Caption
The "old market" belongs to the most interesting - and probably also most well-known - places of the city of Potsdam.
Here are the "Old City Hall" and the Knobelsdorff house (18 century), the Nikolai church (19 century), the Potsdam University of applied sciences, and the Hans-Otto theatre - in the so called "tin can" (20 century). In the center stands an Obelisk and the 2002 reconstructed fortuna portal - the entrace of the ancient Potsdam castle.
The panorama documents the architectural-historical borders of the different buildings. The viewer sees a remarkable ensemble of buildings of the early modern times, the period of the GDR and the time since the German reunification. Here architectural contrasts colliding, each era had left their traces.
The Historical Details
The baroque "old city hall" was constructed 1753 to 1755 from Jan Bouman by order of Friedrich II is connected by a modern interconnecting building with the so-called Knobelsdorff house.The Knobelsdorff house itself was built already in 1750 by George Wenzeslaus of Knobelsdorff - architect of the Sanssouci castle. Also the approximately 20 meters high obelisk on the place center was built 1753 to 1755 after a design by Knobelsdorff.
Karl Frederick Schinkel received 1826 the order of Friedrich Wilhelm II. for the new building of the Nikolai church. Under the direction of the master builder Friedrich Ludwig Persius began 1830 the construction of the church. 1837 the church was inaugurated. 1846-1848 the dome was added under the direction of the master builder Friedrich August Stüler and based on the original ideas of Schinkel.
Aside we see the architecturally interesting, but there stylistic displaced building of the professional school Potsdam from the 70's. Similarly displaced looks the Hans-Otto theatre, 1992 built on the area of the Potsdamer city castle, in Potsdam also affectionately called "tin can".