Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Cecilienhof Palace is a palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, built from 1914 to 1917 in the look and layout of an English Tudor manor house. Cecilienhof was the last palace built by the House of Hohenzollern that ruled the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, until the end of World War I. It is famous for having been the location of the Potsdam Conference in 1945, in which the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States made important decisions affecting the shape of post-World War II Europe and Asia. Cecilienhof has been part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, since 1990. It closed to the public on 1 November 2024, for renovations.
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Neuer Garten
Stroll around New Garden (part of the UNESCO world heritage ensemble), on the banks of the river Havel. Spanning an area of 102 hectares, this park was created in 1787 by Friedrich Wilhelm II in contrast to the Baroque Park Sanssouci. It borders with two lakes, and hosts the Marble Palace and the Palace Cecilienhof. It was here that Attlee, Stalin and Truman met for the Potsdam Conference, at the end of World War II.
Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Ehemaliges KGB-Gefängnis Potsdam
Memorial and meeting place at the former KGB prison. From August 1945 it was occupied by Soviet forces. It was reconstructed as a prison for counterintelligence. Today it's been left standing to remind people of the depressing reality of dictatorships.
Marmorpalais
Alexandrowka consists of a few "Russian Style" houses built for Russian immigrants during the reign of "The Soldier King". House No. 2 (Haus 2) has a very interesting museum while House No. 4 (Haus 4) has an excellent café.
Right in the middle of Potsdam are the "Dutch Quarters", built in the 18th century by Dutch master builder Johann Boumann to attract other Dutch artisans. The quarters consist of 134 red-brick houses, divided into four blocks. The history of the Dutch Quarters can be seen in the Jan Bouman house in Mittelstraße 8.