Sanssouci in Springtime
May. 16th, 2024 03:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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rheinsbergHaving visited Sanssouci in summer and Sanssouci in autumn, and finding myself in Berlin with a few free hours at my hand on a perfectly lovely May day, I of course had to visit it in springtime as well.
I took the train from Berlin again, and thus arrived at the back entrance of the park, so to speak, i.e. where the New Palace, the Neues Palais is located, the last of the Sanssouci buildings finished within Fritz' life time and the most opulent one, where later the imperial Hohenzollerns resided.
Near the New Palace is the Temple of Friendship Fritz built as a monument to Wilhelmine:
Every time I'm there, I get a kick out of the fact he had her depicted with Folichon. As is only proper.
This time, I also visited the one builiding in Sanssouci Park I had previously ignored. This one hails from the 19th century, which you can see at once, and was given by FW3 as a gift to future FW4 and his wife while future FW4 was still Crown Prince: Charlottenhof.
On to the Tea House where Fritz and George Keith, Lord Marishal had their meetings:
Passing past the former Orangerie, the "Neue Kammern", "New Chambers", the first additional guest rooms before the New Palace was built for that purpose:
With the ever present wind mill in the background:
And now for the main attraction, up and down, and from all sides.
The view from the palace down over the vineyard:
On the other side of the main palace building, you can spot one of those artificial ruins they loved building in the 19th century:
Or you can look in the garden in front of the picture gallery:
The main building. In yellow, not pink, no matter what certain ill informed podcasters spout.
The tombsstones for the dogs and Fritz, with the names of the dog noticable less decypherable than the last time I was here.
This is the view from the library to theKatte Antinous Praying Boy statue:
Some more Antinous:
And now it's time to admire the main building some more from the other side. Knoblesdorff, you did ever so well!
I took the train from Berlin again, and thus arrived at the back entrance of the park, so to speak, i.e. where the New Palace, the Neues Palais is located, the last of the Sanssouci buildings finished within Fritz' life time and the most opulent one, where later the imperial Hohenzollerns resided.
Near the New Palace is the Temple of Friendship Fritz built as a monument to Wilhelmine:
Every time I'm there, I get a kick out of the fact he had her depicted with Folichon. As is only proper.
This time, I also visited the one builiding in Sanssouci Park I had previously ignored. This one hails from the 19th century, which you can see at once, and was given by FW3 as a gift to future FW4 and his wife while future FW4 was still Crown Prince: Charlottenhof.
On to the Tea House where Fritz and George Keith, Lord Marishal had their meetings:
Passing past the former Orangerie, the "Neue Kammern", "New Chambers", the first additional guest rooms before the New Palace was built for that purpose:
With the ever present wind mill in the background:
And now for the main attraction, up and down, and from all sides.
The view from the palace down over the vineyard:
On the other side of the main palace building, you can spot one of those artificial ruins they loved building in the 19th century:
Or you can look in the garden in front of the picture gallery:
The main building. In yellow, not pink, no matter what certain ill informed podcasters spout.
The tombsstones for the dogs and Fritz, with the names of the dog noticable less decypherable than the last time I was here.
This is the view from the library to the
Some more Antinous:
And now it's time to admire the main building some more from the other side. Knoblesdorff, you did ever so well!
no subject
Date: 2024-05-16 04:55 pm (UTC)That looks like a perfectly lovely May day indeed.
I really like the slightly elevated side view of the New Chambers! Not least because that way, you can see all the fruit trees in front of it, which are usually hidden behind the hedges.
Also, I actually found a detail that was new to me in the Sanssouci pics: the bust in front of the big fountain! Apparently it depicts Paolo Giordano II. Orsini and was initially placed there by Fritz himself (he got it as part of the Polignac collection in 1742), then spent a long while in various other places until it was returned to its original location in 2016. The more you know.
Do you have any idea what those red things on the left side of the terraces are?
Oh, and by the way, they might have loved those artificial ruins in the 19th century - and FW4 did indeed have the the Norman tower added - but the main ensemble was built during Fritz's reign already! Right after Sanssouci itself in fact, and including the big water basin in the middle, which was supposed to run the fountains (if they'd managed to get the water up there, which, as we know, they never did during his lifetime).
The main building. In yellow, not pink, no matter what certain ill informed podcasters spout.
I don't think I'll ever get over that. :P I was even reminded recently because someone on my flist was reading the book they made of their podcast.
Also, I'm wondering if Flora and the Roman Emperors ever get miffed that nobody pays attention to them because everybody is busy staring at a couple of stone plates and potatoes on the ground...
And Antinous against the sky, framed by the trellis, just works every time.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-17 11:30 am (UTC)LOL about Flora and the Roman Emperors. I expect Flora is also tired of some visitors regarding her as "proof" Fritz wasn't so gay after all...
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Date: 2024-05-17 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-17 02:00 am (UTC)Aww, of course she's with Folichon, that's very fitting and very Wilhelmine-and-Fritz.
In yellow, not pink
Heeeee!
Those poses with Antinous and the trellis and the light shining on it, beautiful. I agree fully with
no subject
Date: 2024-05-17 11:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-19 04:42 pm (UTC)Antinous against a blue sky continues to be the most stunning image ever, and there's a reason that even though I only have a few DW icons, I stole Antinous from your Sanssouci icon collection!
Also, wow, yeah, I remember that tombstone being a lot easier to read when I was there. "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone" indeed.
I'm tentatively planning a Germany trip next summer, so maybe I'll have a chance to visit again!
no subject
Date: 2024-05-19 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-19 04:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-22 12:33 am (UTC)KatteAntinousPraying Boy! As noted in the article we read, it has none of the Katte or Antinous info on the placard, so I had no idea what I was looking at in 2012! And thus I retained no memory of looking at it. Actually, yeah, I see where I toldno subject
Date: 2024-05-24 06:16 am (UTC)“Cool, Greek statue” is presumably what FW2 thought when moving said statue to basically his antechambre, complete with “Greek bronze statues should not stand outside in the rain”, not knowing his actions would get slandered as homophobic by the likes of tumblr.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-25 01:05 am (UTC)There's also this bust of Athena, which I *did* remember, because the placard said Fritz acquired it, and that combined two of my fandoms. :)
no subject
Date: 2024-05-25 03:45 pm (UTC)