Bildergalerie (Picture Gallery), Potsdam

The Sanssouci Park Picture Gallery, known in German as the Bildergalerie, is a museum that displays the art collection of Frederick the Great. Construction was completed in 1764 under the directive of the Prussian ruler. It is known to be the oldest extant museum built for a ruler in the country.

Bildergalerie was designed by Johann Gottfried Buring on the grounds of a former greenhouse. The interior is decorated with gold ornaments, Italian marble and a domed ceiling. Outside, the garden-facing side of the building features statues by Johann Gottlieb Heymuller and Johann Peter Benckert. The statues represent figures from arts and sciences.

Frederick the Great collected paintings throughout his life. French Rococo art, especially those by Antoine Watteau, were early favorites of the ruler. He later collected more Renaissance and Baroque art including works by Rubens, Rembrandt and Correggio.

All of the paintings were moved to Rheinsberg Palace during World War II. Many of the paintings were lost. However, a large collection of paintings confiscated by the Soviet Union was returned in 1958. Some of the portraits in Bildergalerie include the Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio and Saint Hieronymus and Four Evangelists by Peter Paul Rubens.

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Sight Name: Bildergalerie (Picture Gallery)
Sight Location: Potsdam, Germany (See walking tours in Potsdam)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Sanssouci Park Walking Tour

Walking Tours in Potsdam, Germany

Create Your Own Walk in Potsdam

Creating your own self-guided walk in Potsdam is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Sanssouci Park Walking Tour

Sanssouci Park is a unique Potsdam landmark that occupies 290 hectares in the heart of the city. The Park is named after the Sanssouci Palace that it surrounds, which in turn takes its name from the French phrase "sans souci", which means carefree, and implies that the palace was designated as a place of fun, rather than a seat of power.

Indeed, the Sanssouci Palace was built in 1747... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.9 Km or 2.4 Miles

Neuer Garten Walking Tour

Laid out at the behest of Friedrich William II in 1787, Potsdam's Neuer Garten (New Garden) was indeed "new" compared to the already in place Sanssouci Park.

Between 1816 and 1828, the area was modified further as an English-style, open landscape garden, with an aim to reproduce nature 鈥� trees and plants were left to grow naturally, unshaped and untrimmed. Rural life was also... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.8 Km or 1.7 Miles

Potsdam Introduction Walking Tour

Potsdam was likely founded during the seventh century by the Hevelli tribe. The town was mentioned by the name of Poztupimi in a document from Emperor Otto III. The name likely came from an old Western Slavonic term roughly meaning "beneath the oaks."

By the early 1300s, a small town had formed with a town charter. By 1573 the town had around 2,000 people living there. Potsdam rose to... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles

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