Tourist Attractions in Potsdam, Germany

To the north of Bassinplatz lies the famous Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel), with 134 brick houses in a uniform style built between 1737 and 1742 by J. Boumann the Elder and Dutch craftsmen.

In Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse in Potsdam, can be found the Baroque Marstall (Court Stables; by J. A. Nering, 1675; G. W. von Knobelsdorff, 1746), now housing the Film Museum. Opposite the Marstall is the Karl Liebknecht Forum. In the Platz der Einheit (Unity Square) is the large General Library (1971-74).

In the Alter Markt in Potsdam stands the former Town Hall (now the House of Culture), a Baroque building (1753) with three-quarter-length Corinthian columns, a tower with a stepped dome and a gilded figure of Atlas with the world on his back, which is linked by an intervening wing with the Baroque Knobelsdorffhaus (1750).

At the corner of Leninallee and Wilhelm-Külz-Strasse in Potsdam can be seen the Waterworks for the fountains in Sanssouci Park, built by Ludwig Persius in 1841-41 in the form of a Moorish-style mosque, with the chimney disguised as a minaret.

Diagonally opposite the Old Town Hall in Potsdam is the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas's Church), a neo-classical church on a centralized plan built by Ludwig Persius in 1830-37, following a design by K. F. Schinkel. In front of the church can be seen an obelisk (1753) with the likenesses of the principal architects of Potsdam.

The Brandenburger Strasse pedestrian zone in Potsdam is a good example of the skilled restoration of historic buildings. The houses were built in 1733-39 in a uniform style: two stories, with overhanging eaves and rooms in the gable for the billeting of troops.

On the southeast side of Bassinplatz in Potsdam is the French Church (Französische Kirche; 1751-52), a Baroque church on a centralized plan built by J. Boumann the Elder to the design of Knobelsdorff and remodeled in neo-classical style by Schinkel in 1832-33.

Below the Lange Brücke in Potsdam is the Freundschaftsinsel (Friendship Island), with gardens laid out by Karl Foerster in 1953-54.

The Orangery and Park in Potsdam was built between 1851 and 1860 in Italian Renaissance style.

On Wilhelm-Külz-Strasse is the Potsdam Museum and, beside it, the old Military Orphanage (1722).

On the Telegrafenberg (94m/308ft), near Potsdam, are a number of research establishments, including the Meteorological Observatory (1888-90), the Geodetic Institute (1889-92) and the Einstein Tower (by E. Mendelssohn, 1920-21), the most striking building on the hill, in a streamlined style influenced by Expressionism.