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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Potsdam - Cecilienhof Palace

From my history classes, I remember the "Potsdam Conference" but it wasn't until I took the tour of the Cecilienhof Palace that I learned how very important and historical this building is.  The building was designed to look like an English Tudor country house.  The interior was designed by a man who furnished steamships, Paul Troost.  The building is a museum as well as a hotel.
Sign at the entrance to the building



From Wikipedia:
Cecilienhof was the location of the Potsdam Conference between 17 July and 2 August 1945. The rooms had been largely refurnished to match the taste of the participants. Winston Churchill, later Clement Attlee, Joseph Stalin and Harry S. Truman met at the round table in the great hall. On 26 July 1945 Churchill and Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration defining the terms for Japanese surrender, while Truman had already given order to prepare the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


The front of the center with beautiful grounds and limited park benches.

An interesting extension of the building.  It is round.

Garden and open grass pastures surround the Palace.

Wall decoration

A close-up of the chimney

The inner courtyard

Different brick pattern on each chimney.

A lot of detail and typical English ivy

A wider view of the interior courtyard.

A closeup of the corner stairwell.

The entrance to the courtyard. Nice mixture of brick and stucco and wood.


The grand table used for the conference.

Details of the lamp

Staircase detail.

The ornate fireplace

A closeup of the tile details.

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