The greeting of the Potsdam visitor |
Presently in Frederick's residence, Potsdam, an exhibition in the New Palace named Friederisiko tries to retrace the Prussian king's life, the title alluding to his frequently playing vabanque when at war. Frederick moaned through his early life: I must fight three women, Maria-Theresa of Austria, Madame de Pompadour of France, and Elisabeth of Russia. It is a historical fact that the sudden death of one of Frederick's archenemies, the Tsarina, averted Prussia's total military defeat. Her son and successor, Peter, the king's great admirer, agreed to an armistice. This unexpected turn became known as the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg.
Following the peace treaty of Hubertusburg, Frederick started rebuilding his country and completing the Park of Sans Souci. In constructing the New Palace, he wanted to show the world that Prussia was still not on her knees and even had the financial resources to build such a useless building. In fact, Frederick preferred living in the Souci Palace and only used the New Palace for official receptions and for housing his guests. His successors chose to stay in Berlin, Prussia's capital, and when in Potsdam, resided in the cozier Charlottenhof.
At the entrance to Sans, Souci Fredrick's revenant playing
traverse flute asks for an obol. In the back, the famous historic windmill. |
Sans, Souci under thunderclouds |
Our guide honored Frederick's tomb with a potato, as other tourists
had before. Fredrick had introduced the potato in Brandenburg, a crop well suited for the sandy ground. The story is that Prussian soldiers fed on potatoes fought better than soldiers of enemy armies, still depending on cereals. |
View of Sans, Souci from below. Today, the grapes grown on the wine terrace are
Scheurebe. At the time of Fredrick, gardeners tried out wide varieties to deliver grapes to the king, who was crazy about fresh fruit of all kinds. Frederick was willing to pay a fortune for a handful of cherries in February. |
Apparently, the Chinese not only invented papel, gun powdel, and
polcelain but also the saxophone! |
Frederick is everywhere and in all forms. Here, with a hat made from porcelain inviting tourists to buy chinaware made in the Royal Prussian Porcelain Manufactory |
Even in the hotel, a plastic sculpture bid us Good Morning on our way to breakfast. |
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