Potsdam - Prussian History

June 19, 2014

Today I joined a walking tour of Potsdam which is in the southwestern area of Berlin. Potsdam is a world UNESCO site. Our guide, Matti ("Mautee") was born in Eastern Berlin the year before the wall came down. His father has a "file" because he was a teacher and not sympathetic with the Communists. Matti graduated from Potsdam University with a degree in History and English. He told me he was interviewing today for an internship in Brussells with the Parliament. *Update on interview....ran into Matti the day after this tour...he was offered the internship! He was so happy and I was happy for him! He did a great job and his English was impeccable. I will try to share some of the interesting historical facts he noted but would also like share these links. If you want more in depth explanations these would be a good starting points.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/532

http://www.historicgermany.travel/en/historic-cities/potsdam/history

An advantage of joining a walking tour (in addition to having a knowledgable guide) is meeting others who are visiting Berlin. Today I met people from Singapore, Paris, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and the good old USA-North Carolina. Best practical travel tip of the day was from a couple from New Zealand.  She mentioned that they do not have laundry facilities at their hotel. She smiled and said oh we shower with our clothes on and then hang them to dry! She said New Zealanders are very practical people! 

Historic Spy Walks took place on this bridge. Three happened here including the Gary Powers spy swap.

The Tudor style palace pictured above was the site of an important conference in 1945. President Truman and Churchhill were amoung the participants. During this conference President Truman made the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. During this conference the 4 Big Ds were also developed. Research for this post will be to discover what the four Ds were. This palace has 167 rooms. There are two "momentos" left by the Russian party. See if you can spot them! 

Burgerberatung was a prison - now a museum dedicated to Victims of Political Violence.

Our guide suggested a book written by Ana Funder. Here is a link to the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Stasiland-Stories-Behind-Berlin-Wall/dp/0062077325

One of the kings built a neighborhood of Russian style housing pictured above as a way of keeping 12 men who formed a choir that he created. One of the homes is still owned by the original Russian family. That home is pictured below.

The Dutch Quarter - built in hopes of luring Dutch people to the area. All of Berlin is built on a marsh and the kings knew that the Dutch were knowledge about agriculture and growing crops in these conditions. 

We had a lunch break in the Dutch Quarter and the two photos above were from the coffee shop I ate at. 

Sans Souci Palace (translation; no worries) built by the "Romantic King" Frederick the Great. 

He is considered the most influencial leader in German history. He spoke three languages and was known to hate German culture. At one point he said he only speaks German when speaking to his horse. Also known for promoting potatoes to the German people. His grave is on the grounds of the palace. Instead of leaving flowers visitors leave potatoes. Anyone else hungry for some warm German potato salad? I know I am! 

Tour guid Matti on the left. 

These big glass doors were integrated into the design so they could be closed in the winter to protect the plants. 

Matti commented that he never saw decorated potatoes left at the grave. We decided that perhaps a school group had visited and left the special potatoes. 

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Tomorrow I plan on touring another historical site. Check the blog to find out where I go!