Day 74

On our last day in eastern Germany, we spent our time viewing the two large palaces in Potsdam. The Neus Palais and Sans Souci were both gigantic and breathtaking. The Rococo decor was extremely intricate and very extensive. Every room we entered had a theme and elements of it were present everywhere you looked. The architects and artists paid such careful attention to all the detail in each room, and the care they took while decorating did not go unnoticed. I had never seen a Grotto room prior to visiting Neus Palais, and it was the most impressive hall I had ever been in. All the structures, ceiling, floor, and wall were covered in aquatic pieces ranging from sea glass to shells. It was definitely my favorite. The dance hall in Neus Palais was constructed out of solid marble. It lies directly above the Grotto Room, which proved to be a problem. The emperor didn't want any beams in the Grotto Room because he felt like it would take away from the Grottoish vibes. He then proceeded to ignore all of the engineers and architects who told him that it was ridiculous and he needed some type of supports beneath. This has caused decades of problems for those in charge of maintaining the palace. The wood beams that lie in the floor and hold up the marble floor can't withstand the weight and pressure from the stone, causing them to crack and break. The floor began to sag and the threat of it collapsing was major. So, really smart people have figured it out a way to replace all the beams through one hole in the floor. They have since done this three times, and will have to continue to do it if they wanted to preserve the floor. In Sans Souci there was a bedchamber bearing the title of the Voltaire Room, despite the fact that Voltaire never stayed there. It was jungle themed and had yellow walls decorated with fruits, squirrels, monkeys, and tropical birds. Before heading back to Bonn, we had a mini snowball fight in front of the RV.

The RV park we stayed at bordered a beautiful lake

Neus Palais + group photo

The Grotto Room

The room was covered in shells, corals, sea glass, driftwood, and fossils.

The Rococo decorations always incorporated elements of nature. This specific design was meant to resemble a spider web.  

This was the bed chamber of the head of the estate. The chandelier alone cost more than my life and was taller than me.

This was one of the few rooms in Neus Palais that had silver embellishments. It was appropriately named The Silver Room.

All of the wooden floors were laid by hand. This took multiple master craftsmen to create and used over seven types of wood.

The ballroom with solid marble floors