyard terrace, as he had wished (Wikipedia, Sanssouci).

What you'll find

• The vineyard terraces - the glassed vine staircase rising to the palace front.
• The Rococo rooms - the Marble Hall and music room, gilding at full whisper.
• The Chinese House - the gilded teahouse folly among the lawns.
• Frederick's grave - the plain slab on the terrace, potatoes left in tribute.

When to go

April to October for fountains, blooms and the vine terraces in leaf; timed palace tickets sell out on summer weekends, so book ahead. The park in golden October is the quiet triumph.

Practical notes

The palace interior is small and the timed slots strict - the park is the larger half of the day, and it is genuinely vast, so expect kilometres. Each palace tickets separately unless you buy the combination ticket. Potsdam is an easy Berlin day trip but deserves better than two rushed hours.

Nearby

The New Palace, Potsdam's Dutch Quarter, Babelsberg Park and central Berlin half an hour away.

Key facts