Patriotic Germans are frequently heard to liken Versailles to Sanssouci, but in truth this palace is much smaller and in a more intimate Rococo style – Versailles is opulent Baroque. More proof against the claims is that this palace has only one storey and spreads out rather than in the more grand direction of up.

Sanssouci's Park is a princesses dream, dotted with enough themed follies and temples to entertain a large garden party. The first host of such parties would have been Prussian King, Fredrick the Great, who had the palace built for him between 1745 and 47, to give him somewhere to relax away from the Berlin court – sans souci means carefree. He actually made the first sketches of the palace and refused to comply with the architects suggestions to alter them, so in many respects Fredrick was its designer as well as lord. He loved it so much his body has been returned here and a tomb built for him overlooking the grounds he loved.

After Fredrick’s death Sanssouci’s interior was renovated into the neo classical style and the palace fell from favour becoming only one of the palaces of Potsdam. The cheery, yellow painted façade with its rococo motifs and decorations remain, and the palace has been kept in good repair and open as a tourist attraction by the East German authorities since the end of the war.

Written by  World Reviewer Staff.

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