A guide to POTSDAM

22nd February 2024

Secret Potsdam by Manuel Roy, a guide to Potsdam. Published by Jonglez Publishing.

A new addition to the “Secret …” guides. And as usual it’s a cracker.

I imagine most visitors to Potsdam will make their way to Potsdam from Berlin, as it is easily accessible by public transport and of course it has the big lure of beautiful Sanssouci.

We headed out to this important town before the guidebook was published and were quite stunned by the beautiful Dutch architecture early on in our explorations  We then stumbled upon the Russian quarter which has several dachas in Alexandrowka and there is also a rather good restaurant serving Russian food (Alexandrowka, Haus 1).

It is easy to appreciate Potsdam and Secret Potsdam drills down deeper to find those hidden gems, not necessarily apparent on a first visit.

We already know there are many things in the area that are worth visiting. The relic of Germany’s oldest cinema is to be found near the centre; and details are listed of where you can find a 13th Century Venetian mosaic, imported in the 19th Century. Who knew! We happened upon the Garage du Pont near the Glienicke Bridge when we visited, we were waiting at a bus stop and that is featured in the guide; and we had already commented on the Tudor inspired chimneys at the Cecilienhof – a distinctly English choice, the why’s and wherefores explained in the book. Not far away we had spotted the weeping beech tree that resembles an elephant and, to this day, continues to be shaped and pruned to maintain the rather wonderful creation. And of course there is the Glienicke Bridge itself, such a symbol of the Cold War where spies were exchanged – the film The Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks offers a feel how things were at that time.

The book highlights some of the very solid Prussian architecture that, in fact, so often throws up surprising elements and architectural detail, affirming the different periods of German history and government and how they have been integrated for posterity.

A really useful and insightful guide if you are heading to Berlin and from there to Potsdam.

There are plenty more titles in this series to whet your appetite for travel in this series.

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