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rheinsbergAnd now, of course, for the crown jewel: Sanssouci! Here, too Mildred has already written a guide, which I urge you to read. As for my impressions: In general, how can you resist this:
More detailed observations to follow.
Sanssouci is among other things a vineyard, still. Fritz was rather proud of this, along with all the fruit and vegetable he had planted there.
Here you can see how the pavillion with the Antinous/Praying boy statue adjusts to the library.
Also close by are the graves for Frederick's beloved dogs and his own tomb, in which he was finally put 200 something years after he wanted to be, more in Mildred's guide. The name of the palace, "Sans Souci", free of sorrows, has an additional meaning if you consider the story of Fritz pointing towards the site of the tomb and telling his friend the Marquis d'Argens "Quand j'erais ici, j'erais sans souci".
Behold the heart-shaped potato:
Since the dog stones are far older, you can hardly decypher the names anymore, but here it works: Thisbe and Alcmeine:
And the Katte-echoing "Antinous" (well, a copy; the original statue stands today in the Alte Gallerie in Berlin):
Really in a clear line of site from the library:
A new more details of the main building from outside:
Note all the playfulness of the fauns and nymphs carrying the roof:
In order to go inside, you have to book a ticket well in advance, especially in Corona times. Then you get to see this:
The Ares statue at the end was a gift from Louis XV. The God of War has his sword laid down and a little Cupid is playing at his feet. Hint, hint. Check out the roof as well:
The "Small Gallery":
With its mixture of antique or pseudo antique statues...
...and Rococo playfullness:
The library is one of the rooms you're not allowed to enter. You have to look through a glass:
Frederick's study and bedroom. It got refurbished after his death in the Neo classic style he loathed, though it's now partially restored to Rococo. Now, some biographers have seen the refurbishing as an attack by nephew FW2, but regardless of FW2's less than warm feelings for Uncle Fritz, it was actually Fritz fan FW3 who did the refurbishing because he wanted to live there for some months a year, and the room was so run down and dirty it had to be refurbished. (This I actually believe, given Frederick's hygienic habits in his old age.
The "study" part. As far as I know, back in Fritz' life time there were no portraits of his parents there as there are now (and certainly not a neo classical table, see above), but a painting of Barbarina and one of MT to troll people with. (There were also no portraits of him in his bedroom, as there are now.)
The armchair in which he died. This one is supposedly the genuine article, albeit repolstered:
One of the most copied by fans statuettes:
Moving on and back to original Frederician Rococo style: the famous concert room, where Menzel's painting "Flute Concert at Sanssouci" is set.
Antechambre:
Audience - and supper room (especially on hot days). This is where Menzel's other painting, "Table Round of Sanssouci" is set.
Moving on to the guest rooms (that is, those in the main building), shared by a very favored few:
What you can see really well in this one is that all the writing desks are lopsided:
The "Flower Room" is also known as "Voltaire's Room", though whether or not Voltaire ever stayed in this particular room is up to debate:
And with one last look at this room, one exits the main palace of Sanssouci:
In a separate building: The painting gallery, which was always open to the public. The paintings Frederick collected first ended up in the Alte Gallery, then in Russia (well, some), then back in Berlin again. The current collection isn't quite what was there in his life time, but at least some of it, including some Rubens, Van Dycks and a Caravaggio:
The painting gallery is one one side of the main palace. On the other are the New Chambers, and in some distance, the wind mill.
The famous historic mill. Which, btw, still produces bread you can buy:
It stands close to the "Neue Kammern". The "New Chambers" were originally the, put flippantly, the garden house, but after the orange trees kept in them during the winter got to more than 1000, it was time for a new Orangerie, and the former one was rebuild to house the guests the central building could not take.
From above:
And below:
The "Ovid Gallery", depicting scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses:
Blue Gallery:
Again, the detail. This one is one of many, many depictions of mythological fllute players. (Guess why?)
Buffet room:
Jaspis Room:
Incidentally, that's all Silesian Marble. He was making A Statement. The antiques and pseudo antiques are the former collection of Cardinal du Polignac, which Fritz bought in 1742 already and transfered through a number of residences.
Green Laque Cabinet:
Bear in mind these are all guest rooms, because the main palace is rather small. (For a palace.)
Grosses Intarsien Kabinett:
It pays to look closely at the porcellain. In this case, have tea with Alexander, Caesar and Ptolemy:
This is not the only painting by a female (!) painter in the Neue Kammern, Anna Therbusch. (Catherine later pinched her.) Here you have an Artemis:
And that's it for the Neue Kammern.
The Neue Kammern, however, weren't enough re: guest rooms, what with Prussia now being a new European super power, and thus the last addendum within Frederick's life time: the New Palace, das Neue Palais. FW4 and later some of the Imperial family in the 19th century lived here during the summer, and Friedrich III., the big "what if?" of German Emperors, died here. Thus there is a liiiittle bit of non-Rococo, but mostly the Frederician Rococo has been preserved. Now, by the time the New Palace was built, Rococo was old fashioned and going out of style, and neo classicism started to arrive, big time. Not for our man Frederick. He was going to have his Rococo in all its playful opulent glory!
Now how can't you appreciate a king who is into lanterns like this:
Remember the shell room in Rheinsberg? Here, Fritz is having the grotto room to end all grotto rooms:
Also more halls to show off his Silesian marble. So there, MT!
This was also supposed to be a big ball room, with the musicians playing here:
Unfortunately, it was right above the grotto hall, in which Fritz had forbidden any supporting columns, and thus inevitably, it lasted all of two years or so before it crashed. Architects were still trying to solve the problem when he died.
Back to showing off things. Like those paintings which didn't make it to the Painting Gallery:
It always pays to look at the roof:
Quick trip to the late 19th century: this is where a later Friedrich died. This one was married to Vicky, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the two of them were regarded, rightly or wrongly, as the big liberal hope which might turn the new German Empire around. As it is, Friedrich didn't survive his father, Wilhelm I., by long, and after him came that son. You know. Him. Here you can see the bed in which Friedrich 3 died, and portraits of him and Vicky on the wall.
Leaving the Neues Palais again, I give you one last look at its defiant "so, there" Rococoness:
Not far from the Neues Palais is the "Temple of Friendship", which Fritz built in memory of his sister Wilhelmine ten years after her death.
Also present: various mythological pairs of friends, like Orestes and Pylades:
Wilhelmine is depicted with her dog Folichon and a book, which is very her:
So remember everyone adoring the "Chinese" style? This usually, if you could afford it, led to "Chinese" tea houses. If you are Fritz, your Chinese Tea house looks like this:
Let's go inside.
The ceiling:
Where the actual tea was drunk. In Fritz' case, with one of his few surviving friends, George Keith, Lord Marishall.
With one last look at the tea house, I end this pictorial tour through Sanssouci, and these pic spam posts:
More detailed observations to follow.
Sanssouci is among other things a vineyard, still. Fritz was rather proud of this, along with all the fruit and vegetable he had planted there.
Here you can see how the pavillion with the Antinous/Praying boy statue adjusts to the library.
Also close by are the graves for Frederick's beloved dogs and his own tomb, in which he was finally put 200 something years after he wanted to be, more in Mildred's guide. The name of the palace, "Sans Souci", free of sorrows, has an additional meaning if you consider the story of Fritz pointing towards the site of the tomb and telling his friend the Marquis d'Argens "Quand j'erais ici, j'erais sans souci".
Behold the heart-shaped potato:
Since the dog stones are far older, you can hardly decypher the names anymore, but here it works: Thisbe and Alcmeine:
And the Katte-echoing "Antinous" (well, a copy; the original statue stands today in the Alte Gallerie in Berlin):
Really in a clear line of site from the library:
A new more details of the main building from outside:
Note all the playfulness of the fauns and nymphs carrying the roof:
In order to go inside, you have to book a ticket well in advance, especially in Corona times. Then you get to see this:
The Ares statue at the end was a gift from Louis XV. The God of War has his sword laid down and a little Cupid is playing at his feet. Hint, hint. Check out the roof as well:
The "Small Gallery":
With its mixture of antique or pseudo antique statues...
...and Rococo playfullness:
The library is one of the rooms you're not allowed to enter. You have to look through a glass:
Frederick's study and bedroom. It got refurbished after his death in the Neo classic style he loathed, though it's now partially restored to Rococo. Now, some biographers have seen the refurbishing as an attack by nephew FW2, but regardless of FW2's less than warm feelings for Uncle Fritz, it was actually Fritz fan FW3 who did the refurbishing because he wanted to live there for some months a year, and the room was so run down and dirty it had to be refurbished. (This I actually believe, given Frederick's hygienic habits in his old age.
The "study" part. As far as I know, back in Fritz' life time there were no portraits of his parents there as there are now (and certainly not a neo classical table, see above), but a painting of Barbarina and one of MT to troll people with. (There were also no portraits of him in his bedroom, as there are now.)
The armchair in which he died. This one is supposedly the genuine article, albeit repolstered:
One of the most copied by fans statuettes:
Moving on and back to original Frederician Rococo style: the famous concert room, where Menzel's painting "Flute Concert at Sanssouci" is set.
Antechambre:
Audience - and supper room (especially on hot days). This is where Menzel's other painting, "Table Round of Sanssouci" is set.
Moving on to the guest rooms (that is, those in the main building), shared by a very favored few:
What you can see really well in this one is that all the writing desks are lopsided:
The "Flower Room" is also known as "Voltaire's Room", though whether or not Voltaire ever stayed in this particular room is up to debate:
And with one last look at this room, one exits the main palace of Sanssouci:
In a separate building: The painting gallery, which was always open to the public. The paintings Frederick collected first ended up in the Alte Gallery, then in Russia (well, some), then back in Berlin again. The current collection isn't quite what was there in his life time, but at least some of it, including some Rubens, Van Dycks and a Caravaggio:
The painting gallery is one one side of the main palace. On the other are the New Chambers, and in some distance, the wind mill.
The famous historic mill. Which, btw, still produces bread you can buy:
It stands close to the "Neue Kammern". The "New Chambers" were originally the, put flippantly, the garden house, but after the orange trees kept in them during the winter got to more than 1000, it was time for a new Orangerie, and the former one was rebuild to house the guests the central building could not take.
From above:
And below:
The "Ovid Gallery", depicting scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses:
Blue Gallery:
Again, the detail. This one is one of many, many depictions of mythological fllute players. (Guess why?)
Buffet room:
Jaspis Room:
Incidentally, that's all Silesian Marble. He was making A Statement. The antiques and pseudo antiques are the former collection of Cardinal du Polignac, which Fritz bought in 1742 already and transfered through a number of residences.
Green Laque Cabinet:
Bear in mind these are all guest rooms, because the main palace is rather small. (For a palace.)
Grosses Intarsien Kabinett:
It pays to look closely at the porcellain. In this case, have tea with Alexander, Caesar and Ptolemy:
This is not the only painting by a female (!) painter in the Neue Kammern, Anna Therbusch. (Catherine later pinched her.) Here you have an Artemis:
And that's it for the Neue Kammern.
The Neue Kammern, however, weren't enough re: guest rooms, what with Prussia now being a new European super power, and thus the last addendum within Frederick's life time: the New Palace, das Neue Palais. FW4 and later some of the Imperial family in the 19th century lived here during the summer, and Friedrich III., the big "what if?" of German Emperors, died here. Thus there is a liiiittle bit of non-Rococo, but mostly the Frederician Rococo has been preserved. Now, by the time the New Palace was built, Rococo was old fashioned and going out of style, and neo classicism started to arrive, big time. Not for our man Frederick. He was going to have his Rococo in all its playful opulent glory!
Now how can't you appreciate a king who is into lanterns like this:
Remember the shell room in Rheinsberg? Here, Fritz is having the grotto room to end all grotto rooms:
Also more halls to show off his Silesian marble. So there, MT!
This was also supposed to be a big ball room, with the musicians playing here:
Unfortunately, it was right above the grotto hall, in which Fritz had forbidden any supporting columns, and thus inevitably, it lasted all of two years or so before it crashed. Architects were still trying to solve the problem when he died.
Back to showing off things. Like those paintings which didn't make it to the Painting Gallery:
It always pays to look at the roof:
Quick trip to the late 19th century: this is where a later Friedrich died. This one was married to Vicky, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the two of them were regarded, rightly or wrongly, as the big liberal hope which might turn the new German Empire around. As it is, Friedrich didn't survive his father, Wilhelm I., by long, and after him came that son. You know. Him. Here you can see the bed in which Friedrich 3 died, and portraits of him and Vicky on the wall.
Leaving the Neues Palais again, I give you one last look at its defiant "so, there" Rococoness:
Not far from the Neues Palais is the "Temple of Friendship", which Fritz built in memory of his sister Wilhelmine ten years after her death.
Also present: various mythological pairs of friends, like Orestes and Pylades:
Wilhelmine is depicted with her dog Folichon and a book, which is very her:
So remember everyone adoring the "Chinese" style? This usually, if you could afford it, led to "Chinese" tea houses. If you are Fritz, your Chinese Tea house looks like this:
Let's go inside.
The ceiling:
Where the actual tea was drunk. In Fritz' case, with one of his few surviving friends, George Keith, Lord Marishall.
With one last look at the tea house, I end this pictorial tour through Sanssouci, and these pic spam posts:
no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 05:37 pm (UTC)I remember the audio guide clearly, but it's a pity you can't ask the guides. Clearly either you're going to have to go post-pandemic, or I'm going to have to master just enough spoken German to ask this question and understand the answer. :P
On the bright side, no more extra money for photos! Just the normal ticket price. I was allowed to photograph in every place I visited during the last two weeks, in fact, except for a part of the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden.
Oh, nice! I'm very glad. It was 3 euros when I was there in 2012, and I was horrified to learn that it was 15 euros when
I admit to being glad that there was no one making sure I didn't spend too long in one room, because I lingered a while in his bedroom/study as the rest of the crowd moved in and out. Or at least, I knew I wasn't supposed to, but I'm short and in the sardine press went unnoticed until I was ready to move on. :P