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The Filmpark offers visitors a tour of the legendary UFA-Studios, which were among the world’s most important when they operated here in Babelsberg from 1917 to 1945. Exciting U-boat trips, stunt performances and special effects are shown.

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A pleasant way to explore the district of Potsdam is a walk through the historic Old Town, with its art galleries, cafés and restaurants. Built between 1733 and 1742, the area originally served as a settlement for Dutch workers after whom it is now named. The small red-brick buildings are decorated with attractive stucco ornaments.

This small, early Neo-Classical palace at the side of the lake was built in 1791–7 by Carl Gotthard Langhans and others. It features an elegant concert hall as well as contemporary furniture and porcelain.

The small museum, based in the Baroque former stable buildings of the king’s town residence, uses old cameras, props and projectors to document the history of German film.

To the north of Sanssouci palace park rises the Baroque Neues Palais. One of Germany’s most beautiful palaces, it was built in 1763–9 for Frederick the Great according to designs by Johann Gottfried Büring, Jean Laurent Le Geay and Carl von Gontard. The vast two-storey structure comprises 200 rooms, including the Marmorsaal (marble hall), a lavishly furnished ballroom, and the Schlosstheater, where plays are once more performed today. Frederick’s private chambers are equally splendid, especially his study furnished in Rococo style, the upper gallery with valuable parquet flooring and the Oberes Vestibül, a room clad entirely in marble.

Potsdam’s most attractive church was designed by Schinkel in 1830 in an early Neo-Classical style. Its giant dome is particularly striking.

This little palace, built in the style of an English country manor house, entered the history books in 1945, when Germany’s fate was sealed by the Potsdam Conference. Built in 1914–17, the palace is now used as a hotel. It also houses a small exhibition documenting the Conference and the palace’s furnishings.

A small Neo-Classical palace in Park Sanssouci, built in 1829 by Schinkel for the heir to the throne, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Particularly worth seeing is the tent-like Humboldtsaal.

The Prussian King Frederick the Great wished to live “sans souci”, in a palace outside the boundaries of the hated city – the French phrase means “without worries”. In 1745, Frederick commissioned his favourite architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff to plan and construct this magnificent Rococo palace according to his own designs. The main building with its yellow façade rises proudly above the former terraced vineyards, leading up to the domed building and its elegant marble hall at the centre of the palace complex. In both its design and shape, the marble hall pays homage to the Pantheon in Rome. To its left and right are some very attractive rooms designed by von Knobelsdorff and Johann August Nahl; these include the famous concert room, adorned with paintings by Antoine Pesne, and Frederick’s library. In this wing, the monarch liked to play the flute or to philosophize with Voltaire. Valuable paintings by Frederick the Great’s favourite painter, the French artist Antoine Watteau, adorn the palace walls.

It is easy to while away an entire day in the extensive palace park, which covers 287 hectares (709 acres) of land. Of the many charming buildings hidden in the lavishly designed landscape garden, the Rococo-style Chinesisches Teehaus, built in 1754–6 by Johann Gottfried Büring, is especially worth seeking out. Originally it served as a tea-house and dining room, and it now houses an exhibition of porcelain pieces from East Asia. The Römische Bäder (Roman Baths), a group of pavilions next to the lake, are also inspired by historic models. Modelled on an Italian Renaissance villa, they were built between 1829 and 1840 by Friedrich Karl Schinkel as guest and bathing houses. The Orangerie, constructed in 1851–60 by Friedrich August Stüler, was also originally intended to accommodate the king’s guests. Today it houses a small gallery of paintings.