Sights

The city of Potsdam is nestled in a unique cultural landscape that has been shaped over centuries. This includes the world-famous palaces and gardens, which enjoy UNESCO World Heritage status. Potsdam’s cityscape is characterized by its historic quarters and city gates. Since 1990, numerous new attractions have emerged, such as the Volkspark (Peoples Park), the cultural and creative quarter in Schiffbauergasse, the Barberini Museum in direct proximity to the new Brandenburg state parliament, and the art gallery DAS MINSK.

The unique atmosphere of historic buildings, attractive new constructions, and especially the UNESCO World Heritage sites can be experienced on guided tours or sightseeing trips by bus, bike, or boat on the Havel River. Tourist services and information are provided by PMSG Potsdam Marketing und Service GmbH.

Potsdam’s most famous landmark, Sanssouci Palace, along with its namesake park featuring numerous palaces, the New Garden with the Marble Palace and Cecilienhof Palace, as well as Babelsberg Park with its castle, Flatow Tower, and Court Arbor, fall under the administration of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg.

Historical Trail

The Historical Trail consists of more than 40 information boards throughout the Potsdam city area. Visitors can learn on-site about the history of Potsdam’s buildings or the lives of notable figures who lived and worked here.

Biosphäre Potsdam

The Biosphäre Potsdam is located in Volkspark and offers a unique nature experience. On land, in water, and in the air, visitors can embark on a journey of discovery among 20,000 tropical plants and trees, as well as around 130 different animal species.

Bornstedt Cemetery

Theodor Fontane introduces this perhaps most famous Potsdam cemetery by noting that "what dies in Sanssouci" is also buried in Bornstedt.

Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden is part of the University of Potsdam and was established in 1950 on the site of the former terraced garden of the Sanssouci Court Gardens. In the greenhouses and across the 5-hectare open-air area, around 10,000 different plant species from tropical and subtropical regions are cultivated, including palms, ferns, pineapples, arum plants, orchids, tropical water plants, and more.

Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam and Luisenplatz

The gate, which resembles a Roman triumphal arch, had two architects and thus also two styles. Karl of Gontard designed the part of the gate facing the city on behalf of Frederick II. His disciple Georg Christian Unger designed the part of the gate facing the fields.

Cecilienhof Palace

Churchill, Truman, and Stalin made history at Cecilienhof Palace, when in 1945 the Potsdam Conference of the victorious powers of World War II was held here.

Charlottenhof Palace

The Charlottenhof Palace is one of the chief works of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and was built from 1826 to 1829 for the Crown Prince Couple Frederick William IV and Elizabeth.

Chinese House in Sanssouci Park

During 1754 – 1757, Johann Gottfried Buering built it on behalf of Frederick II in a design where the outer walls resemble the shape of a trefoil. It was used as a dining hall in summer.

Church of Peace (Friedenskirche)

At the entrance to the Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, in quiet seclusion, lies the ensemble of the Peace Church, designed to resemble an Italian monastery and grouped around a delicate bell tower. Frederick William IV had it built as a royal and parish church between 1845 and 1848, and he is buried there along with his wife.

City Palace – Landtag of Brandenburg

With the rebuilding of the Landtag, the seat of the Brandenburg Parliament, with its baroque facade of the former City Palace, a longstanding gap in urban development was closed on the market square ‘Alter Markt’. The political heart of the state now beats in Potsdam’s center.

Crown Estate Bornstedt

Just 400 footsteps away from Sanssouci Palace is an ‘Italian hamlet’: the Crown Estate Bornstedt, once a manor of the Prussian Crown. Since 2002, the elaborately restored architectural ensemble has been shining in its renewed splendor.