From Berlin to Potsdam

Two days ago, I uploaded three new models to the Warehouse. Three palaces located in Sanssouci Park.

The first one is, obviously, Schloss Sanssouci.

Easily one of the most famous palaces in Germany, Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Prussian king Frederick II, "the Great". The palace was designed by Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff following plans of Frederick himself, as a private residence for the King. The palace was built between 1745 and 1747 in the so-called "Frederician Rococo".

The palace remained as a residence of the Hohenzollern Family until Wilhelm II abtidation. From then and although the building was still property of the former Imperial family, it was no longer used as a palace.

After WWII Sanssouci became mantained by the East German government, as a tourist attraction. Following German reunification, the body of King Frederick II was returned to Sanssouci, and buried in a new tomb.

The New Palace in Potsdam (Gr. Neues Palais) was built under the rule of Frederick II, King of Prussia, to conmemorate the end of the Seven Years' War. The palace was built in a baroque style, and was intended to demonstrate the glory and power of the Kingdom of Prussia after tthe war. After his death, the palace fell in disuse until 1859, when it became the summer residence of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, later Kaiser Friedrich III. The palace was restored under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

After German Revolution, the palace was used as a museum.

The Orangery Palace was built between 1851 and 1854 in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Schinkel, and L.F. Hesse according to drawings by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

These models are only part of a group of models I will make. The group will include:

• New Chambers
• Bildergalerie
• Belvedere
• The Communs near Neues Palais
• Antique Temple
• Temple of Friedship
• Historical Windmill
• Potsdamer Stadtschloss
• Nikolaikirche, Potsdam
• And finally, maybe, Schloss Charlottenhof and the Roman Baths.

Opernplatz

This square was laid out between 1741 and 1743, under the rule of King (König) Frederick the Great. The buildings surrounding it were largely destroyed by the Allied air raids over Berlin, and were rebuilt in the 1950s.

To the left of the picture is the Berlin State Opera (Berliner Staatsoper), first built between 1741 and 1742, and reconstructed in 1843, after a fire destoyed it. Almost 100 years later, the Allies would cause heavy damage to the building in two air raids, first in 1941 (the Staatsoper was repaired and reopened the following winter) and then in February 1945. The Opera House reopened ten years later.

At the center of the picture, you can see the St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale.

To tle right can be seen part of Berlin Royal Library and Altes Palais.

The Berlin Royal Library (model by Emperor Heer 99) was built between 1775 and 1780 by architect Georg Christian Unger, after a design by Joseph Fischer von Erlach. After the construction of the nearby Berlin Staatsbibliothek (Unter den Linden 8). It's now part of Humboldt University.

Altes Bibliothek, Opernplatz by Emperor Heer 99.

The Altes Palais was built between 1834 and 1837 as a palace for the then Prussian prince and future Kaiser, Wilhelm, in a Neoclassical style following plans of C.F. Langhans. After Kaiser Wilhelm's death, the palace opened as a memorial. The palace continued to be property of the House of Hohenzollern after Wilhelm II abdication in 1919.

The Palais resulted damaged after the Allied bombing of Berlin, and was reconstructed first in 1963-64 and then between 2003 and 2005. Now it is used by the Humboldt University.

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

In 1747, the construction of the first post-reformation Roman Catholic church in Berlin began, under permission of King Friedrich II. The King of Prussia wanted to give a place of worship to Catholic inmigrants that arrived to Berlin. The construction was finished in 1773.

In November 1943, an Allied air raid caused a fire on the Cathedral. 

The building was repaired between 1952 and 1963, although the lantern that once stood in the upper part of the dome was not rebuilt.

Maybe I should add the Justizpalast and the Ausstellungpalast, both in Moabit, to the last post. I have found three pictures of the first one, and only two of the second.

Forgotten

When I make a model, I obviously search for some photographs of the building I'm modelling, and also some info about the structure, its history, etc.

However, I have seen that some buildings have very few pictures, or no pictures of them at all.

I'll start with...

Mosse-Palais at Voßstraße

I found two or three pictures of it, all of the façade at Voss-street. I started that model three months ago, but I could not finish it, since the pictures are of poor quality, and the Palais had its main façade at Leipziger Platz. I didn't find useful pictures of that part.

Palais Pless, Wilhelmplatz

All I have found about this palace is this poor quality picture, a ground plan and a picture of Palais Borsig where a small part of its façade can be seen. All I know about the palace is that it was the residence of Hans-Heinrich von Pless, and that was demolished in 1930 for the construction of the Extension of the Reich Chancellery.

St.-Elisabeth-Kirche, Kolonnenstrasse

Only two pictures of this brick Gothic church: One in Wikimedia Commons, the other in Panoramio.

Deutsches Kolonialmuseum

The DKM was housed by the Marinepanorama, a panorama-rotonda near Lehrter Bahnhof. The rotonda had a huge painting, showing New York seen from a steam liner. 

Four pictures, two from Commons (the first one is an aerial view of Lehrter Bahnhof, the second is another view of Lehrter Bahnhof, from the Spree, see below, at the left of the picture).

I don't even know if it was destroyed in WW2, or demolished before the war. The only info I found was in Skyscrapercity:

"Imperial Berlin had six panorama rotondas. None of them is preserved."