New Garden, Potsdam

The New Garden is a 102.5 -acre park that borders the Holy See and the Jungfernsee in the north of Potsdam. Friedrich Wilhelm II had from 1787 to create a new garden this area, hence the name.

The Garden

Already in his Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm II acquired the property of a merchant at the Holy See, which was enlarged by the purchase of adjoining orchards and vineyards in the course of time. A year after his accession began the work on the system. The park should reflect the zeitgeist according to a garden architecturally modern image and stand out from the outdated forms of old baroque ornamental and kitchen garden of Sanssouci, Frederick the Great.

By traveling in the tiny principality of Anhalt- Dessau, the king was aware of the Wörlitz. This earliest and largest landscape garden in the English style on the European continent corresponded to his ideal in garden design. For the implementation of this ideal of Woerlitzer gardener Johann August Eyserbeck was committed.

In contrast to the extensive English landscape gardens of the 19th century, whose main elements were tree, meadow and water, the garden was divided in the English style late 18th century by relatively self- yard games, decorated by small garden architectures. The nature recreated, you emphasized the scenic character in the design. The trees and plants should appear in free uncut habit naturally.

Even the rural life was rediscovered. Grazing cows belonging to the image of the new garden, whose milk was processed in the located at the northernmost tip of the park dairy butter and cheese. Existing and included in the planning of garden sheds are still available today. They are named after their color White, Brown, Red, and Green House.

1816 Peter Joseph, in the garden this year journeyman, to Potsdam. He was given the task of redesigning the now overgrown garden. While retaining some individual lots, he created an English landscape park with large garden areas, lawns and wide paths, but most of all lines of sight to Peacock Island, Glienicke, Babelsberg and Sacrow.

The buildings in the New Garden

With the installation of a new garden in Potsdam Friedrich Wilhelm was at the same time build in the years 1787-1792, a new castle. According to Carl von Gontard plans and Carl Gotthard Langhans ', who was primarily responsible for the interior design, the Marble Palace, a work in the style of early classicism arose. With this building the longest common in other European style also held in Berlin- Brandenburg collection and initiated the artistic change of epoch.

Frederick William II was a member of a lodge of Freemasons and the more mystically oriented secret society of the Rosicrucians. In some buildings of the new garden to reflect semantic contents of Freemasonry. So our kitchen as a semi- sunken temple, the ice house as a pyramid and the library was built in Gothic. The architecture was not related to the actual purpose. Carl Gotthard Langhans and Andreas Ludwig Krüger created this taken from another time functional buildings.

The ice-house, built in 1791/92 as a pyramid in the north line of sight of the Marble Palace, was used for keeping fresh of food. In winter the nearby sacred lake ice was removed and stored in the lowest floor of about 5 meters going into the ground cellar.

At the south end of the new garden stands the Gothic library. The small, two-storey pavilion housed the collection of books of Friedrich Wilhelm II in the lower area were the French works, the top German literature. In contrast to his predecessor Frederick the Great, who preferred all things French, Friedrich Wilhelm II promoted the German art. At Prussian theaters pieces of Friedrich Schiller and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing now allowed to be listed.

The Orangery (1791 /93) with the Egyptian portal on the east side is guarded by a sphinx. In niches of the semi -circular entrance area there are two black colored statues of Egyptian gods from the workshop of the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow. In the middle part of the long building is the wood-paneled Palm Hall. Here public concerts were held, in which the musical king himself played the cello. To the east and west, close to the greenhouses.

Friedrich Wilhelm II had his refuge along the west side by a high wall surrounded. The main entrance to the park in southwestern flank two gatehouses in the Dutch style. In them were, among others, stables and coach houses. Lined up on the straight secondary Avenue to the marble palace red brick houses, also in Dutch designs. This so-called Dutch establishment served as a residence for staff, as well as a stunning backdrop of the Holy See.

A Crystall and shell grotto on the north end of the new garden was created 1791/92 according to design drawings Andreas Ludwig Kruger. The location for warm summer days should work created outside of nature itself. The three cabinets in the interior were decorated with mirrors, stained glass work and mussels. At a built nearby small kitchen remembers only one ring of walls. The round Waldhäuschen was thatched with reeds and covered with oak bark.

The Castle Kitchen (1788 /90), located in the form of an artificial ruin beneath the steps of the Marble Palace and connected to it by an underground passage, showing only her front facing the lake. It seems as if it were a submerged semi- sunken Temple of Earth masses.

The Obelisk (1793 /94) was constructed from blue gray marble, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans. The four relief medallions were worked by the brothers Wohler and Johann Gottfried Schadow and make men heads at different ages dar. These symbolize the four seasons.

The Themistocles - Herme (1798 ) was made after an ancient original in white marble. It shows the bust of the Greek commander Themistocles.

Over a hundred years later, at the end of the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, was born in the New Garden of the last palace of the Hohenzollern. In the years 1913-1917 Cecilienhof was built for Prince William and his wife Cecilie in the north of the park. It served the Crown Prince family until early 1945 as a residential palace.

Summary Table of buildings

Under King Frederick William II developed in the years 1787-1793 in the New Garden:

  • Marble Palace
  • Castle kitchen, in the form of a temple ruin
  • Orangery
  • Gothic library
  • Pyramid
  • Dairy
  • Muschelgrotte
  • " Dutch establishment " ( houses in the Dutch style)
  • Hermitage

Under Emperor Wilhelm II, in the years 1914 to 1917 for Crown Prince Wilhelm:

  • Cecilienhof
Hectare Heiliger See Job von Witzleben (historian) Anhalt-Dessau Dairy in the New Garden Pfaueninsel Gothic art Carriage house
598809
de