This palace is the largest of the palaces on the Sanssouci Park grounds, built by King Frederich II…read more(aka Frederick the Great) from 1763 to 1769 as a celebration of the Prussian success in the Seven Years War. Used mostly for royal functions like reviving guests and dignitaries, it was less of a residence though the king did occasionally stay in chambers located in the south section of the palace. Its style featured Baroque tastes as compared to the Rococo influences seen in its sister Sanssouci Palace. After the passing of Frederick the Great, the castle fell into disuse until 70 years later it became the summer residence of the crown prince who became German emperor Frederick III, until ownership transferred to Wilhelm II who renovated and modernized the building until his abdication in 1918. In following times the palace became a museum up thru WW II, was looted and then had most of its furnishings returned in the 1970s. In the contemporary past few decades this building has once again become a museum. Neues Palais is accessible to visitors via guided tours only, which takes about 40-45 minutes and start about once every 20 minutes. They have strict capacity caps per timeslot and you must show up 10-15 minutes prior to your time in order to be accounted for. If you're late you'll forfeit your spot. There are multiple ticket combo packages that give access to different sites within the park. Note that if you book the Sanssouci+ package, timeslots for this palace still need to be reserved separately at a ticket counter at either Schloß Sanssouci or at a park info booth. I enjoyed the tour which was given in both German and English. As of October 2024 and currently in February 2025 the King's Apartments are closed for renovations. I believe when they are open they are usually part of the guided tour. The Communs, which are the two palace-like structures connected by a colonnade, directly opposite the front of the castle, were originally the kitchen and servants quarters. They are not open to the public, though the building on the left that was the kitchen is currently in use by the University of Potsdam. Worth mentioning that there is a theater in south section the palace also designed in the Baroque style serves as a performance venue for current concerts and cultural events. Though it wasn't part of the tour, it looked like there were preparations for an evening show ongoing during a late Saturday afternoon when I visited. While regular traffic can't drive up to the palace, there are car-accessible streets a short 5-8 min walk away.

Tif this is the only palace you have ever seen in Europe or you have to See Frédéric The greats's…read morepalace don't come. You get here and have to wait hours just to gain entrance and the inside is nothing like a French, English, or Russian Palace. Don't bother

During the 18th Century, a wave of Francophilia swept across Europe. Suddenly, every monarch had to…read morehave their own version of Versatile. The former Prussian Prince, now King Friedrich II (Der Große Kurfürst, oder Alte Fritz) was no exception. He also btw, decreed the learning of French which was all the rage. According to historians, it also created a bit of controversy as well. In this environment, Sanssouci was built. Der Große had his architect, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff design & build for him a small, but modest summer palace and vineyard in Potsdam. The front of the Schloss, with its elaborate tiers for the vines, is very impressive. You can also see it's distinctive golden rotundra from below. The Schloss itself is magnificent and yes, it is like a miniature Versatile. Tres Bon, und Beeindruckend!

Perfekte Potsdam Schloss- und Gartenanlage. Um das Schloss von innen zu sehen muss mann einen…read moreEintritt bezahlen. Review: 5+

Fantastic museum in Potsdam, I'd highly recommend visiting!…read more My friend gives tours here so she gave us an abridged tour, where we spent about 30 minutes total and she went through the highlights of the museum. Throughout its use, thousands of victims have passed through this place was used from 1933 until 1989 for both the repressive Nazi and DDR regimes. From the outside, a casual passerby would assume this building to be just another building, nothing about it stands out to indicate it was once a prison. The prison itself focuses on 3 different periods of time: the Soviet secret police period ('45-'52), the Stasi period ('52-'89) and the Democracy movement ('89/'90). In this former prison, you are able to see how the people were brought in and interrogated (for hours, even days at a time) at the desk of a Stasi officer with a view of the street outside (freedom so close but unable to go out into a normal life). You hear personal stories of individuals brought in for reasons as simple as applying for visas to leave the DDR and their entire experience from the time they were brought in until after they left and recovered from their time in the prison. You are able to see the actual cells (some still set up as they were years ago) that prisoners lived in. What I find most interesting is that once the wall came down in 1989, those involved in the democracy movement went into the ironically called "Lindenhotel" to preserve the prison as it was in order to keep as many records of what occurred as possible. Although all information is only in German, tours can be arranged in different languages, depending on availability of tour guides.