The story of this place
After the ruinous Seven Years' War, Frederick the Great built the vast New Palace in Potsdam between 1763 and 1769 as a deliberate 'fanfaronade' — a boast to Europe that Prussia, though nearly bankrupted, remained a great power. With over 200 rooms, a domed banqueting hall and 428 sandstone statues on its roofline, it dwarfs his beloved Sanssouci. The astonishing Grotto Hall glitters with shells, minerals and fossils embedded in the walls. Frederick himself disliked it and used it only for guests and ceremonies, preferring the intimacy of Sanssouci. The last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, made it his main residence until his abdication in 1918. It anchors the Sanssouci park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.