Sanssouci Palace the most popular of Potsdam's palaces, is located in Potsdam German.

The location and layout of Sanssouci above a vineyard reflected the pre-Romantic ideal of harmony between man and nature, in a landscape ordered by human touch. Winemaking, however, was to take second place to the design of the palace and pleasure gardens. The hill on which Frederick created his terrace vineyard was to become the focal point of his demesne, crowned by the new, but small, palace—"mein Weinberghäuschen" ("my little vineyard house"), as Frederick called it. With its extensive views of the countryside in the midst of nature, Frederick wanted to reside there sans souci ("without a care") and to follow his personal and artistic interests


The garden front of the palace is decorated by carved figures of Atlas and Caryatids; grouped in pairs between the windows, these appear to support the balustrade above. Executed in sandstone, these figures of both sexes represent Bacchants, the companions of the wine god Bacchus, and originate from the workshop of the sculptor Friedrich Christian Glume. The same workshop created the vases on the balustrade, and the groups of cherubs above the windows of the dome.

source: wiki


Sanssouci Palace History

A king who joined his troops on the battlefield, Frederick the Great commissioned Sanssouci Palace in 1747 as a summer palace where he could have a respite from battle sans souci - without worry. You can see his fatigue in the many statues: the warrior in marble, his sword in its sheath, his shield down, a look of weariness on his face.

Most of what visitors see is the ornate original - not reconstructions or duplicates - and perhaps German's most impressive example of rococo architecture. In front of it, vineyard terraces stretch in geometric shapes into the park.

The architect G.W. v. Knobelsdorff implemented the royal plans 1745-1947. The result was a one-story building with a cupola over the oval marble hall and the vestibule in the center, and only four rooms on each side. The northern entrance was flanked by a semi-circular colonnade, the southern front decorated with 36 sandstone sculptures between the tall ground floor windows.

The interior, the walls, ceilings and doors of all rooms were richly and intricately embellished and furnished in the rococo style. The palace gained additional charm through its setting. The southern hill slope, called the Weinberg, was shaped into six terraces. The area at the base was transformed into a baroque style garden with a round pond (and later a fountain) in its center, with artistically cut hedges and flower beds and with many marble sculptures.

A few years after the completion of the palace a picture gallery with the Dutch garden was added on the hill slope to the east, the similar new chambers with the rose garden to the west of the palace. They form the rococo core in the park of Sanssouci.