The city of Potsdam has declared 2004 as "The Year of Parks and Gardens" with the dual aim of both focusing attention on the public and private green areas in the city and also encouraging their preservation for the future. "Landscapes and Gardens" is also the theme of the year for the Brandenburg State Cultural Society with which the city administration will be working in close co-operation.
Potsdam is blessed with parks and gardens well worthy of attention. There are not only the three large palatial parks which by themselves are enough to account for world renown. There is now a new public park offering attractive leisure time activities opened in connection with the National Horticulture Show 2001 in the north of the city. Additionally the New Pleasureground was erected and both the promenade along the river Havel and the Unity Square (Platz der Einheit) were redesigned. And a new glamour was conferred on the Freundschaftsinsel — Friendship Island. Fruit trees, once almost forgotten, are again in bloom and prospering in the orchards of the Aleksandrovka. The private garden of Karl Förster in Potsdam Bornim has been restored and has now regained its original design, as is also the case with the garden of Hermann Göritz, the garden architect. We mustn’t forget the cemeteries of Potsdam — they are also important places of stillness and greenery. Along with the incorporation of new quarters of the city Potsdam was also bequeathed spacious orchards and the palatial park of Marquardt.
In 2004 many events will highlight the significance of the role which parks and gardens play for Potsdam. Classes at the Albert Einstein Adult Evening School and the Wilhelm Foerster URANIA Association will contribute with lectures, guided tours and excursions to enhance the participant's knowledge regarding the Potsdam garden landscape.
Other already traditional events, such as "Reading in the Garden", the Tulip Festival, the Potsdam-Sanssouci Music Festival, performances of the Potsdam Arcades and the Potsdam Night of Palaces will also be included in the Year of the Parks and Gardens. In June the Days of the Open Garden will give the opportunity to Potsdamers to open their private gardens to the public.
The Berlin-Brandenburg Foundation of Prussian Palaces and Gardens will participate with two exhibitions. Visitors to the Marble Palace in the New Garden will be able to walk "Along the Paths of Crown Princess Cecille". A second exhibition will be dedicated to the life and work of gardeners in Prussia. The sponsoring organisation "Bornstedter Feld", the Potsdam city administration, the Association for the Promotion of Dutch Culture, the German Foundation for the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Monuments (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalpflege) and many others will also hold their own events to contribute to the Year of the Parks and Gardens. The garden year will be concluded by an exhibition in the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History to be held in autumn 2004.
"Our city is flourishing" — that’s the title of a nation-wide competition in which the state capital city of Potsdam is taking part within the European-wide competition "Entente Florale".
The city administration in co-operation with many partners has worked out a calendar of events which includes guided tours, readings, lectures, conferences, exhibitions, festivals and other projects which echo and support the message of the theme of the year.
All Potsdamers will benefit from these activities. The reputation of Potsdam will be enhanced within the State of Brandenburg, the Federal Republic of Germany and across Europe. After all, European horticultural traditions also live on in Potsdam and contribute to the renown of our parks and gardens. The Italian renaissance, the French baroque and the English landscape gardens are significant components and assets in Potsdam’s application to be awarded the title "European Capital of Culture 2010".
The Brandenburg State capital city of Potsdam welcomes you to visit the parks and gardens in our city in 2004 - the historic as well as the modern. Make your own journey through three centuries of horticulture and gardening.
We are looking forward to your visit.
