|
|
| 
|
|
The gate leads to the pedestrian precinct
|
|
|
|
|
Studying between lakes and castles - but going out in Berlin
Potsdam is excellent for those who thrive on cultural life but want to stay in touch with nature. Sanssouci Castle with its sprawling public gardens and many historical buildings has become the best known and most popular symbol of combining culture and nature. In summer these public gardens are filled with students reading or sitting in groups discussing or lying in the grass taking a nap – their main campus is right next to the park. And even though cycling is strictly prohibited here, anybody will soon notice that the gardens are also the cycling students‘ favorite and most beautiful short cut to get to the city center.
A detour into history
If they take the scenic route through the park, students will find a lot to discover about life under the absolute monarchs of former times. Their desire to tame and shape nature according to their will shows in strictly measured spaces, straight avenues and geometrically shaped flower beds. Sanssouci Castle itself is rather modest, a one story building with two wings. The Orangerie or winter garden close by is larger, a castle-like green house to nurture exotic and Mediterranean plants here in the cold North. Even oranges once grew here – strictly for royal consumption only, of course.
Historic Holland in Deutschland
Collecting parts of the world and presenting them in their parks and castles seems to have been a hobby of the Prussian emperors. There is the Neues Palais, built in the romantic style of Mediterranean regions, or the Dutch windmill next to Sanssouci. Potsdam has always cultivated a special relationship with the Netherlands, and don’t be surprised if you suddenly feel transported to the country of dikes and seafarers when walking through Potsdam: In the Dutch Quarter, the red brick houses with the white window panes were built by Lords of Brandenburg to house Dutch settlers and engineers in the 17th century. These experts in draining land implemented their experience to drain the swamps that later became greater Potsdam. And there are more historic sites in different geographic styles to be discovered by foot or bicycle in and around Potsdam, Saint Nicholas Church for instance or the neo gothic Cäcilienhof Castle where the Conference to end World War II took place. Potsdam is full of history and its architectural traces.
Cobble stoned paths and hiking trails
Most of the historic sites are either on the banks of the many lakes and rivers or in the countryside – nature enthusiasts and friends of water sports as will as historians will appreciate them. The city itself has many cafés, restaurants and pubs, making the cobble stoned pedestrian precinct in the city center a popular meeting place for students, locals and tourists alike. Potsdam is a fun place to shop and go out. And if it hasn’t enough to offer, Berlin is only 45 minutes away by local trains, so Potsdam citizens often join tourists to participate in the capital city’s never ending night life. That’s what makes the characteristic Potsdam mixture so attractive: the city is just the right size to get to discover and feel at home in easily, it displays its rich history, is set in a beautiful landscape – and one of Europe’s most exciting metropolises is right around the corner.
|
|
| 
| 
|
|
Saheen Dill-Riaz from Bangladesh commutes everyday from Berlin to Potsdam:
'Most of the students come from Berlin and don't really associate themselves with Potsdam.' (German)
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Further Information
|
|
|
|
|
|
