Royal Stables / Film Museum

The Royal Stables, or Marstall, is the only building that survived from the former City Palace of Potsdam. It was constructed in 1685 on the instructions of Elector Frederick William. To begin with, it served as an orangery. It was here that the court’s Mediterranean plants were kept in winter, for which reason it was originally known as the Pomeranzenhaus, the house of Seville oranges. In the early 18th century, part of the pleasance was converted into a parade ground, and the orangery too was given a new function as the stables for the royal mounts. Under Frederick the Great, the famous architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff gave the Royal Stables their present form. The impressive sandstone sculptures also date from the mid-18th century...