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Frederick the Great's Largest and Final Palace in Sanssouci Park
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The New Palace was the last palace building and at the same time the most comprehensive 18th century architectural work in Sanssouci Park. While the single-story vineyard palace of Sanssouci served the personal wishes and needs of Frederick II, this tremendous structure was intended to accommodate royal guests on their occasional visits to Potsdam.
Construction began in 1763, immediately following the Seven Years' War, because the expensive project was supposed to prove to the world that the Prussian state was still not at the end of its powers even after three Silesian Wars. Following plans by J. G. Büring (1723-c.1788), H. L. Manger (1728-90), C. von Gontard (1731-91) and J. L. Legeay (c.1710-c.1786), the New Palace and the Communs, with its accompanying colonnade, were completed in 1769, in only seven years.
Visually structured by large pilasters spanning all three stories, the main section of the building encloses wings forming a court of honor that are flanked by lower extensions. Their small domes echo the crowning dome above the central section of the building.
Corresponding to its purpose as a royal guest palace, the interior of the New Palace was divided into individual apartments, which could be reached by four staircases. These were complemented by sizeable, richly decorated festival halls and galleries located in the central section of the building, and a palace theater in the southern lateral wing.
Numerous decorative arts objects and paintings augment the regal image of the interiors with their ceiling paintings, gilded ornamental decorations, and rare textile wall coverings.
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The highly-skilled, virtuoso workmanship of the cabinet makers during this period can be witnessed in the wardrobes, commodes, writing desks and clocks, richly decorated with luxurious, inlaid work and gilded bronze fittings. Paintings, primarily by Italian and Dutch artists from the 16th to the 18th centuries were largely used to decorate the walls of the anterooms and writing chambers within the individual royal apartments. Works by the Prussian court painter Antoine Pesne can be seen today in the Upper Red Chambers.
At the start of the 19th century, the New Palace was seldom occupied. It was primarily used for the royal family's larger festivities and for theater performances. Prince Frederick William, the later Emperor Frederick III, was born here in 1831. Following his marriage to the English Princess Victoria, the royal couple's wish to use the New Palace as summer residence was granted after 1859. During the brief reign of the 99-day emperor, until his death in June 1888, the New Palace took on the name "Schloss Friedrichskron" (Frederick's Crown Palace).
From 1889 until the German monarch's abdication in 1918, the palace remained the preferred residence of Emperor William II.
For further information
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