Andrew and I took a trip to Potsdam, southwest of Berlin, and started at Schloss Cecilienhof, the site of the Postdam Conference. We went there with a new friend, Dorothea, who we met at an Easter brunch. Cecilienhof is a palace. It was built in English Tudor style, and is still decorated as it would have been during the Postdam Conference. The table is the one the big three, Churchill (later Atlee), Stalin, and Truman sat at July 17–August 2 1945 as they divided up Europe, declared terms of surrender for Japan, and made strategies for Germany's future (disclaimer: I'm so not a political historian). The flowers arranged in a red star were to the tastes of Stalin (and other decorations reflected the tastes of the other leaders).
We then went to a local building that had been restored since the area was reunited with West Germany. Dorothea had been to it when it was covered in Cyrillic writing, and was completely derelict. She talked a lot about the changes in this area since the wall went down. It was really interesting to have someone around who had been there and seen it all happen. There was a fascinating video on the reconstruction process, and there were even some restorers still working on some paint/tile work on ceilings.
We had a lovely lunch of soup, visited by a Peking duck (yes I do love the creatures) fortuitously sitting out a storm inside after watching the clouds roll in.
Afterward we went to Sanssouci grounds, the site of a palace for the Prussian royal family, and walked through the grassy fields looking at different beautiful buildings and sculptures.
We then went to a local building that had been restored since the area was reunited with West Germany. Dorothea had been to it when it was covered in Cyrillic writing, and was completely derelict. She talked a lot about the changes in this area since the wall went down. It was really interesting to have someone around who had been there and seen it all happen. There was a fascinating video on the reconstruction process, and there were even some restorers still working on some paint/tile work on ceilings.
We had a lovely lunch of soup, visited by a Peking duck (yes I do love the creatures) fortuitously sitting out a storm inside after watching the clouds roll in.
Afterward we went to Sanssouci grounds, the site of a palace for the Prussian royal family, and walked through the grassy fields looking at different beautiful buildings and sculptures.
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