It was a lovely sunny but slightly nippy day in Berlin. I was booked to take a tour of Sans Souci on one of the many walking tours starting near Brandenburg Gate. To be fair it would be the second one Id taken from the same company and I was quite looking forward to it. The idea of an unpaid student guide who had to work hard to get his tips always appealed to the capitalist in me! What didnt appeal to me was that it would be a 6 hour walking tour!!
Anyhow, refreshed as I was from yet another fabulous night at SOHO House Berlin I set off to the Berlin underground with my guide to head to Potsdam to visit Sans Souci. The former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, it was built to rival Versailles and is a glorious ode to rococo architecture.
It was designed by George Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King Frederick's desire for a place to relax away from the Berlin court and Sans souci means "without worries." A small palace- a mere ten main rooms, its size is an optical illusion as it is built on the top of a terraced hill. Ingeniously designed, the layers of terraces contain grape vines all housed within structures that allow the doors to be closed on them for frosty nights.
Its very hard to describe the first moment you see it- its like some frothy concoction afterthought perched on top of a multi tiered wedding cake. Steps disect a multitude of terraces covered in grape vines leading up to the single storey palace on the crest of the hill. Walking on to the top terrace one is greeted with the swirls and flourishes that define rococa, and its more larger sister style- baroque.
Anyhow, refreshed as I was from yet another fabulous night at SOHO House Berlin I set off to the Berlin underground with my guide to head to Potsdam to visit Sans Souci. The former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, it was built to rival Versailles and is a glorious ode to rococo architecture.
It was designed by George Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King Frederick's desire for a place to relax away from the Berlin court and Sans souci means "without worries." A small palace- a mere ten main rooms, its size is an optical illusion as it is built on the top of a terraced hill. Ingeniously designed, the layers of terraces contain grape vines all housed within structures that allow the doors to be closed on them for frosty nights.
The next few hours were pleasantly spent wandering around the park and seeing the many other palaces that exist in these grounds-which used to be a former orchard. Sadly as it was the onset of winter a number of the statues had already been boarded in boxes of straw in order to survive the bitterly cold winter.
A definate place to see in the 1000 places to see before you die
No comments:
Post a Comment