The name by which Frederick the Great’s second palace, the Neues Palais (New Palace), is referred to in Germany could be seen as being indicative of Frederick’s linguistic preferences. Though Frederick was undeniably German, he never really cared for the German language, much preferring to speak French (this was actually quite common among the European nobility of the time). He was also partial to other things French, such as art and philosophers, and this may have led him, despite the growing trend toward neoclassical architecture, to build one of the last great baroque palaces in Europe. But the fact that he built a palace at all was apparently a response to the Seven Years' War.

The Seven Years’ War lasted from 1754 to 1763 (apparently the name "Nine Years' War" was already taken), and can be looked at as an early World War, as it involved most of the major powers of Europe and took place in numerous theaters, scattered across the globe. Besides Europe, fighting was seen in North America (this is known in the U.S. as the French and Indian War), South America, Africa, India and even the Philippines. In Europe, the war was essentially Prussia, Great Britain and some of the smaller German states vs. Everybody Else. Prussia was facing Sweden from the north, Russia from the east, Austria from the south and France from the west. Britain was a valuable ally, as they supplied money, a certain amount of land forces, and the most dominant navy in the world. But even so, Frederick’s strategic and tactical skills were tested to their limits and beyond, and the war would probably have been lost if it hadn’t been for the "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg", which happened in early 1762. In this Miracle the Russian Empress Elizabeth died, and her successor, Peter III, immediately switched sides to ally with Prussia and Great Britain. This was a great boost for Prussia, whose manpower had dwindled to a dangerous level, and a profound reversal for Prussia’s foes, who quickly lost their appetite for further conflict. As it turned out, Peter III didn’t last long, being overthrown and assassinated by mid-1762, and his successor, Catherine the Great, lost no time in switching sides back again. But by this time it was too late – the war was winding down, and a treaty was signed in early 1763, ending it.

Prussia emerged from the war, battered and financially drained, but without loss of territory. This was a moral victory, as Austria’s principal aim had been to retake Silesia from Prussia, but Frederick felt that the Prussian people needed additional measures to lift their mood after such a costly conflict. What better way could there be than to build a new palace? So the Neues Palais was built, from 1763 through 1769. In contrast to Sanssouci, which was quite small for a palace, the Neues Palais was gigantic, with three stories and more than 200 rooms. Frederick didn’t really like staying there, preferring the relative intimacy of Sanssouci. But the Neues Palais had large rooms that were more suited to events of state, and of course had much more space for visitors.

Such as us. Our bus from Sanssouci passed to the north of the Neues Palais area, then looped around to the south, where it dropped us off just south of the palace. On the way we saw several buildings belonging to Potsdam University - some of the buildings of the Neues Palais complex are now in use by this school.

Approaching the palace from the south, we could see two large, matching buildings on the left, known as the Communs, which are used by the university. In Frederick’s day, they were used to house the kitchen staff and the servants. We noted they were undergoing renovation, and there was a great deal of scaffolding between them. A makeshift shelter was protecting a number of statues which had temporarily been taken down from a structure that connects the two buildings.


We directed our attention to the palace itself, on the right. It was certainly much larger than Sanssouci, and was undergoing a certain amount of renovation of its own. On and atop its brick façade were a number of decorative sculptures, which are apparently made of sandstone. We discovered after our visit that the bricks in the façade aren’t really bricks at all, but a convincing brick pattern, painted on top of stucco.


We entered the building and flashed our Neues Palais passes, which gained us audioguide headsets and entry into a large room called the Lower Vestibule. But before we could enter this room we had to put on big fuzzy gray slippers, to protect the marble flooring.

Adjacent to the Lower Vestibule is probably the most distinctive room in the palace, a large room known as the Grotto Hall. The walls and columns of the Grotto Hall are decorated with seashells, minerals and semi-precious stones. There are also sculpted renderings of cherubs and sea serpents. Even the marble of the floor is inlaid with renderings of sea life.




Connected to the Grotto Hall but inaccessible to visitors on this particular day is another large room called the Marble Gallery. Inaccessible but not entirely invisible, as we could see some of it through an open door.

From here we were able to walk through several other rooms, decorated in a more conventional palatial manner. In evidence was more of the Frederician Rococo style that we had seen at Sanssouci.


We then came to a room that was more somberly decorated, with a black cross painted on the floor. This was the death chamber of Frederick III, who died here in 1888. This Frederick was the opposite of the previous Frederick in a number of ways. First, he liked the Neues Palais very much. Second, while he was also included in an arranged marriage (to the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain, also named Victoria), his marriage was a long and happy one. Frederick III and Victoria, Princess Royal, produced eight children, one of whom grew up to become Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last Emperor of Germany. Third, while Frederick served well in the Prussian wars that took place during his adult life, he was much more of a pacifist than the earlier Frederick. And fourth, while Frederick the Great’s reign was long and eventful, Frederick III’s lasted only 99 days, as he was already suffering from cancer of the larynx when he succeeded to the throne.


We continued through several other rooms, all ornately decorated.





Eventually the visitor route took us upstairs, where there were many more rooms. One such room was called the Hunting Room, and was decorated with details related to hunting (dogs, guns, birds, etc.), of which Frederick II was very fond.


More rooms and decorations followed.




We eventually came to a large room called the Marble Hall (not to be confused with the Marble Gallery on the ground floor), which was obviously used for large gatherings.


We then reached a stairway that took us back down, leading us to a room called the Red Damask Chamber, a reference to its wall coverings. Hung on the red damask was an assortment of portraits, and in the middle of the room was a large wooden model of a palace (apparently not the Neues Palais).

This concluded our tour of the Neues Palais, as well as our visit to the viewpoints of Potsdam. We reboarded the bus and returned to the train station. With it being well past 3 PM, we were more than ready for lunch. Fortunately the train station had several places where food was available. We found a fast food seafood place called Nordsee (nordzay), where we fortified ourselves on ocean-based protein.

The train took us back to Berlin, where we returned to our hotel and started packing. Our time in Berlin was at an end, and early the following day we would be catching a plane for our next destination, Cologne.