10 largest cities in Germany
Berlin
Hamburg
Munich
Cologne
Frankfurt am Main
Hanover
Dusseldorf
Leipzig
Bremen
Dresden
Potsdam is an independent city and with a good 180,000
inhabitants it is the most populous city and capital of the state of
Brandenburg. Potsdam, located on the Havel, borders Berlin to the
southwest and is a growth center in its metropolitan area, which has
around 4.5 million inhabitants.
The city is known for its
legacy as the former residence of the kings of Prussia with the
numerous and unique palace and park complexes and the important
bourgeois core city. The cultural landscapes were included in the
list of world cultural and natural heritage of humanity by UNESCO in
1990 as the largest ensemble of German world heritage sites. Potsdam
has been a UNESCO film city in the network of Creative Cities since
2019.
The Babelsberg film studio, founded in Potsdam in 1912
as the world's first major film studio, is one of the most modern
centers for film and television production in Germany and Europe.
Potsdam developed into a European science center from the middle
of the 19th century. Three public universities and more than 30
research institutes are located in the city.
Potsdam was first mentioned in a document in 993 under the name
“Poztupimi”. The Slavic settlement was a donation from Emperor Otto
III. transferred to the monastery in Quedlinburg. In 1157 Albrecht
the Bear conquered the settlement and assigned it to the new Mark
Brandenburg. In 1317 a castle was built in the outpost at the Havel
crossing, and in 1347 Potsdam was granted city rights. In 1415 the
Mark Brandenburg was transferred to the House of Hohenzollern as a
fief, which it was to remain until the end of the First World War.
In 1653 Potsdam was named the second residential city of
Brandenburg-Prussia alongside Berlin. The "Great Elector" Friedrich
Wilhelm von Brandenburg (1620–1688) had the palace built and the
pleasure garden laid out between 1660-1682, drew French refugees in
through the Edict of Potsdam of November 8, 1685 and made Potsdam a
residence. His grandson King Friedrich Wilhelm I declared Potsdam a
garrison town, carried out the baroque city extensions (1733-1742),
had the city wall built, the city canal laid out and the Dutch
Quarter built. The Havel residence owes its splendor to his
successor Frederick the Great. Under him, the park and the Sanssouci
Palace and the New Palace were built in front of the city. In the
urban area, Friedrich gave the city palace its baroque appearance
and turned Potsdam into a baroque total work of art through hundreds
of magnificent renovations and new buildings. Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
Expanded and changed the Park Sanssouci under the direction of Peter
Joseph Lenné and had Charlottenhof Palace and the Orangery Palace
built there.
From April 14th to 15th, 1945 an air raid by the
British Royal Air Force took place on the so-called "Night of
Potsdam", which destroyed large parts of the inner city of Potsdam.
After the war Potsdam was rebuilt mainly with modern buildings
during the SED rule. After the fall of the Wall in 1989, attempts
were made to revive the historic cityscape in Potsdam's inner city
by reconstructing baroque buildings and the city canal.
The
city received international attention as the venue for the "Potsdam
Conference" in 1945 in Cecilienhof Palace, where the three main
allies of World War II decided on the future of Germany.
The
city of Potsdam is divided into 34 districts and 84 statistical
districts. The following 8 urban areas provide an overview:
Potsdam North
Northern suburbs
Western suburbs
Innenstadt/
Downtown
Babelsberg
Potsdam south
Potsdam southeast
Northern districts