Sanssouci—Fredrick the Great’s Palace (Without Worries)
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
The Palace of Sanssouci, located in Potsdam, Germany, was the summer retreat of Fredrick the Great to get away from the pomp and ceremony of Berlin, the capital of Prussia.
The original palace has only 10 rooms with 2 common areas and was built between 1745 and 1747.
So, let’s visit Sanssouci, and learn about the palace and the ruler Fredrick the Great.
Fredrick the Great
Fredrick the Great was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until 1786. He is known as both a capable monarch, but more so as a brilliant military leader. His extensive battlefield experience and writings gained him fame as an influential military theory and doctrine figure during his reign and afterward. His favorite topics were strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics.
He also believed in enlightened absolutism—trying to distinguish his rule from ordinary royal rulers to rule for the well-being of his subjects. Among his accomplishments were modernizing the civil service in Prussia, reforming the judicial system, and allowing freedom of the press and literature.
When Fredrick came to the throne at 28 in 1740, Prussia was the 12th largest country in Europe, but had the 4th largest army (France, Russia and Austria were larger) and a staggering 86% of Prussia’s budget was devoted to funding his army. Fredrick doubled the size of his army and fought a series of battles known as the Silesian Wars (there were 3) against Austria.
His soldiers were highly disciplined and won several decisive battles against Austria. The result of these conflicts gained control of the territory of Silesia and the Saxon capital of Dresden and he annexed these lands into his Kingdom of Prussia. After 1745, Fredrick became known as “the Great” due to his success against the larger Austrian army. So influential was Fredrick in military theory, often as a result to personally leading his men in battle and using his 2 favorite tactics of speed of march and speed of fire, that his writings (all were written in French) became the model for other national armies such as Russia and France. His structure of military organization; the strict training regimens he demanded of his leaders and soldiers; and the autonomy he gave his commanders were the standard for the best armies of the world in the late 1700s and became the model used later by the German General Staff for WW I and WW II.
Fredrick the Great was ambitious, ruthless, a confident military genius who often defeated larger armies he fought and served as an enlightened monarch in an era when the various rulers of Europe vied for power and wealth. He doubled the size of his kingdom and eventually lost half of his army during the constant wars he either started or was drawn into to defend his kingdom and war territory gains.
His legacy is enduring yet controversial.
Sanssouci
The exteriors of the Sanssouci Palace are quite contrasting.
On the North side of the exterior of Sanssouci Palace, there is a double row of 88 Corinthian collonades in a half circle. Here are 3 photos of the north exterior, which is majestic and commanding and designed to impress visitors to his palace:
The west side of the quarter circle of double row of columns. This is the north side of the palace.
This is the palace entrance. Only the slight change in the roof line identifies the palace entrance.
The east side of the double columns.
Here are some pictures from the garden side of Sanssouci Palace which is serene and peaceful;
This is the view of the palace from the first terrace.
The grilled enclosed gazebo on the right side of the place (kings apartment side).
There is another very similar gazebo on the guest side of the palace.
There can be little doubt Fredrick’s favorite palace was Sanssouci. He is quoted as saying even before construction started, “Once I am there, I shall be carefree”. It was his sanctuary in difficult times and an escape for him. He was completely involved with the design and decorations of his palace. His vision was a place where he could relaxed in an atmosphere of refined culture. Fredrick II was a music lover, played the flute skillfully, and admired French arts and culture. French was the language of Sanssouci, and some historians say his French was better than his native German language.
The palace is built on a hill in the middle of a large park. The original building that was completed in 1747, has only 10 rooms all on the first floor—it is more a grand villa instead of a grand palace. 20 years later he expanded the building with the New Palace as a display of his power and strength. It was used to impress guests and Fredrick seldom used it and referred to the new construction as “fanfaronade” when translated from French means “showing off”.
An easy way to understand the organization of the main rooms of the original palace is to think of them as 3 distinct areas. The center of the Palace are the Entrance Hall and Marble Hall, which functioned as the common areas of the palace. On the east side of this central area are the King’s Apartments—his bedroom and study; the audience and dining rooms; the circular library; and the gallery. On the west side there are 5 guest rooms.
We took a self-guided audio-vox tour. It had good descriptions of the rooms but since there are so many framed paintings and statues on the walls, along with the decorated wall paintings, it was hard to grasp how opulent and detailed the palace is in a short room-by-room visit.
The common areas are The Entrance Hall and The Marble Hall which were used for receptions and celebrations.
The next pictures are the Entrance Hall. It is a dignified and elegant. The Corinthian order of the columns signals Frederick’s rank as a important royal.
The statue in the east corner is Ares, the Greek god of war. In an unusual depiction, he has his shield, helmet and weapon on the ground signifying peace and concord. Many have speculated that a man so involved in war wanted peace, as he placed this gift from the French King so prominently in the Entrancr Hall.
The Marble Room
This is the most dramatic room in the palace. The dome is richly guilded and represents Frederick’s love of architecture, music and poetry, painting and sculpture, and astronomy and geography.
The theme for the Marble Room is a recreation of the Roman Pantheon. The Marble Hall was the place for celebrations and parties.
The Kings Apartments
This is the retreat where Frederick spent most of his time while in Sanssouci.
First, the Small Gallery where Fredrick displayed some of the collection of his paintings and statues. He favored French artists and paintings, changing the selection often, to allow visitors to view his impressive collections.
Here are some pictures of this narrow room:
The Audience and Dining Room
The audience room and dining room were the first areas of the kings side of the palace. It served 2 purposes. This room functioned when a more formal area was needed to meet with his subjects as an audience room but served more often as a dining room.
Towards the end of his reign, Fredrick often held long lunches with 7 to 10 invited guests. He favored officers and scholars where he learned through the conversations more about his kingdom and his interest of a variety of subjects.
The King’s Study and Bedroom
Frederick did most of his work in the study by meeting with his counselors and ministers. He used these meetings to issue edicts, decrees and orders to rule his Prussian kingdom.
The screen on the right is where the king slept on a simple soldier’s cot.
This is the chair where Fredrick died on 17 August 1786 with his physician, 2 valets and a servant present.
The Circular Library is almost hidden and can be entered by a narrow passageway. It has a collection of over 2,100 books and manuscripts with Greek and Roman writings and a significant collection of the writings of Voltaire in French.
During the tour, this room is closed and we had to take pictures through the window on the door.
On the west side of the palace, there are the 5 guest bedrooms. The Guest Bedrooms were only for those important enough to be invited to Sanssouci.
Two of these rooms were used so frequently by Fredrick’s guests, they became known by the Guest’s name. These are the Rothenburg room, named for the Count of Rothenburg and the Voltaire Room, named after the famous philosopher who lived there for 3 years.
Here is the First Guest Bedroom:
Here is the Second Guest Bedroom:
Now the 3rd Guest Bedroom
The famous 4th Bedroom, the Voltaire Bedroom.
In this bedroom, it was much easier to see the painted wall detail and decorative theme. The black vegetation and stork are clearly visible. There is even a monkey on one wall.
There is a 5th Guest Bedroom, but it is not available to view during the self-guided tour with the autovox.
The Gardens
The gardens are a series of terraces landscaped in the baroque style. Among the features of the gardens are the Neptune Grotto, the temple of friendship (dedicated to memory of his favorite sister) the Great Fountain and the Chinese House.
This is the great fountain.
The statues on either side of the great fountain are of various Greek gods and goddess.
Fredick’s original idea was to cultivate figs, plums and vineyards in the park on the terraces. But he soon realized he also wanted a retreat here and only a year after his original idea, construction of the palace began.
Fredrick II The Great is buried in the gardens. It is a fitting place for a monarch that once modestly said “A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.”
The potatoes on the grave symbolize a clever idea Fredrick had about potatoes. While most of Europe readily eat potatoes, the Prussian population avoided them. Realizing he couldn’t force his subjects to eat potatoes, he posted guards around his potatoes fields and decrees stiff punishment for theft. This worked—his subjects began to think potatoes were rare and valuable and began to eat a food they previously shunned.
This the small grave area of Frederick the Great.
Our Final Thoughts
Sometimes, it is plain cool to visit sites that are important in history and try and imagine what it was like during that era. Perhaps more than most other royal palaces, this is an intimate look into the life of Fredrick the Great, his tastes, and the escape mechanisms he sought from the pressures of ruling and constant warfare that characterized his reign.
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ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 52 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
