Sanssouci Palace and Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Palaces And Parks Of Potsdam And Berlin (1990); Frederick The Great'S Summer Palace Of 1747 Above Its Vine Terraces, With The Neues Palais, The Chinese House And The Orangery In A Park Of About 290 Hectares · Potsdam, Brandenburg

Sanssouci is Frederick the Great's summer palace at Potsdam, immediately west of Berlin: a long single-storey building finished in 1747 to his own sketches by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, set on top of six curved vine terraces above a fountain parterre. The name is French for without care, and Frederick used it as a private retreat where his court and his wife were not welcome. He is buried on the terrace beside the palace, next to the graves of his whippets, and visitors leave potatoes on the slab. The palace interior is small, rococo and seen on a timed ticket. The park around it runs to about 290 hectares and is free to enter, with a voluntary contribution requested, and holds the enormous Neues Palais at its far end, the gilded Chinese House, the Orangery Palace, Schinkel's Roman Baths and Charlottenhof, the Picture Gallery and a working windmill. It is part of the UNESCO Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin, listed in 1990, and reachable from central Berlin on a normal ABC transit ticket.

Maulbeerallee, Park Sanssouci, Potsdam, immediately west of Berlin, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

The park is open daily from early morning until dusk, free, with a voluntary contribution requested at the ticket points. The palace itself admits timed tickets only and normally closes on Mondays, as most of the Potsdam palaces do, with the last slot well before closing - confirm. The Neues Palais keeps its own days and also closes one weekday. The smaller buildings - the Chinese House, the Roman Baths, Charlottenhof, the Picture Gallery, the New Chambers and the Belvedere - open only in a short warm season, roughly May to October, and several shut entirely in winter. The fountains run seasonally, roughly late spring to October, and the park is unlit after dark.

Sanssouci Palace and Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos