In 1990, UNESCO decided to include the palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin on its World Heritage list, doing so on January 1, 1991. The former East German and West German governments submitted the application in 1989. It was only with the fall of the Berlin Wall that the opportunity arose to bring together again the magnificent achievements of the garden designers and architects along the Havel river in Berlin and Potsdam.
With the famous garden architect Peter Joseph Lenné's plan for the beautification of "Potsdam Island," the Potsdam palaces and gardens were expanded and perfected in the 19th century to form a unique cultural landscape. Ice Age terrain, parklands, and structured landscape elements were interwoven into a unified and unparalleled composition. The impetus for structuring this landscape came not only from monarchical visions of absolute rule, but also from movement for liberal emancipation.
Today, the Berlin-Potsdam World Heritage comprises of a territory which spreads from the Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) in the east to beyond the New Palace in the west. It includes the palaces and parks in Sacrow, Glienicke, Babelsberg, Sanssouci and Charlottenhof, Lindstedt Palace and park, and the Neuer Garten, among others. In 1999, further elements of the cultural landscape were enrolled in the World Heritage list: the Russian Colony "Alexandrowka" and parts of the Nauen suburb, Pfingstberg Hill with the Belvedere, and the old village of Bornstedt are included.
The special protection which the World Heritage status provides for the royal parks and other parts of the city also brings with it a reminder to be very careful with this heritage and to respect it when planning new construction.
