What a terrific day we had in Berlin! As our tour doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow, we had another glorious free day to explore more of what Germany has to offer. Today, we went with some friends to Potsdam to tour a famous castle (one of 17 that are in this area of Germany), Sanssouci, the castle of King Frederick the Great. Sanssouci is translated as “without worry” and it was a castle designed for the king’s pleasure, basically his Hakuna Matata castle in Germany (thanks Leasa for this reference). It was used as his summer palace which hosted daily parties for his many guests, including Voltaire. What a beautiful castle! And while these photos do not do the palace justice, I am happy to share some of what we saw.
There was a cool windmill at the foot of the hill that houses the Sanssouci palace.
Walking up to the grounds…
The view from the top was beautiful. While the vineyards and gardens were not in bloom, we could only imagine how beautiful they would be in the springtime. We took a self guided audio tour that really taught us so much about the palace and King Frederick. We learned that the palace was built in just two years, completed in 1747.
These three photos are from the entrance to the palace. We loved looking at the artwork and especially loved the fact that these pink couches were intentionally made to be too small to sit in. They were strictly for decoration.
These three photos are from King Frederick’s private study and bedroom. Look at the intricate design of the floor and ceiling. The detail was astounding.
This chair was specially designed for King Frederick and may be the first chair that had an adjustable back to help him deal with his suffering from gout. It was in this chair that he spent the final weeks of his life, even sleeping there as his illness did not allow for him to lie down flat. It was in this exact chair where he died in 1786. During the almost 40 years he got to enjoy his palace, he really got the most out of his use of this beautiful summer home.
My favorite room in the palace was the music room, which housed a flute that King Frederick played as well as this pianoforte that was played by the king as well as C. P. E. Bach, who frequented the palace. It was all I could do not to jump the rope and try out the pianoforte myself!
I loved the next room, where the King would host his almost daily parties for his guests. I remember as a child how my mom would host my dad’s business colleagues for dinner (always Cornish game hens and rice pilaf) and I bet she would have loved to do so in a room like this! Love you, mom!
One of the many guest rooms in the palace.
We had some more fun wandering the grounds of the palace and took some group photos as well.
We then went to an outdoor shopping area near the castle to grab some lunch and look around. It reminded us a little of Third Street Promenade, or the Mamilla Pedestrian Mall in Jerusalem. We were only missing an Aroma, but found countless bakeries and coffee houses to try.
How funny to see this sign on a store…. Of course, in German, schmuck means jewelry! So how did it become derogatory in Yiddish? Think “family jewels…” Thanks quora for this information!
While walking around in Israel back in July I was struck by the number of stickers on every surface serving as a reminder of October 7. Since then I make a point to look at these stickers wherever I go. Here are two I saw in Potsdam.
How powerful to see a “Stand With Israel” and a “Bring Them Home NOW” sticker on street poles in Germany. Would you have ever expected to see something like this here? It warmed my heart on a brisk, chilly day. I shouldn’t be surprised. As I said before, Germany has become a strong ally of Israel, supporting her in everything she does (second only to the United States). Many Israelis live and work in Berlin (Leasa and I sat next to two men who were speaking Hebrew to each other at dinner last night). I wonder if those who posted these stickers knew the impact it would have on me…
Leasa and I shared our first official “prost” (a German l’chaim) at dinner with some friends from our tour and I took the obligatory selfie with the statue in front of the restaurant before heading to our meeting where I was SO excited to introduce one of my two Israeli brothers, Ron Singer to the group. Ron and I worked together 9 years ago, almost to the day, as he carefully guided us through Poland and, most notably, Auschwitz. I will never forget what we shared that day, how he was there to support me through those difficult steps and how I hope I was able to support him as as walked through the very place where so many in his family were brutally murdered by the hands of the nazis. Since that time we have remained in contact, and I was so fortunate to share time with him while visiting Israel this past July.
Our meeting began with our musical trip offering a song to hopefully set a joyous mood for the trip.
I then brought Ron forward to introduce himself and share a little history with us, laying the foundation for our journey into German history, and the history of the Jewish people in Germany, leading up to the madness that was World War 2 and the aftermath. We started to understand how the center of art and culture, the center of science and ingenuity could lose its mind and become the center of hate and murder. This is a story that will play out again and again during our journey together, culminating with our visit to a place that represents the very worst of humankind’s inhumanity and hatred of another, the concentration camp at Terezin.
Ron shared with us, in just a few minutes, a sliver of his brilliance and I cannot WAIT for our group to experience more throughout our trip together. Ron has a way of bringing history to life that engages us all and allows us to face history on our own terms. His “blah-blah-blahing” as he calls it was “sababa”, another term he likes to use. I am sure you will get to hear many “Ron’isms” as we travel together. Now it is time for some much needed rest as we begin bright and early tomorrow with our first full day of touring together. Thanks for being with us virtually on this journey!
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