Potsdam
the chief town of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, and until the establishment of the republic the second residence town of the royal family of Prussia; on an island in the lakelike river Havel, 18 miles S. W. of Berlin. It is a handsome city, with broad streets, public gardens, adorned with statues of Prussian soldiers, and fine squares; a POTTER royal palace (1667-1701), in the park of which are statues of Frederick-William I., Alexander I. of Russia, etc. The garrison church, with a steeple 290 feet high, contains the tombs of Frederick-William I. and Frederick II.; and the Friedenskirche the tombs of Frederick-William IV. and the Emperor Frederick III. The Brandenburg Gate is a copy of Trajan's Arch at Rome. In the immediate neighborhood of the town are more than half a dozen royal palaces, as Sans-Souci (1745-1747), the favorite residence of Frederick the Great, surrounded by a splendid park and gardens; the palace of Friedrichskron, formerly the New Palace (1763-1770); Charlottenhof, built by Frederick-William IV. in 1826; the Marble Palace, the summer residence of the former Emperor William II.; and Babelsberg, the private property of the same prince. Potsdam has an observatory, and a cadet and other military schools. Its manufactories produce sugar, chemicals, harness, silk, waxcloth, beer, etc. Alexander von Humboldt was a native. Potsdam owes its creation as a town to the Great Elector, Frederick William, and to Frederick II. Prior to that period it was a fishing village, on the site of an ancient Slav settlement.
Pop. about 65,000.