- Type
- Palace / château
- Origins
- 1851 · 19th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Brandenburg, Germany
- Style
- Renaissance Revival architecture
- Commissioned by
- Frederick William IV of Prussia
- Architect
- Friedrich August Stüler
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Coordinates
- 52.4050°, 13.0296°
History
The palace was built between 1851 and 1864 for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who was captivated by the architecture of Italy. Sketches by the king himself and earlier plans by Ludwig Persius were worked up by Friedrich August Stüler and Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse, who took Rome's Villa Medici and the Uffizi in Florence as models. The building was meant to be part of a triumphal road across the hills north of the park that was never completed. The central block held state rooms and guest apartments for the king's sister Charlotte, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, flanked by glazed halls for plants. Since 1990 the palace has been part of the Potsdam palaces and parks inscribed on the UNESCO list.
What to see
The centre of the palace is a two-towered block with a colonnade, fronted by terraces with fountains. The highlight is the Raphael Hall, hung with more than fifty 19th-century copies of his paintings. The guest apartments, including the Malachite Room, can also be visited, and a viewing terrace between the towers offers a panorama of Sanssouci Park and Potsdam. The side halls are still used to overwinter potted plants.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q677478
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