• Cecilienhof Palace / Site of the Potsdam Conference
Since April 2012 a revised permanent exhibition in the Cecilienhof Palace provides information on the Potsdam Conference which took place there in summer 1945 between the victorious allies.
Image: Postdam, 1945, Clement Attlee, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin with foreign ministers, Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives, public domain
Postdam, 1945, Clement Attlee, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin with foreign ministers, Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives, public domain

Image: Potsdam, 2005, Exterior view of the palace, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Potsdam, 2005, Exterior view of the palace, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
In 1902 Emperor William II decided to build a palace in the north of the Prussian residential city of Potsdam. Cecilienhof Palace in the New Garden park was finished in 1917 for the Emperor's eldest son, crown prince William. It was named after William's wife, Cecilie of Prussia. The palace was designed like an English country house, featuring half-timbered walls and varying chimney stacks. The generous palace boasts a total of 176 rooms, the many courts conceal its true size. Even after the Emperor's abdication in 1918 William and Cecilie continued to live there until 1945. At the end of the war the residents had to leave the palace.
In summer 1945 the Soviet occupation forces started to prepare the palace for a conference between the main allies Great Britain, USA and Soviet Union, the interiors tailored to the tastes of the three heads of government. In the court they planted a flower bed in the form a Soviet red star, made of geraniums. The negotiations between the heads of state and governments Joseph Stalin, Harry S. Truman and Winston Churchill, respectively his successor Clement Attlee took place in Potsdam between July 17 and August 2, 1945. As regards subject matter, the conference tied in with the preceding Yalta Conference in February 1945. Main topics were the demilitarization and administration of occupied Germany as well as denazification. In dispute were questions of war reparations and the western border of Poland. Eventually the three heads of government decided that the German-Polish border should run along the Oder and Neiße rivers, although this meant the relocation and in fact expulsion of millions of Germans. Another result of the Potsdam Conference was the division of Germany into four occupation zones.
Image: Postdam, 1945, Clement Attlee, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin with foreign ministers, Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives, public domain
Postdam, 1945, Clement Attlee, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin with foreign ministers, Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives, public domain

Image: Potsdam, 2005, Exterior view of the palace, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Potsdam, 2005, Exterior view of the palace, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A direct result of the Potsdam Conference was the ensuing violent expulsion of millions of Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Although the conference participants had agreed that the transfer should be conducted in an »orderly and humane manner«, in reality the German population had to leave their homes in a minimum of time and under violent circumstances.
Image: Potsdam, 1945, Conference table, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R67561 / CC-BY-SA
Potsdam, 1945, Conference table, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R67561 / CC-BY-SA

Image: Potsdam, 2012, Conference room, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder
Potsdam, 2012, Conference room, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder
Because of the division into four occupation zones and the alienation of the conference participants the Potsdam Conference for many historians denotes the beginning of the Cold War and of the division of Germany. The building itself was used as a training facility for the Democratic Women's League (DFB) by the GDR, which was founded in 1949. In 1960 one wing was turned into a hotel, which still exists today. In 1990 the Cecilienhof palace became a World Heritage Site. It is under the administration of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation (SPSG). A permanent exhibition about the history of the building and the Potsdam Conference was opened in 2012.
Image: Potsdam, 2012, Room with bay window, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder
Potsdam, 2012, Room with bay window, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder

Image: Potsdam, 2012, View of the exhibition, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder
Potsdam, 2012, View of the exhibition, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Wolfgang Pfauder
Name
Schloss Cecilienhof / Ort der Potsdamer Konferenz
Address
Im Neuen Garten 11
14469 Potsdam
Phone
+49(0)331 96 94-200
Fax
+49(0)331 96 94-107
Web
http://www.spsg.de/index.php?id=126
E-Mail
info@spsg.de
Open
April to October: Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. November to March: Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 to 5.00 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Visiting only with guided tours or audio guides
Possibilities
Permanent exhibition, guided tours