Sanssouci Palace is located in Potsdam, Germany. The castle was built from 1745-1747 in the Rococo style and sits before a vineyard, displaying the harmony between man and nature. The palace served as the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. The palace did not serve as his seat of power, but a place for the king to go and relax away from the Berlin court. In the 19th century, the palace was the residence of King Frederick William IV, who enlarged the palace and improved the grounds to include the pleasure gardens and the terrace focal point. King Frederick William IV built the much larger “New Palace” in the Baroque style on the west end of his property to display his wealth and power to the world. Sanssouci Palace resembles a large, single-story villa, with ten principal rooms. The park grounds contain numerous temples and follies as well as the New Palace, an orangery, and a Chinese Tea House. After WWII, the palace became a tourist attraction. In 1990, Frederick William IV’s body was returned to the palace for burial, overlooking the gardens he created. The main rooms inside the castle face the garden, while the servants quarters are in a row behind the north side of the building. The interior boasts marble work with domed cupolas and gilded ornamentation. Frederick transformed the bare hillside with terraced vineyards, niches filled with fig trees, temples, statues, fountains, and follies. Sanssouci is a World Heritage Site and is open to the public.
