In and around Potsdam

We camped by the side of the lake around 4 kms outside Potsdam. There was a cycle track along the lakeside to the centre of Potsdam.

Potsdam's Brandenburg Gate

Sanssouci Palace and Park 

Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is notable for the numerous temples and follies in the park.

The palace was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfil King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. This is emphasised by the palace's name: a French phrase ( sans souci) which translates loosely as "without worries" or "carefree" symbolising that the palace was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power.

The palace is little more than a large single-storey villa - containing just ten principal rooms, it was built on the brow of a terraced hill at the centre of the park. 

After World War II, the palace became a tourist attraction in East Germany. It was fully maintained with due respect to its historical importance, and was open to the public. Following German reunification in 1990, the final wish of Frederick came to pass: his body was finally returned to his beloved palace and buried in a new tomb overlooking the gardens he had created.

Glienicker Bridge 

During the Cold War, Glienicker Bridge was one of the few places in the world where the United States and the Soviet Union stood directly opposite each other. And so “deals” could be made here without any of their allies having any say in the matter. The Soviet Union and the United States used it three times to exchange captured spies during the Cold War, and the Bridge was referred to as the Bridge of Spies by reporters.

The first prisoner exchange between the superpowers took place on February 10, 1962. The U.S. released noted Russian spy Colonel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel in exchange for pilot Francis Gary Powers captured by the USSR following the U-2 Crisis of 1960. Annette von Broecker claims that a lucky guess resulted in her being the only eyewitness to this exchange.

The next swap took place on April 1964, when Konon Molody was exchanged for Greville Wynne. On June 12, 1985, there was a hurriedly arranged swap of 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe for Polish agent Marian Zacharski and another three Soviet agents arrested in the West.

The final exchange was also the most public. On February 11, 1986 the human rights campaigner and political prisoner Anatoly Sharansky and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents. 

Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 17 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The three nations were represented by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and later Clement Attlee, and President Harry S. Truman.

Stalin, Churchill, and Truman — as well as Attlee, who participated alongside Churchill, awaited the outcome of the 1945 general election, and then replaced Churchill as Prime Minister after the Labour Party's victory over the Conservatives — gathered to decide how to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier, on May 8 (V-E Day). 

The goals of the conference also included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of war.