Potsdam
Sanscoussi
The city lies within 30 km south-west Berlin. The capital of Brandenburg was the residence of Prussians kings and also a lively cultural and commercial center. Hitler used the city’s past to connect between Prussia’s great military history and the Nazi regime. Wannsee Villa: in 20th January 1942, a discussion leaded by a leader of the SS, Reinhard Heidreich, commander of the main office for the security of the Reich was held, with the participation of 14 high officials of various ministries and the SS .The discussion was about the ways to apply the decision of deporting the Jews in Europe to the east and murder them. That discussion was named after the place it was held in – “Wannsee Conference”. The protocol of the conference, which was held by Adolf Eichmann, was found among the files of the Foreign Ministry. The exhibition in the place describes history before Wannsee Conference and its results until 1945. From there, we’ll continue to the city of Potsdam, which belonged to East Germany, via “Glinker Bridge”, the bridge of spies. We’ll visit Cecilienhof Castle, summer palace of the royal family, which has also a political meaning, as in the summer of 1945 a conference of heads of the superpowers was held there: Truman from the United States, Stalin from the Soviet Union and Churchill, who was replayed by Attaly, from England. The targets of the conference were to confirm the decisions of “Yalta conference”, formulation an economic-political plan for occupied Germany by the allies and settle on taking steps against Japan. This was named Potsdam Conference.
We’ll continue to “Sans-Souci Palace”, which was translated from France to “without problems”. The palace was built in rococo style at the beginning of the 18th century by Friedrich the Great. Among the gardens of the palace there are hidden charming places such as: Chinese teahouse or the Cecilia’s gardens, the new palace, the Dutch windmill, the new rooms, the obelisk, “The Ruins Hill” and the fountain from the 18th century.
If time and weather permit, we’ll also visit at the Peacock Island – a fascinating island, as if it was taken from one of the Green Brothers tales, where dozens of beautiful, colorful, giant peacocks stroll peacefully. This island, lies on Havel river bank, was established by Friedrich the 2nd in 1793. Its length – 1.5 km, and 500 cubic meter width. Naturally, we will also visit the ancient Dutch quarter, built in the 18th century.
