Potsdam

For other uses, see Potsdam (disambiguation).
Potsdam
From top: The City Palace with St. Nicholas' Church in the background,
Sanssouci palace, Potsdam New Palace,
Dutch Quarter and Brandenburger Straße at Potsdam downtown

Flag
Potsdam
Coordinates: 52°24′N 13°4′E / 52.400°N 13.067°E / 52.400; 13.067Coordinates: 52°24′N 13°4′E / 52.400°N 13.067°E / 52.400; 13.067
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Urban district
Government
 • Lord Mayor Jann Jakobs (SPD)
Area
 • Total 187.28 km2 (72.31 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 167,745
 • Density 900/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 14467–14482
Dialling codes 0331
Vehicle registration P
Website www.potsdam.de

Potsdam (German pronunciation: [ˈpɔtsdam]) is the capital and largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. It directly borders the German capital Berlin and is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, 24 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Berlin's city center.

Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, until 1918. Its planning embodied ideas of The Age of Enlightenment: through a careful balance of architecture and landscape Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which reminded its residents of their relationship with nature and reason.[2] Around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. The Potsdam Conference, the major post-World War II conference between the victorious Allies, was held at another palace in the area, the Cecilienhof.

Babelsberg, in the south-eastern part of Potsdam, was a major film production studio before the war and has enjoyed success as a major center of European film production since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Filmstudio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world.

Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century. Today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city.

Geography

Templiner See south of Potsdam

The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period. Today, the city is three-quarters green space, with just a quarter as urban area. There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See and the Sacrower See. The highest point is the 114-metre (374 ft) high Kleiner Ravensberg.

Potsdam is divided into seven historic city districts and nine new Ortsteile (villages), which joined the city in 2003. The appearances of the city districts are quite different. The districts in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings.

Climate

Potsdam has an Oceanic climate with cold and snowy winters and warm summers. Winters are cold with a high of 0 °C (32 °F) and a low of −5 °C (23 °F). Snow is common in the winter. Spring and autumn are short. Summers are quite warm with a high of 24 °C (75 °F) and a low of 14 °C (57 °F).

Climate data for Potsdam
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.6
(56.5)		 18.6
(65.5)		 25.7
(78.3)		 31.8
(89.2)		 32.5
(90.5)		 34.2
(93.6)		 36.3
(97.3)		 36.5
(97.7)		 32.9
(91.2)		 27.8
(82)		 21.2
(70.2)		 15.5
(59.9)		 36.5
(97.7)
Average high °C (°F) 1.7
(35.1)		 3.5
(38.3)		 8.1
(46.6)		 13.5
(56.3)		 19.1
(66.4)		 22.4
(72.3)		 23.6
(74.5)		 23.4
(74.1)		 19.2
(66.6)		 13.7
(56.7)		 7.1
(44.8)		 3.0
(37.4)		 13.2
(55.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.9
(30.4)		 0.2
(32.4)		 3.7
(38.7)		 8.0
(46.4)		 13.2
(55.8)		 16.6
(61.9)		 17.9
(64.2)		 17.5
(63.5)		 13.9
(57)		 9.4
(48.9)		 4.2
(39.6)		 0.7
(33.3)		 8.7
(47.7)
Average low °C (°F) −3.4
(25.9)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 0.0
(32)		 3.4
(38.1)		 8.0
(46.4)		 11.5
(52.7)		 13.0
(55.4)		 12.7
(54.9)		 9.8
(49.6)		 6.0
(42.8)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 4.9
(40.8)
Record low °C (°F) −20.9
(−5.6)		 −19.9
(−3.8)		 −14.0
(6.8)		 −5.8
(21.6)		 −2.6
(27.3)		 2.2
(36)		 6.2
(43.2)		 5.4
(41.7)		 0.1
(32.2)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 −16.6
(2.1)		 −24.5
(−12.1)		 −24.5
(−12.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 44
(1.73)		 38
(1.5)		 38
(1.5)		 44
(1.73)		 56
(2.2)		 69
(2.72)		 52
(2.05)		 60
(2.36)		 46
(1.81)		 36
(1.42)		 47
(1.85)		 55
(2.17)		 585
(23.03)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 11 8 9 9 10 10 9 9 8 7 10 12 112
Mean monthly sunshine hours 47.1 73.7 124.2 168.3 226.9 231.1 231.9 220.1 161.3 114.4 54.0 39.3 1,692.2
Source: NOAA[3]

History

Etymology

The name "Potsdam" originally seems to have been Poztupimi. A common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning "beneath the oaks",[4] i.e., the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi (pod "beneath, dub "oak"). However some question this explanation.[5]

Document from the Holy Roman Empire in 993 mentioning Poztupimi
New Palace today
Stadtschloss Potsdam in 1773

The area around Potsdam shows occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and Potsdam was probably founded after the 7th century as a settlement of the Hevelli tribe centred on a castle. It was first mentioned in a document in 993 AD as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda.[5] By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town. It gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a small market town of 2,000 inhabitants. Potsdam lost nearly half of its population due to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

A continuous Hohenzollern possession since 1415, Potsdam became prominent, when it was chosen in 1660 as the hunting residence of Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg, the core of the powerful state that later became the Kingdom of Prussia. It also housed Prussian barracks.

Voltaire at the residence of Frederick II in Potsdam. Partial view of an engraving by Pierre Charles Baquoy, after N. A. Monsiau.

After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration. Its religious freedom attracted people from France (Huguenots), Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. The edict accelerated population growth and economic recovery.

Later, the city became a full residence of the Prussian royal family. The buildings of the royal residences were built mainly during the reign of Frederick the Great. One of these is the Sanssouci Palace (French: "without cares", by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, 1744), famed for its formal gardens and Rococo interiors. Other royal residences include the New Palace and the Orangery.

In 1815, at the formation of the Province of Brandenburg, Potsdam became the provincial capital until 1918, however, interrupted and succeeded by Berlin as provincial capital between 1827 and 1843, and after 1918. The province comprised two governorates named after their capitals Potsdam and Frankfurt (Oder).

Governorate of Potsdam

Between 1815 and 1945 the city of Potsdam served as capital of the governorate of Potsdam (German: Regierungsbezirk Potsdam). The Regierungsbezirk encompassed the former districts of Uckermark, the Mark of Priegnitz, and the greater part of the Middle March. It was situated between Mecklenburg and the Province of Pomerania on the north, and the Province of Saxony on the south and west (Berlin, with a small surrounding district, was an urban governorate and enclave within the governorate of Potsdam between 1815 and 1822, then it merged as urban district into the governorate only to be disentangled again from Potsdam governorate in 1875, becoming an own distinct province-like entity on 1 April 1881). Towards the north west the governorate was bounded by the rivers Elbe and the Havel, and on the north east by the Oder. The south eastern boundary was to the neighbouring governorate of Frankfurt (Oder). About 500,000 inhabitants lived in the Potsdam governorate, which covered an area of about 20,700 square kilometres (7,992 sq mi), divided into thirteen rural districts, partially named after their capitals:[6]

AngermündeBeeskow-Storkow (as of 1836)East HavellandEast Prignitz
Jüterbog-LuckenwaldeLower BarnimPrenzlauRuppin
Teltow (as of 1836)Teltow-Storkow (until 1835)TemplinUpper Barnim
West HavellandWest PrignitzZauch-Belzig

The traditional towns in the governorate were small, however, in the course of the industrial labour migration some reached the rank as urban districts. The principal towns were Brandenburg upon Havel, Köpenick, Potsdam, Prenzlau, Spandau and Ruppin.[6] Until 1875 also Berlin was a town within the governorate. After its disentanglement a number of its suburbs outside Berlin's municipal borders grew to cities, many forming urban within the governorate of Potsdam such as Charlottenburg, Lichtenberg, Rixdorf (after 1912 Neukölln), and Schöneberg (all of which, as well as Köpenick and Spandau, incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920). The urban districts were (years indicating the elevation to rank of urban district or affiliation with Potsdam governorate, respectively):

Berlin (1822–1875)Brandenburg/Havel (as of 1881)Charlottenburg (1877–1920)Eberswalde (as of 1911)
Lichtenberg (1908–1920)Schöneberg (1899–1920)Deutsch-Wilmersdorf (1907–1920)Rixdorf (Neukölln) (1899–1920)
PotsdamRathenow (as of 1925)Spandau (1886–1920)Wittenberge (as of 1922)

20th century

Berlin was the official capital of Prussia and later of the German Empire, but the court remained in Potsdam, where many government officials settled. In 1914, the Emperor Wilhelm II signed the Declaration of War in the Neues Palais. The city lost its status as a second capital in 1918, when Wilhelm II abdicated at the end of World War I.

At the start of the Third Reich in 1933 there was a ceremonial handshake between President Paul von Hindenburg and the new Chancellor Adolf Hitler on 21 March 1933 in Potsdam's Garrison Church in what became known as the "Day of Potsdam". This symbolised a coalition of the military (Reichswehr) and Nazism. Potsdam was severely damaged in bombing raids during World War II.

Potsdam Conference in 1945 with Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin

The Cecilienhof Palace was the scene of the Potsdam Conference from 17 July, to 2 August 1945, at which the victorious Allied leaders (Harry S. Truman; Winston Churchill and his successor, Clement Attlee; and Joseph Stalin) met to decide the future of Germany and postwar Europe in general. The conference ended with the Potsdam Agreement and the Potsdam Declaration.

The Glienicke Bridge, used for exchanging spies during the Cold War

The government of East Germany (formally known as the German Democratic Republic (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR)) tried to remove symbols of Prussian militarism. Many historic buildings, some of them badly damaged in the war, were demolished.

When in 1946 the remainder of the Province of Brandenburg west of the Oder-Neiße line was constituted as the state of Brandenburg, Potsdam became its capital. In 1952 the GDR disestablished its federative states and replaced them by smaller new East German administrative districts. Potsdam became the capital of the new Bezirk Potsdam until 1990.

Potsdam, south-west of Berlin, lay just outside West Berlin after the construction of the Berlin Wall. The walling off of West Berlin not only isolated Potsdam from West Berlin, but also doubled commuting times to East Berlin. The Glienicke Bridge across the Havel connected the city to West Berlin and was the scene of some Cold War exchanges of spies.

After German reunification, Potsdam became the capital of the newly re-established state of Brandenburg. There are many ideas and efforts to reconstruct the original appearance of the city, most remarkably the Potsdam City Palace and the Garrison Church.

Demographics

Largest groups of foreign residents as of 2012:

Rank Nationality Population (2013)
1 Russia863
2 Ukraine715
3 Poland648
4 Vietnam355
5 Turkey279

Politics

Potsdam has had a mayor (Bürgermeister) and city council since the 15th century. From 1809 the city council was elected, with a mayor (Oberbürgermeister) at its head. During the Third Reich the mayor was selected by the NSDAP and the city council was dissolved; it was reconstituted in token form after the Second World War, but free elections did not take place until after reunification.

Today, the city council is the city's central administrative authority. Local elections took place on 26 October 2003 and again in 2008. Between 1990 and 1999, the Chairman of the City Council was known as the "Town President" but today the post is the "Chairman of the City Council". The mayor is elected directly by the population.

The Landtag Brandenburg, the parliament of the federal state of Brandenburg is in Potsdam. It is planned to move into the Potsdam City Palace in 2014, after its reconstruction.[7]

Twin towns and sister cities

Potsdam is twinned with the following cities:[8]

Poland OpolePoland1973[9]Italy PerugiaItaly1990
France BobignyFrance1974United States Sioux FallsSouth Dakota, USA1990
Finland JyväskyläFinland1985Germany BonnNorth Rhine-Westphalia1988[10]
Switzerland LucerneSwitzerland2002[11]

Transport

Education and research

Landmark buildings of the University of Potsdam

Potsdam is a university town. The University of Potsdam was founded in 1991 as a university of the State of Brandenburg. Its predecessor was the Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaften der DDR "Walter Ulbricht", a college of education founded in 1948 which was one of the GDR's most important colleges. There are about 20,000 students enrolled at the university.

The Einstein Tower was built in 1921 to house research on the theory of relativity

In 1991 the Fachhochschule was founded as the second college; it now has 2,400 students.

In addition there is a College of Film and Television (Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen "Konrad Wolf" HFF), founded in 1954 in Babelsberg, the foremost centre of the German film industry since its birth, with currently 600 students.

There are also several research foundations, including Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research and Biomedical Engineering, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, and Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, the Potsdam Astrophysical Institute, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which employs 340 people in researching climate change.

As well as universities, Potsdam is home to reputable secondary schools. Montessori Gesamtschule Potsdam, in western Potsdam, attracts 400 students from the Brandenburg and Berlin region.

Culture

Sanssouci Palace.
Cecilienhof palace

Potsdam was historically a centre of European immigration. Its religious tolerance attracted people from France, Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. This is still visible in the culture and architecture of the city.

The most popular attraction in Potsdam is Sanssouci Park, 2 km (1 mi) west of the city centre. In 1744 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 a botanical garden (Botanical Garden, Potsdam) and many buildings:

Three gates from the original city wall remain today. The oldest is the Hunters' Gate (Jägertor), built in 1733. The Nauener Tor was built in 1755 and close to the historic Dutch Quarter. The ornate Brandenburg Gate (built in 1770, not to be confused with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin) is situated on the Luisenplatz at the western entrance to the old town.

Fortunaportal and St. Nicholas' Church on the Alter Markt (the church has since been renovated see photo)
The old town (main shopping street, Brandenburger Straße)

The Old Market Square (Alter Markt) is Potsdam's historical city centre. For three centuries this was the site of the City Palace (Stadtschloß), 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 demolished in 1961 by the Communist authorities. In 2002 the Fortuna Gate (Fortunaportal) was rebuilt in its original historic position, which marks the first step in the reconstruction of the palace.

The Old Market Square is dominated today by the dome of St. Nicholas' Church (Nikolaikirche), built in 1837 in the classical style. It was the last work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who designed the building but did not live to see its completion. It was finished by his disciples Friedrich August Stüler and Ludwig Persius. The eastern side of the Market Square is dominated by the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus), built in 1755 by the Dutch architect Jan Bouman (1706–1776). It has a characteristic circular tower, crowned with a gilded Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders.

Potsdam's Brandenburg Gate
Dutch Quarter

North of the Old Market Square is the oval French Church (Französische Kirche), erected in the 1750s by Boumann for the Huguenot community.

Another landmark of Potsdam is the two-street Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel), an ensemble of buildings that is unique in Europe, with about 150 houses built of red bricks in the Dutch style. It was built between 1734 and 1742 under the direction of Jan Bouman to be used by Dutch artisans and craftsmen who had been invited to settle here by King Frederick Wilhelm I. Today, this area is one of Potsdam's most visited districts.

North of the city centre is the Russian colony of Alexandrowka, a small enclave of Russian architecture (including an Orthodox chapel) built in 1825 for a group of Russian immigrants. Since 1999, the colony has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

East of the Alexandrowka colony is a large park, the New Garden (Neuer Garten), which was laid out from 1786 in the English style. The site contains two palaces; one of them, the Cecilienhof, was where the Potsdam Conference was held in July and August 1945. The Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) was built in 1789 in the style of classicism. Nearby is the Biosphäre Potsdam, a tropical botanical garden.

Another district of Potsdam is Babelsberg, a quarter south-east of the centre, housing the UFA film studios (Babelsberg Studios), and an extensive park with some historical buildings, including the Babelsberg Palace (Schloß Babelsberg, a neo-Gothic palace designed by Schinkel).

The Einstein Tower is located within the Albert Einstein Science Park, which is on the top of the Telegraphenberg within an astronomy compound.

There are many parks in Potsdam, most of them included in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some of them are:

Potsdam also includes a memorial centre in the former KGB prison in Leistikowstraße. In the Volkspark in the north, there is one of the last monuments dedicated to Lenin in Germany.[13]

Sport

Notable people

People from Potsdam who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

Sons and daughters of the town

18th century

Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck
Wilhelm von Humboldt

19th century

Moritz Hermann von Jacobi 1856
Ludwig Persius around 1840

1801–1850

Frederick III

1851–1900

20th. century

1901–1950

Louis Ferdinand around 1927

1951–2000

Honorary citizens

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung im Land Brandenburg nach amtsfreien Gemeinden, Ämtern und Gemeinden 31. Dezember 2015 (Fortgeschriebene amtliche Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2016.
  2. ↑ The Potsdam project, 1996, HRH The Prince of Wales, Charles; Hanson, Brian; Steil, Lucien; Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force; Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, 1998, Introduction.
  3. ↑ "Potsdam Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ "993 – From Poztupimi to the Royal Seat". potsdam.de. 1 December 2004.
  5. 1 2 August Kopish, "Die Königlichen Schlösser u. Gärten zu Potsdam", Berlin, 1854, p. 18 (Google Books)
  6. 1 2 Thomas Curtis (1839). The London encyclopaedia, or, Universal dictionary of science, art, literature, and practical mechanics, by the orig. ed. of the Encyclopaedia metropolitana Volume XVIII, p. 11
  7. ↑ Jennerjahn, Yvonne (13 November 2013). "Landtag: Umzug ins neue Domizil" – via Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten.
  8. ↑ "Die Partnerstädte der Landeshauptstadt Potsdam". www.potsdam.de (in German). Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "Miasta Partnerskie Opola". Urzad Miasta Opola (in Polish). Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  10. ↑ "City Twinnings". Stadt Bonn. Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  11. ↑ "Partnerstädte der Stadt Luzern". Stadt Luzern (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  12. ↑ (German) BVG: Berliner public transport pdf maps showing fare zones
  13. ↑ "X-files: Lenin in Potsdam". leninisstillaround.com. 20 August 2015.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Potsdam.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Potsdam.
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