Sanssouci Park, Potsdam

Along the avenues in the Sanssouci Park are a series of "roundels." At the first one (with busts of four Moors) can be seen Neptune's Grotto (by Knobelsdorff, 1751-57).

At the Orange Roundel (by Dusart, 1650) in Sanssouci Park is the Picture Gallery (Bildergalerie; by J. G. Büring, 1755-63). The pictures are mainly 17th C.; they include works by Rubens, van Dyck, Tintoretto and Caravaggio.

At the foot of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam is the Great Fountain, with representations of the four elements and of mythological figures.

At the west end of the Hauptallee stands the New Palace (Neues Palais; by Büring and Gontard, 1763-69), the last 18th century palace in Sanssouci Park, built in brick relieved by sandstone, with a copper dome. The interior is sumptuously decorated, particularly in the Marble Hall, the Upper and Lower State Apartments, the Marble Gallery and the Theater.The palace contains valuable furniture, pictures, porcelain and works of art.

To the rear of Potsdam's New Palace are the Communs (domestic offices), two brick buildings in Baroque style (by Gontard, 1765-69), with columned porticoes and curving external staircases; they are now occupied by a teachers' training college. Between the two buildings are Corinthian colonnades and a triumphal arch.In front of the New Palace are the Ancient Temple (Antikentempel) and the Temple of Friendship (Freundschaftstempel), with a statue of Margravine Wilhelmine of Bayreuth. Both temples were built by Gontard on the basis of sketches by Frederick the Great.

In the southern part of Sanssouci Park can be found Charlottenhof Palace (designed by K. F. Schinkel, 1826-29). The most notable features of the palace are the staircase hall, with a fountain, and the room (in the form of a tent) occupied by the great traveler and scientist Alexander von Humboldt. The palace contains a small collection of pictures (including works by Caspar David Friedrich).

In the Charlottenhof park, within Sanssouci Park, are the Hippodrome and the Roman Baths (Römische Bäder; built by Persius to the design of Schinkel, 1829-35), in the style of an Italian villa.The baths were formerly used as outbuildings of the castle.

Near the east end of Potsdam's Sanssouci Park is the Marlygarten, originally Frederick William I's kitchen garden, laid out by Lenné in 1845-46 as a landscaped park.

At the east end of Potsdam's Sanssouci Park stands the Peace Church (Friedenskirche; built by L. Hesse and F. von Arnim in 1845-54 to the design of L. Persius), modeled on the Early Christian basilica of San Clemente in Rome. Its greatest treasure is the apse mosaic (1108) from the church of San Cipriano, Murano (near Venice), which was purchased and installed here in 1834.On the avenue leading to the Grünes Gitter (exit) are the Villa Illaire (1844-46; by Hesse to the design of Persius), in the style of an Italian villa, and the Villa Liegnitz (by J. G. Schadow, 1841).