A Carefree Day in Potsdam

The terraced vineyard below Sanssouci Palace

Potsdam, sight of the famous conference between Truman, Churchill, and Stalin at the end of WWII, is a city lying about an hour southwest of Berlin by light rail, and was home to the Summer residence of the Hohenzollern dynasty that ruled Prussia and eventually the German Empire until 1918. The current Prince of Prussia (in title only), George Friederich, who would be Kaiser if the First World War hadn't led to the dethronement of the German monarchy, was recently married to Princess Sophie von Isenburg at the Palace of Sanssouci in Potsdam this past weekend. The name of the palace comes from the French sans souci, meaning "without worry" or "carefree." It was created in the mid-18th century by King Frederick II, known as "The Great," as a place of relaxation away from the formality and ceremony of court life in Berlin. Surrounded by nearby lakes, Potsdam also provided a more tolerable Summer location than Berlin. Frederick the Great is known as one of the greatest military minds in all of history; in fact, Napoleon, after defeating the forces of Prussia in 1807 and forcing a peace with them, visited the tomb of Frederick, saying "If this man were still alive, I would not be here today." 

The Orangerie, a large greenhouse

Grotto below the Orangerie

However, Frederick was in his heart of hearts a sensitive man, a lover of philosophy and music, who did not want to be king. As a young man, he unsuccessfully attempted to flee to England with his best friend, whose decapitation after their capture, he was forced to witness. He himself was spared the punishment for desertion (he was an officer in the Prussian army at the time). Instead he was demoted and relegated to a post away from Berlin for several years, allowed only to return for the wedding of his beloved sister. He was sternly reminded that the throne was his obligation, that his responsibility was to his people, and that selfishly shirking that responsibility to pursue his trifling interests would lead to a crisis of succession jeopardizing the stability of the Prussian state and the safety of his people. During his exile from Berlin his studies were focused on soldiery and statecraft. This experience attributed greatly to his belief in Enlightened Absolutism, that just as it was his subjects' duty to follow his absolute rule as king, so was it his responsibility as god's sovereign representative on earth to see to the safety, welfare, and improvement of his people. It was this feeling of responsibility to the people that differed his brand of Absolutism from the French form propagated by Louis XIV "The Sun King." Furthermore, it was in this spirit that in the 1720's, he made Prussia the first country in the world to have mandatory public education, as well as providing a haven of religious and political tolerance, arguing that such a virtuous system should not fear to tolerate debate and discussion. He enjoyed the friendship and correspondence of Voltaire, although they were known to quarrel. All this took place in the most militarized country in Europe, where social and political advancement was only possible through displays of merit by serving the state, rather than by birthright. It was said that "Prussia was not a country with an army, but an army with a country."

The Windmill (reconstructed in the 19th c.)

 Heavy lay the crown upon the head of this great man, whose palace of Sanssouci was was a small rococo villa in comparison to the lavish baroque Versailles. The sprawling gardens of Sanssouci Park boasted the neatly ordered features of a baroque garden: geometric footpaths, perfectly manicured lawns and box hedges, some shaped into pyramids, fountains (long hampered by poor water-pumping technology), as well as statues, grottoes, colonnades, and temples in the style of classical Greece and Rome. He even had a faux ruin constructed to conceal the water reservoir on a neighboring hill.  It was a place of escape and relaxation that also exhibited how the tastes of the comparatively spartan Frederick who typically wore a simple blue army uniform, differing from his counterparts in the french aristocracy, who were already stagnating in the opulence and disconnectedness from their people that would lead to their bloody demise only decades later. A terraced vineyard lead up to the palace, and the park possessed some 3,000 fruit trees, as well as numerous green houses where oranges, dates, and even bananas could be cultivated, most of which still exists, along with an old windmill Frederick chose to keep for its rustic aesthetic. 

The author's head poking out of the water on the left

Sanssouci is only one of the palaces in Potsdam, and it took a couple of hours to make a cursory tour of the grounds. Since it was the height of tourist season, the wait to tour in the inside was was too long for us, because we had some swimming to do. As mentioned in previous blogs, there is a good-sized minority of Southeast Asians in East Germany, and we lunched at a Thai restaurant in Potsdam. I had a very tasty fried duck breast, which I joked to my companions had come from one of the fat ducks living in the waters of the palace, saying that they probably sent someone running down there, clever in hand, to fill my order. After lunch, we took the train back a few stops in the direction of Berlin, getting off at Schlachtensee. It is one of the smaller lakes in the area, and doesn't require an entrance fee. The Summer having been so rainy and uncooperative, we understood that the more popular lakes would be covered with a certain type of pumped-up, fake-tanned, working class German, somewhat akin to American white trash and more specifically, the 'wife beater' wearing residents of Riverside county who so annoy the residents of beach cities back home. The water of the lake was fairly clear and refreshingly cold, but not freezing as it did not seem to be all that deep of a lake. I nonetheless teased the girls about the man-sized catfish that would come up from the depths of the lake to nip at their legs, and proceeded to play the role of the catfish, laughing like a mischievous little boy. After our dip we enjoyed a bit of sunshine and Rotkäppchen on the banks of the lake. Rotkäppchen is a German brand of sparkling wine or Sekt that was the principle brand available in the old East German state and is still much loved in this part of the country and usually sells for about 4 Euros in a grocery store. Rotkäppchen is also "Little Red Riding Hood" in German, and the brand probably refers to the story, wherein the German version, she brings cakes and wine to her sick grandmother, who for some reason lives alone in the middle of a forest crawling with wolves, a minor plot hole. After our long day we returned to the city for a little cheap pizza and then went to hang out on the Admiralsbrücke, a small bridge in Berlin that people, for some reason, like to loiter and obstruct traffic on until the police come at 10 pm to send everyone packing because of a noise ordinance. All in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day, and although caring for two small children isn't quite as stressful as being King of Prussia, it's always nice to get out of town for a day.