The Orangery Palace is the best panorama of Sanssouci Park with a sea of flowers, palm trees and exotic plants. It was built on the orders of Friedrich-Wilhelm in the 19th century to store tropical plants.
Greenhouse Palace (Orangerieschloss), photo by Jesse
The Greenhouse Palace (Orangerieschloss) in Potsdam is probably the most unclaimed of all Potsdam palaces. Local people like to walk here and enjoy the view of Sanssouci Park from the height of the observation deck.
Construction history
The Orangery Palace was built in 1851-1864 near the Sanssouci Park by order of King Frederick William IV. Sketches for the project were made by the king himself. It is assumed that the prototype of the building was the Roman Villa Medici. The palace in the style of the Italian Renaissance was built by architects Friedrich August Stüler and Ludwig Ferdinand Hesse.
It was assumed that the Orangery Palace would become part of a grandiose project called "Triumphal Street", as it was located on a hill, on the slope of which a terrace park was laid out. But the time of wars and revolutions did not allow this plan to be realized. During World War II, the palace escaped severe damage. It was restored in 1986 and replenished the collection of plants exhibited in the greenhouse.
Palace today
The palace building is a two-story building with 2 towers. On the facade there are 3 high open arches. The palace is adjoined by 2 single-story greenhouses, ending with wings with arched driveways.
Raphael Hall, photo by Jesse
The Rafael Hall is located in the Orangery Palace, where copies of paintings by the great artist, written in the 19th century, are stored. When it was created, the royal palace of the papal palace in the Vatican was taken as a model. Rafael's hall is magnificent: paintings in gilded frames, the walls are decorated with red silk, the floors are in black and white marble.
Nowadays, the premises that previously served as guest apartments have been turned into a museum, and the premises for servants are occupied by the main archive of the state of Brandenburg. Rare exotic plants that rearrange here from Sanssouci Park winter in tubs of the palace in winter tubs.
In 1990, the Orangery Palace, along with other palaces in Berlin and Potsdam, was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The upper platform of the palace is used for outdoor concerts; scenes from the films “Around the World in 80 Days” (2004) with A. Schwarzenegger and “By the Sea” (2004) with Kevin Spacey were filmed here.
How to get there
Take bus 695 to the Orangerie stop.
