Cecilienhof
Cecilienhof located in the northern part of New Garden in Potsdam, close to the banks of the Virgin lake. The last Hohenzollern palace was built under Emperor Wilhelm II for his son Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife Cecilie out of the house Mecklenburg-Schwerin. According to the plans of architect Paul Schultze -Naumburg was born in the years 1914 to 1917 group of buildings in an English country house style.
World of historic significance was Cecilienhof site of the Potsdam Conference from July 17 to August 2, 1945.
The palace
Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered in 1912 to provide funds for the construction of a new palace in the new garden. The Ministry of the House of Hohenzollern castle with the Saalecker workshops from a contract in which the Contract price to 1.498 million mark and the completion was set at 1 October 1915. In May 1913 Prince William laid the foundation for his new residence.
The staff responsible for the planning and management architect Paul Schultze -Naumburg designed according to the wishes of the royal pair a building in the style of an English country estate, inspired by the cottage style of the hunting lodge Gelbensande the parents of Crown Princess Cecilie. Brick and half-timbered elements of dark oak dominate the exterior facades. Exceptional are the 55 chimneys on the roofs in the Tudor style, none of which are alike.
The various parts of buildings grouped around five courtyards: the large courtyard in the middle, a small garden courtyard - the Prince's Garden - and three farmyards. On the courtyard falls on the lawn on a planted from red flowers star. Soviet soldiers laid him in 1945 at the Potsdam Conference.
Since the construction was stopped after the outbreak of the First World War, the scheduled date of completion was delayed. It was only in August 1917 Crown Princess Cecilie moved their already finished rooms in which they her sixth child, Princess Cecilie, in September brought to the world. On 1 October 1917, the new castle was finally completed.
After the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm and Cecilie in 1918 received the castle in 1926 by the state back as private property. Until his escape in 1945 occupied the royal couple Cecilienhof. In the same year the Soviet occupying power expropriated the Hohenzollern family compensation.
Inside
In the castle comprehensive 176 rooms, the representative living rooms were on the ground floor of the central building. In lay the private bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. Simple elegance using noble materials recorded from the interior and reflected the upscale residential culture of the early 20th century resist. Almost all private rooms were designed by Paul Ludwig Troost, who made a name for himself through the facilities of passenger steamers. Particularly original acts a space that was designed and furnished at the request of Crown Princess Cecilie as a cabin. The furniture here is largely preserved, since it is fixed to the wall.
The entire inventory was left behind when leaving the castle in early 1945 by the family of the Crown Prince and taken by the Soviets because of the transformation of rooms for conference participants in the old dairy farm on the banks of the Virgin lake. There, the original equipment was destroyed by a fire on 25 July 1945. The lack of means has been replaced by individual pieces in the style of the time. In order to meet the tastes of each head of delegation, furniture and furnishings were worn from nearby castles through representatives of the Rear Service of the Soviet army together. In Joseph Stalin's Corner, a dark leather couch and a massive desk was brought. Harry S. Truman's room was decorated with subtle classical furniture from the Marble Palace. Winston Churchill's room received neo-Gothic furniture from the Babelsberg Palace.
The center of the main building, the line passing through both storeys, 26 meters long and 12 meter high Great Hall. It originally served as a residence hall and was decorated with comfortable furniture. The wood paneling on the walls, exposed wooden beams on the ceiling construction and the large coffered windows are characteristic of the English country house style of the time. The carved dark oak in Gdansk Baroque staircase is a gift from the city of Gdansk. It led to the private rooms of the royal pair.
During the Potsdam Conference, the Great Hall was converted into a conference hall. The round table, with a diameter of 3.05 meters, was specially prepared for the negotiation of the Moscow furniture company Lux. On him sat the leaders of the victorious Allied powers Truman (USA), Churchill or Clement Attlee (Britain ), Stalin (USSR) and other leading members of the three delegations. During the conference, Truman gave the order to call atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Use
After the conference, the palace and park were made available to the public for the first time. Initially, use of the Democratic Women's Association ( DFD), the castle as a training center. The west wing housed a hotel in 1960, and to date these terms remained. In addition to the memorial of the Potsdam Agreement, the former living quarters of the royal couple can be visited.
Cecilienhof was completed in 1990 with the palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin and Berlin ( Glienicke and Peacock Island ) as a World Heritage Site under the protection of UNESCO and is under the administration of the Foundation for Prussian Palaces and Gardens in Berlin -Brandenburg.
Occasionally, the Brandenburg state government used the castle for receptions. In November 2004, Queen Elizabeth II came to visit, and on 30 May 2007, the G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held here.