Between the Brandenburg and Nauen Gates

Foreground: Luisenplatz Square. Background: Brandenburg Gate.

 

Luisenplatz Square Nr. 9

Brandenburg Gate, Luisenplatz Square

You reach Luisenplatz square from the Potsdam main station by tram or bus (route to Sanssouci).

A guidebook dating from 1900 had this to say about the Brandenburg Gate: "In the place of the old wooden gate Frederick II set this beautiful triumphal arch, adorned with Corinthian columns. The side facing away from town has been executed by Unger according to the King's own drawing. ... The town side is from Gontard."

And so it came to pass in 1770. The outward-facing side of the gate is richly ornamented, the fascia decorated with trophies. Above the cartouche sits the gilded Prussian crown. On the right pillar of the side facing the city, the command 'Schritt' - walking speed! - is still seen today, a reminder of the warning given to the drivers of horse-drawn trams to look out for pedestrians.

The Brandenburg Gate is one of the three predominantly intact Potsdam town gates which can still be seen.

The dark red building at Luisenplatz Square Nr. 9, now occupied by the Savings Bank, was built as the barracks for the First Ulans Guard Regiment in 1833-1836. In 1900, the Emperor's Guard was stationed here.

The Luisenplatz itself was laid out around 1733, as the Town Wall was also being built here. On December 21 1793, the 17-year-old princess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776-1810), later famous as Queen Luise, was received here.

By order of Frederick Williams IV, Lenné redesigned the square in 1854. Ornamental bushes and trees, lawns, and hedges adorned the square. In its center stood a fountain which was richly decorated with sculpted figures. In 1903 they were replaced by a statue of the Ninety-Nine Day Emperor, Frederick III. Instead of a garden, the square was used as a parking lot after 1939. It remained a parking lot and traffic junction until the 1990s.

The Luisenplatz was then redesigned again in conjunction with the National Horticulture Show 2001. An underground parking lot was constructed below the square, while double and triple rows of lime trees were planted in the square itself. The fountain in the center of the square is a shallow dish with a border fashioned from Chinese granite. The bottom of the fountain consists of slabs of the same material. The fountain spray can attain a height of up to 8 meters and the fountain's diameter is 16 meters.

To the south of the square is the restaurant Alter Stadtwächter - the Old Town Watchman. One wall of the house, which protected as a historic monument, is formed by the town wall of 1733, whose arches can still be seen. The inn located directly at the gate was a meeting point for the gate watchmen and soldiers from the surrounding barracks.

Tip: It will take you just a few minutes walk from Luisenplatz square via the "Allee nach Sanssouci" to arrive at the Green Grating, one of the main entrances to Sanssouci park. Approaching Sanssouci Palace from this direction affords one a particularly impressive view.