Handpicked experience · Berlin
Berlin, Germany
Frederick asked to be buried on the terrace beside his dogs. His successor ignored it, and the wish was finally honoured in 1991 — two centuries late.
A plain terrace grave that took two centuries to fill correctly
A Prussian palace named in the language its owner preferred
Terraced vineyard slopes below the main frontage
A quarter built for immigrants who largely stayed home
A vehicle answering to your group rather than a timetable
The New Palace frontage at the park's far end
A private day from Berlin to Potsdam by minivan, taking in Sanssouci Park, the palace facades and the Dutch Quarter, with a guide and a vehicle kept for your group alone.
Frederick the Great built Sanssouci as somewhere to escape his own court, and he was precise about what should happen to him afterwards. He wanted to be buried on the terrace there, beside the greyhounds he had kept for company.
His nephew and successor disregarded this entirely and had him interred in a garrison church in the town instead — a soldier's burial for a man who had spent his life trying to be something other than a soldier.
The coffin then travelled. It was removed during the Second World War, hidden underground, taken west, and kept for decades at a family castle far from Prussia.
He was finally returned to Sanssouci and buried on the terrace, next to his dogs, in 1991 — a little over two hundred years after he died and asked for exactly that. The grave is plain, at ground level, and easy to walk past.
Sanssouci means "without a care", and the French is not decoration.
Frederick preferred French to German in almost every register. He wrote in it, corresponded with Voltaire in it, and was dismissive of German as a language for literature. The most celebrated building of the Prussian monarchy carries a French name because its owner did not much want to use his own language.
The block of red-brick gabled houses in the town was put up in the 1730s and 1740s to attract Dutch craftsmen to Potsdam — an entire quarter erected in advance of the immigrants it was meant to house.
Relatively few came. The buildings remained, were used by others, and are now among the most photographed streets in the city. It is a neighbourhood built as an inducement that largely failed and became attractive anyway.
Be clear that this is principally a tour of exteriors and grounds. Palace interiors are ticketed separately and are not part of the arrangement.
Sanssouci Park is very large — close to three hundred hectares — and the distances between its buildings are real. This is a walking day within a driving day.
The private minivan means the route and pace answer to your group rather than a timetable, which is worth spending on the park rather than the road.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
On the terrace at Sanssouci, alongside the greyhounds he kept for company. He was explicit about it.
Not for a very long time. His successor overrode the wish and had him buried in a garrison church in the town.
It spent the twentieth century in transit — shifted for safekeeping, sent away from Prussia, and stored well outside the state he ruled.
In 1991, to the terrace beside his dogs — a little over two centuries after he died having asked for exactly that.
Because its owner preferred French. He wrote in it, corresponded with Voltaire in it, and thought little of German as a literary language.
To attract Dutch craftsmen. The houses were built in advance of the immigrants they were meant to accommodate.
Largely not. Relatively few came, the buildings were occupied by others, and the streets became admired regardless.
No. This is a tour of exteriors and grounds; palace interiors are ticketed separately and are not part of it.