For our excursion, we headed back to Potsdam, to Cecilienhof.
On the way, we stopped by Grünewald, a train station en route. This set of tracks is nearby the station, no longer being used. It's a memorial-- hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were deported from Berlin, traveling along the tracks to the end. It's a striking memorial, in my book. The tracks disappear into a strand of trees, dropping from sight before too long.
Once in Potsdam, we headed to Cecilienhof, a castle built by Kaiser Wilhelm II., for his son, the crown prince. It's the last palace built by the Hohenzollern dynasty.
The castle, with its intricate, yet unorderly gardens, is designed to look like an English Tudor country house-- but much bigger.
Cecilienhof is situated on the edge of Jungfernsee and you can see the waters of the lake from almost any point on the property.
There are many courtyards and terraces to enjoy around the castle. Cecilienhof was the site of the Potsdam Conference, in 1945. Stalin, Truman, and Churchill (and later, the newly-elected Attlee) met as representatives of the Big Three to decide what to do with the newly-defeated Germany.
The Potsdam Conference resulted in the Potsdam Declaration, which gave Japan an ultimatum, among other measures for Germany.
The half-timbered design of the castle is charming, and the interior is the same. There is one room in the castle that is decorated to look like a ship's cabin-- complete with sloped floors, furniture that is attached to the floor and walls, dangling lamps, and portholes.
Some of us decided to walk over to the Marmour Palais (marble palace), a little ways away. We passed this pyramid on the way-- a random Egyptian structure, complete with hiroglyphics, in the middle of a German forest. Wierd.
The Marble Palace looked cool from the outside (I counted at least 5 different kinds of marble) but we didn't go inside, as most of it was under reconstruction and they wouldn't give us the discount.
On the way back to Potsdam center, I passed this bench.
A pair of installations in the center of Potsdam-- one, the far structure, is a memorial, I believe. However, I'm not sure what for.
On the way, we stopped by Grünewald, a train station en route. This set of tracks is nearby the station, no longer being used. It's a memorial-- hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were deported from Berlin, traveling along the tracks to the end. It's a striking memorial, in my book. The tracks disappear into a strand of trees, dropping from sight before too long.
Once in Potsdam, we headed to Cecilienhof, a castle built by Kaiser Wilhelm II., for his son, the crown prince. It's the last palace built by the Hohenzollern dynasty.
The castle, with its intricate, yet unorderly gardens, is designed to look like an English Tudor country house-- but much bigger.
Cecilienhof is situated on the edge of Jungfernsee and you can see the waters of the lake from almost any point on the property.
There are many courtyards and terraces to enjoy around the castle. Cecilienhof was the site of the Potsdam Conference, in 1945. Stalin, Truman, and Churchill (and later, the newly-elected Attlee) met as representatives of the Big Three to decide what to do with the newly-defeated Germany.
The Potsdam Conference resulted in the Potsdam Declaration, which gave Japan an ultimatum, among other measures for Germany.
The half-timbered design of the castle is charming, and the interior is the same. There is one room in the castle that is decorated to look like a ship's cabin-- complete with sloped floors, furniture that is attached to the floor and walls, dangling lamps, and portholes.
Some of us decided to walk over to the Marmour Palais (marble palace), a little ways away. We passed this pyramid on the way-- a random Egyptian structure, complete with hiroglyphics, in the middle of a German forest. Wierd.
The Marble Palace looked cool from the outside (I counted at least 5 different kinds of marble) but we didn't go inside, as most of it was under reconstruction and they wouldn't give us the discount.
On the way back to Potsdam center, I passed this bench.
A pair of installations in the center of Potsdam-- one, the far structure, is a memorial, I believe. However, I'm not sure what for.
Uh correction. Cecilienhof is on the bank of the Jungfernsee, not Wannsee, and the pyramid is by Heiligersee... just fyi
ReplyDelete--anonymous :)