Tour 6 - Frederick II – King and Architect

Frederick II - King and Architect

A Walking Tour Through Potsdam

Frederick II, also known as "Frederick the Great", ruled from 1740 to 1786 as King of Prussia and thereby of Potsdam. In 1744, he somewhat reluctantly decided to follow his great-grandfather's, the Prince-Elector's, plan to expand building in Potsdam in order to make it his second royal city of residence after Berlin. The Sanssouci Palace and the City Palace are two major testaments to the king's activities; the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff was commissioned to build the one and modify the other. The king also had a plan for the city itself.

His father, the "Soldier King" Frederick William I had himself, for all intents and purposes, founded Potsdam once again as a military stronghold. There was no long-standing historical architectural tradition nor members of the nobility or wealthy citizens who were inclined to memorialize themselves with prestigious buildings.

There existed only Frederick's strong desire to redesign Potsdam and give it a new face. Yet according to Friedrich Mielke, an honorary citizen and expert on Potsdam architecture, "..this 'face' was not the expression of a new urban community that had developed over 35 years but rather a mask the king ordered everybody to wear". ... "Here, there was only one master builder, and that was the king himself."

Frederick wanted architecture worthy of a city of royal residence of European stature. He had more than 400 houses torn down even though they were neither old nor decrepit and replaced them with magnificent new buildings. Step by step, street by street, his plans became reality. A sizeable group of well-known architects were gathered around him: Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Carl von Gontard, Georg Christian Unger, Jan Bouman, and Heinrich Ludwig Manger.

Our walking tour will afford you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the larger and smaller buildings of that era and to see military structures, imposing gates, palace grounds as well as churches.

We begin our discovery of Frederick's Potsdam at the Old Market Square - Alter Markt.