Potsdam and Sans Souci

November 15, 2025

On Thursday, with John’s meetings finished, we took a day trip to the nearby town of Potsdam. Someone (Rick Steves?) noted that Potsdam is to Berlin like Versailles is to Paris. Seems reasonable and maybe now we need to visit Versailles too!

We took the train and first ambled around the town of Potsdam before heading to the former Royal summer palace called Sans Souci. Let’s just enjoy the grandeur and salmon color of these buildings, rather than trying to identify each of them 😉

Our friend Humboldt again!
‘Ceci n’est pas un chateau’ – funny!
See the tight rope walker? It’s a sculpture – not a real person!

We also went to the Dutch part of town, where the architecture truly looked very Dutch! I had wondered if I’d be able to tell the difference. Dutch workers were brought in to help build Sans Souci, hence there is a Dutch neighborhood where the workers lived.

Upper left windows are painted on!

We then took a bus to Sans Souci, and had a quick bite to eat then toured the palace. It was considered a ‘small palace’ which seems like a contradiction in terms, but after the tour of the 12 opulent rooms, I agreed that it is definitely a small palace, nothing wrong with that. Also, it was named Sans Souci for the French saying for ‘without a care’ – as in a king goes to his summer estate to enjoy life without a care.

Rococo!
This Bill Clinton chair wasn’t mentioned on the audio guide, so we don’t know more than what you see here
So ro co co
Cool building on the grounds
We think these gates were to keep plants warm – they have glass doors
That’s it at the top of the stairs – the small palace!
We walked through the woods to the New Palace but didn’t tour it because of timing. The New Palace is huge and we’ll need to see it next time
They’re doing a lot of work on the new palace, including some major cleaning of exteriors
The sun was setting by the time we left
We took a train back to Berlin directly from the New Palace end of Sans Souci. It was rush hour and the train was full with commuters, bikes and this very nice dog.

3 Comments on “Potsdam and Sans Souci”

  1. I feel like Versailles and Potsdam also were the scene of war time leaders… they clearly like nice venues!
    Also the meaning of Sans Souci makes me laugh as it’s also the name of a suburb in Sydney on the other side of the airport. It doesn’t give off a “without a care” vibe with often lots of traffic!

  3. So many steps on the staircase at Sans Souci! And no handrails!
    I have mentioned a significant staircase with no handrails on another of your blog entries. But at my age one notices things like that!

    Beautiful palace!

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