Cabinet House - Potsdam, Germany
N 52° 23.734 E 013° 03.467
33U E 367850 N 5806810
The first of over 100 Citizen's Palaces built in Prussia in the late 1700s.
Waymark Code: WMBH38
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 05/21/2011
Views: 18
The building 1 New Market was built in 1753 by Prussian architect Friedrich Wilhelm Diterichs. It was the prototype of a building style called "Citizen's Palace," conceived by King Frederick II (1712-1786).
Frederick II, called "The Philosopher on the Throne", brought the age of enlightenment to Prussia and to Germany and the idea of apartment buildings for ordinary people with the attire of a palace was a typical one for the enlightened King.
However, this particular building was occupied by "common people" only for a short while. It soon became the home of Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William II, which is why Potsdam's citizen soon called it the "Crown Prince's Palace" instead of Citizen's Palace - a name that stuck until today. Frederick William II's son, the future King Frederick William III was born here on August 3, 1770.
Another name used for the building (and the official name used today) is "Cabinet House" (Kabinetthaus in German), because for a considerable period of time, the Prussian government council (in German called "Cabinet") met in the house.
In spite of the "misuse" of the first house, the idea of Citizen's Palaces took shape a little bit later and more than a hundred of them were built in Potsdam and Berlin under the supervision of architect Georg Christian Unger (1743-1799).
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Today, the building houses two travel agencies and a number of cultural and scientific facilities.