Older Potsdam and a bit of Hearsay History

 The older half history of potsdam is about wars ,potatoes and royal eccentricities.  At the center of all this is the Prussian crown first worn by the "King in Prussia" Fedrick I and then consequently Fedrick II then The Nephew and so on...

You can buy this replica for 80 euroes at the shop!!! I thought that if I wore it it would be too heavy considering the Phd feather on cap is too long and heavy in its creation to be replaced by gold imitation!

Suum cuique ("to each, his own"), the motto of the Order of the Black Eagle created by King Frederick I in 1701, was often associated with the whole of Prussia.  I like the motto, Its sounds like a NIAS doctoral program motto to me! ( specially in our 'Multi-disciplinary' fields) And hey notice the eagle similarities to our logo at NIAS? Heh Heh.
 Here are two nice examples of the eagle.

The Hohenzollern state was then known as Brandenburg-Prussia, belonging to  family called Electors.The Margraviate of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Prussia outside of the Empire.(This was not a Kingdom as  kingdoms within the holy roman empire were not allowed.) It was Frederick I who convinced the then Leopold I, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor, was  to allow Prussia to be ruled as a kingdom. He called himself "KING IN PRUSSIA," so as not to threaten territories of the hohenzollern that were not in Prussia. Berlin was called Königsberg!

 The Blue ladies in the background holding the crown on the New palace are the three graces.They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest: Aglaea ("Beauty"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as  the "Graces." Sometimes a joke was that in this palace they were the three queens around Frederick , including Empress Elizabeth. ( wait For this Story later in the blog)

His son called Frederick II (the great)  had a traumatic childhood and youth. At age 16, Frederick II had formed an attachment to the king's 13-year-old page, Peter Karl Christoph Keith. Wilhelmina  ( his older sister) recorded that the two "soon became inseparable.  In a strange turn of political events the young prince tried to run away from his autocratic father to England, was caught and punished. The saddest part is that the king forced Frederick to watch the decapitation of his confidant Katte at Küstrin on 6 November, leaving the crown prince to faint away and suffer hallucinations for the following two days.


Taking on the Kingdom after his father's death,Frederick managed to transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state. His acquisition of Silesia  during the silesian war provided economic benefits. Canals were built, including between the Vistula and the Oder, swamps were drained for agricultural cultivation, and new crops, such as the potato and the turnip, were introduced.  The potato story is worth retelling.

So the people hate eating things that grow below the ground. "Food For hogs! ( pigs)" they insisted. Food shortage was affecting the people of Prussia who had to learn to eat this nice round kartoffels. Despite education and awareness people tried to eat the green shoots of the potato and fell ill. So Fredrick devised a strategy. He had potatoes planted in the royal gardens and had it heavily guarded as special food for the royal kitchens. The curious citizens raided the gardens for the "special veggie." The guards (as planned by the king) looked the other way as the smuggled potatoes made their way into people's kitchens and cuisines.
 The Flip side is that potatoes became so much important in europe that when the crop failed, it caused the potato famine that also affected germany. Apparently turnips saved the day reported my guide.

Frederick also aspired to be a philosopher-king like the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. The king joined the Freemasons in 1738 and stood close to the French Enlightenment, admiring above all its greatest thinker, Voltaire, with whom he corresponded frequently. The personal friendship of Frederick and Voltaire came to an unpleasant end after Voltaire's visit to Berlin and Potsdam in 1750–1753, although they reconciled from afar in later years. ( Wikki Source)

Forced in to marriage  for political reasons, he never spent time with his wife who lived in a different palace.  ( He called her a fat cow!!)  He is often suspected to be homosexual, or struck with some ailment that made him stay away from women but the pages of history are blurred even about kings.
Frederick took no pleasure from his popularity with the common folk, preferring instead the company of his pet Italian greyhounds, whom he referred to as his 'marquises de Pompadour' as a jibe at Madame de Pompadour. His final resting place marker is near his beloved dogs as he had requested. ( not next to his wife) People put potatoes on his grave as a mark of respect which is in the beloved summer palace in south side facing the gardens at Potsdam.

The actual entombed body in its tomb was transported, protected in bunkers and then finally after WWII was laid to rest in in the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum in Sanssouci's Church of Peace on the grounds of the park for a while. The King 's body was then shifted again after reunification.

On 17 August 1991, Frederick's casket lay in state in the court of honor of Sanssouci, covered by a Prussian flag and escorted by a Bundeswehr guard of honour. After nightfall, Frederick's body was finally laid to rest on the terrace of the vineyard of Sanssouci, according to his last will without pomp and at night near his Italian Greyhounds.
It was befitting tribute to  der alte Fritz ("Old Fritz"), he was fondly called , as both the nazis and the autocratic rule of  had done much damage by using him for their propaganda.

The king preferred spending his time in his summer residence Potsdam, where he built the palace of Sanssouci, the most important work of Northern German rococo. Sanssouci, which translates from French as "carefree" or "without worry", was a refuge for Frederick.The most beautiful facade overlooks the beautiful gardens on the south side. You walk down the steps from this and you are in a steps like garden that is delightfully coloured. ( I am not sure but either all women were not allowed here or the queen was not allowed)

On a personal aside, the guide did have a very thick accent and for some time I kept thinking the king loved ducks  ( "Doocks" he said) and he was buried next to his lovely ducks. ( there are ducks in the fountains). Kept wondering how in those days those ducks did not end up on his table? Then realized it was dogs when he said in reply to a question by some one that the Doocks were  italian greyhounds!!!

 

Entrance.

Front reception

A windmill near the gate.

Next to the palace

 View from the top:

 

and what a surprise at the view from the lower tier. From the lower gardens the whole view  of the grape vines is beautiful, even when the leaves are turning brown.

 

  Rococo is a style of architecture and art that developed in France . If you want to know more about it, Click HERE for a wikki-link. You can see the  German rococo style in these details (the white is sadly discolored)."Architects often draped their interiors in clouds of fluffy white stucco."

Situated on the western side of the Sanssouci royal park  ( am Luste garten) The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War, under Frederick the Great and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian baroque palace.

The New palace is on the same grounds, you can walk up.

The Seven years war : On 29 August 1756 his well-prepared army crossed the frontier and  invaded Saxony, thus beginning the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Facing a coalition which included Austria, France, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden, and having only Great Britain and Hanover as his allies, Frederick narrowly kept Prussia in the war despite having his territories frequently invaded.He was almost at the losing end  of the war, the Prussian army was greatly weakened and had just lost the vital Baltic Sea port of Kolberg to the Russians when Emperess Elizabeth of Russia ( who was behind the Russian's assault) suddenly died ( at the beginning of 1762). It is called "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg," becoz it turned Frederick's defeat into a victory of sorts. Elizabeth's nephew came to the throne as Peter III. Peter was notoriously pro-Prussian; on his accession, he withdrew his troops and ended the war. In celebration getting into lots of debt Frederick the great built his new palace.

 Ostentatiously, this is the Kitchen with Fortuna shining on a top!

Next door is the servant's quarters ( being Restored) with Victoria.

 

 We need fortune and Victory!

In an architectural form, Frederick the Great sought to demonstrate the power and glories of Prussia attributing it as fanfaronade, an excess of splendor in marble, stone and gilt. Alas he ran out of money and so his bed chamber has original brick and stone while the main palace is painted brickwork!

 Prussia on the World?

look carefully at the wall above and the picture below . Can you see which is original brick?

For the King, the New Palace was not a principal residence, but a display for the reception of important royals and dignitaries. Of the over 200 rooms, four principal gathering rooms and a theater were available for royal functions, balls and state occasions. I did not go IN! Maybe for another visit some other time!

During his occasional stays at the palace, Frederick occupied a suite of rooms at the southern end of the building, composed of two antechambers, a study, a concert room, a dining salon and a bedroom, among others.
 Skipping a few other kings and their stories...  Read your own history.



From King to emperor:

Just fast forwarding to another Era in German history, now.

Wilhelm I, also known as Wilhelm the Great^[1] (William Frederick Louis, German: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig) (22 March 1797–9 March 1888) of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia (2 January 1861–9 March 1888) and the first German Emperor (18 January 1871–9 March 1888).During the Franco-Prussian War, on 18 January 1871 in Versailles Palace, Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor. The title "German Emperor" was carefully chosen by Bismarck after discussion until (and after) the day of the proclamation. Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly as he would have preferred "Emperor of Germany."
Under the leadership of Wilhelm and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire. Bismarck looks a bit like one of our friends.. Just try a guess game till I get back and tell you.

The Iron Chancellor", Bismarck held an important role in the German government and greatly influenced German and international politics both during and after his time of service.Bismarck's most important legacy is the unification of Germany. Germany had existed as a collection of hundreds of separate principalities and Free Cities since the formation of the Holy Roman Empire. Over the next thousand years various kings and rulers had tried to unify the German states without success until Bismarck. Largely as a result of Bismarck's efforts, the various German kingdoms were united into a single country. Following unification, Germany became one of the most powerful nations in Europe. Bismarck's astute, cautious, and pragmatic foreign policies allowed Germany to retain peacefully the powerful position into which he had brought it; maintaining amiable diplomacy with almost all European nations.
 Unfortunately, is diplomatic feats were undone, however, by Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose policies unified other European powers against Germany in time for World War I.

 THE ONLY MAN IN GERMANY:
She was a woman, whom Napoleon called the only man in Germany. Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie (Luisa Augusta Wilhelmina Amelia) (10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen consort of Prussia. called Q. Louise of Meckenburg, this iron hearted lady stood by her people. As Queen of Prussia, she commanded universal respect and affection, and nothing in Prussian history is more admired than the dignity and unflinching courage with which she bore the sufferings inflicted on her and her family during the war between Prussia and France. After the battle of Jena she went with her husband to Königsberg, and when the battles  with France had placed Prussia absolutely at the mercy of France, she made a personal appeal to Napoleon I of France at his headquarters in Tilsit, but without success.


And so we stop here letting you savour these different buildings in Potsdam,
 Some Dutch, some barracks, some Siberian, some tudor, some plain ols german. All hertitage buildingsd and the town itself is one big building musuem.
We enter through the Brandenburg tor, as Potsdam is the capital of Brandenburg.

Another interesting gate is this rocky cave entrance to the Nordic gardens at Sanssouci. Apparently if you are a liar, rocks will drop on your head here. ( politicians beware). Philosophers rest assured the gate is confused if you ask it- what is truth? See I stood for ages for this shot and not a dust dropped on my head. Social scientists may ask what is reality? instead. Scientists... Mmm I dont know just be careful. Politicians, dont dare come near anywhere. It may decide to throw rocks rather than drop them.

 
Above are  pictures of the siberian houses colony in Potsdam, a set of wooden houses. There were many Russian soldiers stationed here Totally classic!!

The Dutch were called to drain the marshy lands in Potsdam and encouraged to stay and enjoy trade. A dutch colony was created that later of course was occupied by local traders.

 

 a totally false egyptian needle a minaret style pumping station are other quaint sights.

 

 More Pics Celciahof  from my previous blog in Tudor style. Notice the Chimneys...

 and the nice geometry.

( Faintly the star, a political symbol on the lawn usually filled with blue flowers in spring, now its winter and so brown)

houses with german rocco, restored and occupied.

Rajahamsa at the garden?

 Most of the statues were boxed up but this one on a pillar.

Yava shilpi kanda kanasu Neenu? ( lady, whose muse art thou?)

 and final pic to celebrate Baccus, the lord of wine and drink, a water fountain ( may be it was a beer fountain. )considering that we don't get plain water anywhere unless we ask for it.

Finally I think that's it about Potsdam.
The next blog is about LIFE in DDR ( east germany): common potty breaks in school and a plastic body car and a bit more on Bunkers after the second underground tour I took. Signing off from Berlin, your doctoral candidate friend in Berlin breaking out of her own walls, all wrapped up in wool... (PS.Gelathi, notice your nice gift's new use, it holds my mufflers in place)

Potsdam of the cold war

One Sunny day Me and my companion A, take off to a trip to near by Potsdam thats just a sururban trip away from where we live.  Sun comes out as we arrive by S1 easily and in faster time than it takes to reach the Berlin city centre from our place. As the site of the 1945 Potsdam Conference, in which the Allies divided up the country, Potsdam’s name is very famous. Also it is a UNESCO heritage site. Just for fun we decided to do the regular tour bus guided tour, which other friends can do without if they read my blog.

 On our very tech tour with earphones speaking in BBC -like english to us, our invisible voice guide gave us the history of the small military center and the summer residence -region of the Prussian kings. I was glad I paid attention to my 9th and 10th history of the two world wars. It made those lessons alive for me.
Let me go backwards in time. Potsdam has many natural science centers. Its a tourist centred place so plenty of info centres at the station ( called haufbanoff)

Cecilienhof, the grand manor house where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945,started july 16 and ended on August 2nd today is a four-star Castle Hotel and open to the public. Built in tudor style for the young Cecilcie, thier bahu, it was the place where Stalin ( CCCP), Truman ( USA) and Attlee (Britain) met. They had defeated hitler and now had come to decide the fate of Germany. They used different entrances to come to the conference hall and did not stay at the conference venue.Stalin came from a boat to the east which is now the back entrance. ( very Funny)

( The pretty pic with the trees sort of imagines he walked towards my camera.)












Truman used the large door ( again that's clear) and Attlee used another. The french got a territory but were not participants, they were visitors.so I don't know which door they came in by!
 Click here for an original picture of the conference. And other pictures of the big three  and the entrance as it was then can be found at this site.

It was at Potsdam where Truman first alluded to Stalin that the Americans had developed the atomic bomb and might use it against Japan, which they later did on August 6 and August 9.  He got a telegram that said " the Baby is Born" which stood for the successful test of the bomb. One of the outcomes of this conference was also the  warning to Japan to surrender. It seems as though the go ahead to bomb Japan was also decided here. It was a clear day that sealed the fate of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
 In the middle of the courtyard I suddenly was transported back to adia, the horrors of the atom bomb. I share my memory with you through this site. Read the story of Hiroshima and Nagasaki HERE. Its strange that Potsdam is so important for so many other places on the globe.

In some ways this conference was also the start of the cold war.

As I stood at the nice manor house I could not imagine these political scenes  at all. It was more like a typical European residence and I expected to see children running about, playing in the courtyard or servants hurrying with linen and tea sets and the music of balls and dances. ( I confess I have been reading too much of Jane austen. Must get back to spy stories...)

A short drive brought us to the "James-bond Bridge" The Glienicke bridge is a bridge in Berlin which spans the Havel River to connect the cities of Berlin and Potsdam. If you remember from my earlier blog entry West Berlin was totally surrounded by east Germany DDR. So the wall still runs around the west Berlin Borders.

 The Soviet Union and the United States used it three times to exchange captured spies during the Cold War, so, the Bridge was referred to as the Bridge of Spies by the media. On February 10, 1962, twenty-one months after his capture,  Gary powers the U2 pilot shot over Russia was exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a spy swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany.  The interesting connection  is this student Pryor. In August, 1961, Pryor was arrested and held without charge by the East German Police. He had been taking graduate courses in East European studies at the Free University of West Berlin since 1959.
Half of the bridge is lighter and the other is darker green and a faint white line marks the border between east and west. We are on the east side, DDR. Also along the same road on the eastern DDR side was a building that was used as a KGB prison. There a cell that Gary powers was housed in before the exchange. ( note the extra Grills on the Windows) It now house a museum of amnesty international. School children were playing in a park next to it. For a good photograph and details click this site.
Leistikowstrasse KGB Prison

During the time of the GDR the city was a stronghold for the KGB. Near the castle we could see the area of town that was walled off for the Soviet’s clandestine service.

This unassuming building ( now an apartment) was the KGB head quarters. There were walled off KGB units in homes and farms that residents were thrown out of. A good story teller just not only knows  how to begin, but also where to end , so people will come back for more. I am a good story teller so I stop this journey right here on the road with a long wall running on the right, its white for GDR and red where there is FDR. This whole country is so much about the wall.



Next blog will be on Kings, queens and the older city and the lovely mix of architectural styles of this "quaint City" where every other building is under heritage conservation. And the story of potatoes...

Floh Markt : the cold sunday and hot glue-wine

The Flea market or floh-markt is held on every weekend when all other shops and malls are shut. This last weekend we visited a really amazing flea market in Mauer park.

 "Established in 2004, the Flea Market Mauerpark is a newcomer to the ranks of Berlin's fleamarkets (located next to the Wall Park (Mauerpark) in Prenzlauer Berg) hasn't made it into the guidebooks yet - it still has quite a local feel and a variety of interesting stuff. It's also where Prenzlauer Berg's fast rotating population goes to divest itself of unwanted stuff - you might find some useful things if you're just setting up home.

The market is located near to the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion M10 tram stop (formerly Oderberger Straße) and is a short but pleasant walk from the U2's Eberswalder Straße (Station). The market is located next to the Mauerpark, not in it."

We were a strange group of friends- two Indians, a polish upcoming artist student, a Hungarian girl studying international relations and a maltese girl doing psychology and face painting. The artist and the facepainter wanted to try to sell their skills at a stall so we headed off early in the cold cold morning. We were going to help them and also look at the floh markt from the seller's side. Guess what? I had my face painted the night before!! One side was the dark masked peacock lady and the other side was the flower (Blumen) fairy.Like an ad for my friend I wore my two faces the whole of Sunday!! As soon as I walked in, I got photographed so I may show up in some vague gallery of prize winning photographs or face book photo album of some teenage tourist.

After a quick search for empty stall we claimed an empty table and set up. We were mostly waiting for people to come and have fun.( we made only 50 cents profit from painting a bear-face for a kid). We took turns walking around the market which despite the bitter cold was doing thriving business with knicks-knacks.

Bicycle parts, chinese goods, old furniture, foodstalls, used clothing, baby things, kettles Iron boxes, used suitcases. Students selling off thier stuff before they left home. Bunch of students playing music and selling hand made jewelry and also coats shawls and everything.

Old LP records, a boomerang, a CCCP pocket watch, animal fur!,hats jackets, junk jewels, purses all on the same table!  It was Karol Bagh all the way. I had my first taste of glue-wine which is hot wine spiced with cinnamon and other good things for the cold.
For more on glue wine try this blog..
http://gluhwein.net/blog/2008/01/11/the-glue-wine-effect/

 The flea market is for bargaining and we had to haggle for prices. It was fun showing fingers to communicate.Three euroes !!! and the shopkeeper holds up three fingers. I put up two. "No two", says me. "AAAh, I am not so rich," he says in German. "I come from India ," says me. "Two and fifty." " I have just two euros today!" and as I walk away he says, "okay okay for you, I give two euroes.." and I walk away with trinkets worth two euroes...

 You have to really hunt for good stuff and if you are lucky you may find a very good bargain and get an old Dresden ceramic mug for two euros that may cost you 20euros in a showroom. or Just find that old soviet block communist- minted coins that may add to your coin collection.

We quickly packed up as it was clear people at this place were more utilitarian in purpose. There were not many touristy people and the cold was keeping the kids who wanted their faces painted.And our feet froze inside the shoes and being our first time we had no chairs. We stomped around drinking hot chai and glue-wine and calling to people to look at the great paintings and have their face painted with a flower.

The most fun was walking around with face paint. a hundred people in bus stops stations and trains smiled at me. And I smiled back. I really warmed up the city this adventure.

It's hard to write and express the fun of going out in a group, joking and laughing together, sharing in face painting ( the artist was  tiger-painted) missing our stop and tracing back our route. As  I remarked at the end of the day, we did seem like the UN, with so many nationalities between us. As I walked out I saw this cute electric with its body painted and strangely felt connected to it as both of us had some paint on our skin. ( Heh Heh)








PS: I will update this blog with the face painted photos once I have them from my friend's camera. Till then, look at the flea market shots.