Potsdam was the summer residence of Frederick II, otherwise known as Frederick the Great ("Old Fritz" behind his authoritarian back),the philosopher-warrior king who ruled Prussia for 46 years from 1740 to 1786). It was in Potsdam that he built his own version of Versailles, giving it the distinctly un-Teutonic name of Sans Souci (carefree). The sumptuous summer palace is surrounded by sprawling gardens, which in turn contain a slew of additional palaces, a picture gallery, a Chinese teahouse, an orangery, a windmill and some ready-made classical ruins on a faraway hillside. Sans Souci Palace itself is the gem of the collection. Unlike Versailles, it's an intimate little palace where Frederick the Great, when he wasn't waging one of his many wars, could kick back and play the flute, read the latest poetry, or just hang with his pal Voltaire, who was such a frequent and long-staying guest (1750-1753) that a Sans Souci bedroom is named especially for him.

We were not permitted to take pictures inside of Sans Souci palace but our dear friend, Edith Friedlander, was kind enough to send us a card with the picture seen here of the Music Room of Frederick II, who was an accomplished flautist. The rest of the interior, all in rococo style, was very much like this and the picture makes easy to imagine how sumptuous the palace is. Picture by: Rainer Gaertner - Berlin

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