Until the 18th century, Potsdam covered only a small area. On one side it was bordered by the Havel river. At that time, the city border almost ran along today's Heilig-Geist-Straße (Holy Ghost Street), the Straße Am Kanal, Yorckstraße, and Dortustraße . In 1660, before the palace was built by Elector Frederick William, there were just 198 dwellings in the whole of Potsdam, with 119 of them recorded as "abandoned," thus without occupants, and 29 were noted as "impoverished." The construction of the palace changed both the structure of buildings and the population. However, there is very little surviving evidence of this. Due to the work provided by the palace construction, the standard of living increased in the town. However, the planned clearance of the old Potsdam, and the subsequent new development, could not take place because of the shortage of money.
The New Market Square, Potsdam's most beautiful square today, is an architectural jewel. Almost completely spared from the destruction of war and lovingly restored in the 1990s, it is Potsdam's only town square which remains nearly the same as it was in the 18th century.
Originally a place where horses were harnessed and unharnessed, the old stable house was reduced to its current size as a result of several houses being built on the site in 1725. Under the direction of Frederick II, new representative townhouses were built on the square now known as the Neuer Markt.
The New Market Square, home to a number of scientific institutions, is a center for the humanities in Potsdam today.
Council Scale-House
In the middle of the square stands the Ratswaage. Its predecessor, the Royal Malt and Corn Scales (also called the Mills Scales) was housed here in 1735 in a framework building. The revenues went to the Royal Orphanage. In 1836 the current building was constructed, and after the renewal of the technical facilities in 1875, the council scales were moved here, too.
House of Brandenburg-Prussian History
At the west side of the New Market Square you can see the early classical façade of the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History. The court architect Andreas Ludwig Krüger (1743-1822) built the house in the period of 1787-1790 according to plans for a stable for the royal carriage horses. Enormous triple-span stables are located behind the façade, which is adorned with a pilastrade and has slightly-emphasised lateral projections. The vaults of the stables are supported by pillars of red sandstone. At one time, some 100 horses were quartered here in separated boxes and in the low-ceilinged upper floor lived the stable boys and caretakers. In the courtyard the carriages were stored in a long mews outbuilding. Some of the mews houses were enlarged in the 19th century; others were replaced by new buildings.
Among other buildings, an equine hospital and a small hippodrome were built. Other components of the ensemble were a riding hall and a blacksmith's shop dating from the 18th century. The carriage and stables complex was part of the court facilities of the Potsdam City Palace.
Later, the grounds were used for police horses, and later still for garages and workshops, and even as a covered tennis court and furniture depot. In 1940, a fruit and vegetable market was housed in the carriage stables. The roof and the upper floor of the southern part of the carriage stables were damaged by fire in 1945, but could be repaired in the years after WWII. After that, the grounds were used by a car repair shop and later by the socialist wholesale company responsible for "fruit, vegetable and potatoes." In 1997, the State of Brandenburg took over the estate from the federal government under the condition that the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History would be established there. This museum is located now in what was actually the carriage mews; an annex was completed in 2003 to serve as the main entrance to the courtyard.
On top of the portal is a quadriga - a four-horsed chariot. The representations of the horses fascinate with their lifelike, affecting, and detailed execution. Unlike other representative buildings, it is astonishing that the scene is dominated by coachmen and stable boys, not kings or gods. Here, it was the simple court servants and their world of labor that became the subject of a sophisticated sculptural composition.
New Market Square
The northern side of the New Market Square is marked by architecture in the style of Frederick the Great. By 1755, a truly prestigious building was constructed at New Market Square Nr. 5. It was a copy of an Italian palazzo built by Palladio in 1551. It stood in stark contrast to the neighbouring houses until its destruction in 1945.
A few years ago the building was rebuilt in a rather abstract reminiscence of the historic appearance (lower photo). The adjacent houses, Nrs. 6 to 8, were built by Unger in 1773. Today they house the Einstein Forum, the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish Studies, and other facilities.
House Nr. 3 was built for the court carpenter, Johann Georg Brendel, in 1770. Brendel was involved in many construction projects in Potsdam. His initials can still be found in the railings on the flight of stairs.
Cabinet House
Am Neuen Markt 1
The house was built in 1753 at the behest of Frederick II, initially as a home for the family of the rural preacher Krumbholz. Frederic's nephew and successor lived in this house from 1764 until his accession to the throne in 1786 as Frederick William II. The later king, Frederick William III (1770), was born here and probably also Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767), whose father was chamberlain of crown princess Elisabeth, the first wife of Frederick William. The adjacent house in the Schwertfegerstraße 8 was also part of the palace of the crown prince. Brilliant balls and concerts made the New Market Square the center of Potsdam society at that time.
After the crown prince moved out, the house became the seat of the Academy of Royal Engineers from 1788 to 1806, and eventually in 1833, the coronet bought the house for the Royal Prussian Cabinet. The current name has been retained from that time. The complete area was reconstructed in 2001.
City Canal
"The streets guide me straight onto the canals, / which lead through the major part of town ... / These same are of such depth and breadth, / that they - as often seen- are sailed upon by large ships ...."
We can believe Bellamintes, since the Privy Councillor Schneider, who was a member of the "Society for the History of Potsdam," also describes the city canal as important for the draining of the construction sites and for the transportation of building material in the 19th century.
In 1722, Frederick William I had the old town ditch straightened, deepened, and lined with planking in the course of the First Town Extension. At that time, the city canal conducted the water from the Havel river along the current Am Kanal, Yorckstraße, and Dortustraße, and finally emptied into the Havel again close to the mouth of the Oberen Planitz tributary. At one time there were nine bridges crossing the canal. Detached, individual homes were built along the canal for people of rank and privilege; they lived "an der Gracht" - on the canal - since the city canal was known by its Dutch name at that time.
In 1789, the canal received a balustrade along both sides, and by 1809 residents were demanding that the canal be filled because of its offensive smell. Following World War II, it was finally filled-in between 1962 and 1965 in the course of the Potsdam center's re-development. In 1999, an association began to unearth the former city canal. Numerous citizens participated in the financing of the project by sponsoring the posts, which were then engraved with the names of the donors.
In the Yorckstraße Nr. 7, the famous scientist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel was born on February 16, 1834. He died 1919 in Jena.
Nikolai Hall
Wilhelm-Staab-Straße 10/11
The Nikolai Hall is hidden behind the façade of two bourgeois residential buildings dating from the year 1777. It is a concert hall, as you can see from the music-stands that have been set out.
The musical tradition of this location dates back to 1909 when the first Nikolai Hall in Potsdam was opened with the Empress Auguste Viktoria in attendance. At that time it was a property of the parish of St. Nikolai. Following remodelling in the 1930s, the building was one of many damaged in 1945. In co-operation with the newly-founded Potsdam state radio station, the parish re-constructed the building as a concert hall and broadcasting facility.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sergiu Celibidace, and William Furtwängler with the Berlin Philharmonic, among others, held guest performances here during the following years. After the re-consecration of the Nikolai Church in 1981, and the resulting relocation of the congregation, the hall fell into disrepair, and the property was then ceded to the city. It was only in 1998 that the reconstruction began based on a draft by the French architect Rudy Ricciotti. In August 2000 the new Nikolai Hall was opened. It now boasts a large auditorium with a capacity for 725 visitors, a charming foyer, and favourable working conditions for the staff and performers.
The Wilhelm-Staab-Straße, also designated as the "first baroque street of the GDR," is a firm-rare urban ensemble. Along with the Yorckstraße, it belongs to that area of the inner city, which had already been reconstructed in the 1950s based on its historic model or in a historicized style. However, this applies only to the façades: all that lay behind was constructed completely anew after the destruction of the war.
Dortu School
Dortustraße 28/29
The townhouses in the current Dortustraße were built in 1771 after the plans of the architect Georg Christian Unger (1743-1799). In 1928, one of these houses belonged to the parents of the revolutionary democrat Maximilian Dortu, who was executed in 1849 (see page XX). The Dortu family gave the estate to the municipality as a present in 1860 to be used for community purposes. In 1867, it was rebuilt as a school. Today, the Dortu school still maintains one room dating from the time of the first construction work. It has a representative Rococo stuccoed ceiling and is known as the Rose Room.
