CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 4/2017

SAVOIR VIVRE WEEKENDER
SIGHTSEEING: eine Schlösserrundfahrt
mit dem historischen Dampfschiff
Gustav, das Museum Barberini
und eine Kahnfahrt im Spreewald
(von links nach rechts).
A tour of the castles with the historic
steamboat Gustav, the Museum
Barberini and a boat trip around
Spreewald (from left to right).
Die Seenlandschaft von Potsdam.
The Potsdam lake scenery.
UNTERWEGS IN BRANDEN-
BURG: Gastronomische Genüsse,
eine Radtour durch
Potsdam und ein Kanal im
Spreewald (von oben nach
unten).
OUT AND ABOUT IN BRAN-
DENBURG: gastronomic
delights, a bike tour through
Potsdam and a canal in the
Spreewald region (from top
to bottom).
terds“. Mehr als 3.000 Filme wurden in Babelsberg
gedreht. Bei einer Führung können ausgewählte Bereiche
von Studio Babelsberg besucht werden.
Große Teile dieser Schlösser-Kulturlandschaft
von Potsdam wurden 1990 zum Welterbe der
UNESCO erklärt. Sie ist jedoch nicht die einzige Gegend
in Brandenburg, die von der UNESCO ausgezeichnet
wurde.
Denn da gibt es den Spreewald und sein
UNESCO-Biosphärenreservat. Dieser märchenhafte
Landstrich ist etwas mehr als 100 Kilometer von Berlin
entfernt. Hier verliert sich die Spree in Hunderten
von Wasserläufen und kleinen Kanälen. Dieses faszinierende
Wasserlabyrinth lässt sich am besten mit
Kanus, Kähnen und Flößen erforschen. Kahnfahrten
im Spreewald sind deshalb eine touristische Hauptattraktion
der Region. Doch es werden nicht nur
Touristen mit dem Kahn „gestakt“, vielerorts wird
auch die Post mit dem typischen Spreewaldkahn zugestellt.
Die Auen- und Moorlandschaften sind nicht
alles, was er Spreewald zu bieten hat. Hier findet der
Gast auch alte Burgen, reetgedeckte Bauernhäuser
und Scheunen und viel Tradition, aber auch exquisite
Restaurants und moderne Sauna- und Badelandschaften.
Der ideale Ausgangspunkt für eine Reise in den
Spreewald ist Cottbus. Cottbus bietet nicht nur eine
schöne Altstadt mit kleinen Gassen, prächtigen Bürgerhäusern
und barocken Giebelfassaden, sondern
setzt auch bemerkenswerte Aktivitäten in Sachen
moderner und zeitgenössischer Kunst – zu besichtigen
im Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus. Und
der Spreeradweg führt entlang des Ufers der Spree
bis in den Spreewald.
It’s not far from Berlin to Potsdam. It takes less
than an hour to travel by car or by S-Bahn from
Berlin Central Station or from Friedrichstrasse
Station to the Potsdam Railway Station.
But what a difference this brief hour makes.
Berlin is magnificent. A vibrant, modern city. A
strict city. With an urban architecture that reflects
the fateful history of the 20th century. Berlin can be
quite gray.
Potsdam can be very different.
Playful, baroque and rococo, green and bright. In
Potsdam, courtly splendour is at home. The kings of
Prussia resided here.
Today, Potsdam is the capital of the state of Brandenburg.
It is, without question, one of the most
beautiful cities in Germany. The numerous Prussian
castles and palaces, the romantic parks and historic
squares still shape their appearance.
The most impressive is of course Sanssouci Palace,
which is considered by many to be the Prussian
Versailles, even though it is considerably more modest
in terms of size with only 12 rooms. Frederick
the Great had it built to his own plans as a summer
palace in the mid-18th century to create a place where
he could escape government business and Berlin.
A palace that – as the name means in French – is free
from worry and grief.
There is much to see on the spacious park grounds
surrounding Sanssouci Palace. The New Palace,
completed in 1769, with its 200 rooms, four ballrooms
and a rococo theatre is much larger and was
the last castle designed by Frederick the Great during
in his reign. Or the magnificent Chinese House in
the Sanssouci Park, which is an impressive example
of the Chinese fashion that characterised court culture
throughout Europe in the 18th century. Or the
small Charlottenhof Palace, built in the classicist style,
which forms the architectural centre of a park that
was added to the Sanssouci Park in the 18th century
from 1826 onwards. Or the Orangery in the New
Garden, whose richly decorated concert hall is still in
use today.
But not everything is actually as old as it looks.
The Museum Barberini, for example, is a copy of
the Palais Barberini, adapted to the requirement of
a contemporary exhibition building, which Frederick
the Great had built and which in turn was an
imitation of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. It is
part of a reconstruction of the Old Market, the historic
centre of Potsdam. The Barberini Museum is
fronted by Hasso Plattner, the co-founder of the
computer software manufacturer SAP, who can
now showcase his much sought-after Blue Chips
FOTOS: FOTOLIA, TMB-FOTOARCHIV/WEISSE FLOTTE POTSDAM, BLACKY SCHWARZ, WOLFGANG EHN, STEFFEN LEHMANN, ULF BOETTCHER
collection of works of art from various eras and
countries. This presentation is complemented by
special exhibitions – currently, the exhibition „Behind
the mask. Artists in the GDR“ can be seen until
4 February 2018, showing „the varieties of artistic
self-staging in the GDR between role modelling
and withdrawal, decreed collectivism and creative
individuality“. The Museum Barberini is quite something.
But Potsdam is also the cradle of German cinema.
Studio Babelsberg, founded in 1912, is the oldest
large-scale film studio in the world. The range of
films shot there reflects the importance of the studio,
from “Die Nibelungen”, “Metropolis” and “The Blue
Angel” to “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Inglourious
Basterds”. More than 3,000 films were shot in
Babelsberg. During a guided tour, selected areas of
Studio Babelsberg can be visited.
Large parts of this palatial cultural landscape in
Potsdam were declared a UNESCO world heritage
site in 1990. However, it is not the only area in Brandenburg
that has been awarded by UNESCO.
The Spreewald region also boasts a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve. This fairy-tale district is located
just over 100 kilometres from Berlin. Here, the Spree
river splits into hundreds of streams and small channels.
This fascinating water labyrinth is best explored
by canoes, barges and rafts. Boat trips in the Spreewald
area are therefore a major tourist attraction in
the region. But not only tourists go to many places in
the boats, the mail is also delivered with the typical
Spreewald punts.
The wetlands and moorlands are not all that the
Spreewald region has to offer. Here, you will also find
old castles, thatched farmhouses and barns and a lot
of tradition, but also exquisite restaurants and modern
sauna and bathing areas.
Cottbus is the ideal starting point for a trip to
Spreewald. It offers not only a beautiful old town
with narrow streets, magnificent town houses and
baroque gable facades, but is also remarkably active
in terms of modern and contemporary art which can
be seen in the art museum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus.
And the Spree cycle path leads along the banks of the
Spree to the Spreewald forest.
reiseland-brandenburg.de
INFO:
TMB TOURISMUS-MARKETING
BRANDENBURG
reiseland-brandenburg.de
148 Cercle Diplomatique 4/2017
Potsdam – World Heritage on the Havel River
Surrounded by the green landscape of the Havel lakes Brandenburg’s capital shines with 17 palaces
and manor houses, a baroque city centre and the picturesque Dutch quarter. With the Barberini Palais
at the grand „Old Market“ Potsdam now also offers a world-class museum for friends of contemporary
art. Visit the rich cultural landscape of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
brandenburg-tourism.com