Potsdam is the capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg in Germany. It is situated on the Havel river, south-west of Berlin.
The city features a series of interconnected lakes and is well known for its unique cultural landscapes, in particular the parks and castles of Sanssouci, a World Heritage Site.

Attractions in Potsdam

Potsdam has been a center of european immigration. The religious tolerance attracted people from France, Russia, Netherlands and Bohemia. This is still visible in the culture and architecture of the city. The Alter Markt (Old Market Square) is Potsdam's city center. For three centuries this was the place of the Stadtschloß (city Palace), a royal palace built in 1662. Under Frederick the Great, the palace became the winter residence of the Prussian kings. The palace was severely damaged by bombing in 1945 and further demolished in 1961 by the Communist authorities. In 2002 the Fortunaportal (Gate of Fortune) was rebuilt in its original historic position, which marks the first step in the reconstruction of the palace.
The Alter Markt is dominated by the dome of the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicolas Church), built in 1837 in classicist style. It was the last work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who designed the building but did not live to see the completion of the building, which was only finished by his disciples Friedrich August Stüler and Ludwig Persius.
The eastern side of the Market Square is dominated by the Altes Rathaus (old city hall), built in 1755 by the Dutchman architect Jan Bouman (1706-1776). It has a characteristic circular tower, crowned with a gilded Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders.
North of the Alter Markt is the oval Französische Kirche (French Church), erected in the 1750s by Boumann for the Huguenot community, and the Brandenburg Gate (built in 1770, not to be confused with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin).
Another landmark of Potsdam is the two-street Holländisches Viertel (Dutch quarter), an ensemble of buildings is unique in Europe, with about 150 houses built of red bricks in Dutch style. It was built in 1734-1742 under the direction of Jan Bouman to be used by Dutch craftsmen who had been invited to settle here by King Frederick Wilhelm I. Today this area is one of Potsdam's most visited neighborhoods.
North of the city center is the Russian Colony Alexandrowka, a small enclave of Russian architecture (including an Orthodox chapel) built in 1825 for a group of Russian immigrants. Since 1999 the colony is part of the UNESCO world heritage.
East of the Alexandrowka colony is a large park, the Neuer Garten (New Garden), which was laid out from 1786 in English style. The site contains two smaller palaces, one of them Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference was held in July-August 1945.
Another interesting area of Potsdam is Babelsberg, a quarter east of the centre, housing the UFA film studios (Babelsberg Studios), and an extensive park with some interesting buildings, including the Schloß Babelsberg (a neo-Gothic palace by Schinkel) and the Einstein Tower, built in 1920-24 by architect Erich Mendelsohn.
However, the attraction which draws most visitors to Potsdam is Park Sanssouci, 2km west of the city center. In 1744 the King Frederick the Great ordered the construction of a residence here, where he could live sans souci ("without worries", in the French spoken at the court). The park hosts many magnificent buildings:

• Sanssouci Palace, a relatively modest palace of the Prussian royal and German imperial families.
• The Orangery, former palace for foreign royal guests.
• The Neues Palais ("New Palace"), built between 1763 and 1769 to celebrate the end of the Seven Years' War, in which Prussia ousted Austria from its centuries-long role as the dominant power in German affairs. It is a much larger and grander palace than Sanssouci, having over 200 rooms, and served as the guest house for numerous visitors of the house of the Prussian king.
• Charlottenhof, a Neoclassical palace by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (built in 1826)
• The Römische Bäder (Roman Baths), built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Ludwig Persius in 1829-1840. It is a complex of buildings including a tea pavilion, a Renaissance-style villa and a Roman bathroom (from which the whole building takes its name).
• The Chinesisches Teehaus ("Chinese Tea House"), an eighteenth-century pavilion built in a Chinese style, which was the fashion of the time.