Along the Breite Straße

"The Mosque"

The steam engine house along the New City Havel Bay strikes the observer as exotic. Frederick William IV had Ludwig Persius construct it in 1841-43 "according to the style of Turkish mosques with a minaret as chimney." The pump served to supply the water fountains in Sanssouci park.

The most powerful steam engine built in Prussia up to that time, the brainchild of the young entrepreneur, August Borsig, boasted 81.4 PS (80.2 hp). When it was put into operation for the first time in October 1842, it raised the jet of the water in the great fountain in front of Sanssouci Palace to a height of 38 meters. Today it is a technical monument, although totally functional.