Sanssouci, meaning “without care,” was the name given to the summer estate created by Frederick II of Prussia (1712-1786) starting in 1744. The Neues Palais, or New Palace, a grand residence for the royal family and their guests, was completed in 1769. (...)
Sanssouci, meaning “without care,” was the name given to the summer estate created by Frederick II of Prussia (1712-1786) starting in 1744. The Neues Palais, or New Palace, a grand residence for the royal family and their guests, was completed in 1769. Its commission at the end of the Seven Years’ War sought to advertise that the war, which had increased Prussia’s influence, had not also depleted its finances. A counterpart to the earlier, more modest Sanssouci Palace, which Frederick the Great preferred for himself, the New Palace anchors the western end of the park’s main promenade. It presents a long garden façade of red brick with Corinthian pilasters in the colossal order. The palace’s “Frederician” Rococo interiors were created by a team of artists and craftsmen led by the architect Carl von Gontard (1731-1791), who was responsible for the completion of the building. In addition to many guest rooms and private apartments for the king, the palace housed several large reception halls and a magnificent theater, which is still in operation. Later in its history, the New Palace was the preferred residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II until his abdication in 1918 and the end of the Hohenzollern dynasty. A museum since the time of the Weimar Republic, the New Palace preserves most of its interiors, even though objects were removed to the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
