Saturday August 16, 2008

 

 

Brethren Heritage Tour

Tuesday, July 29

 

Featuring

Cecilenhof Palace

 

I read the short note in our guide book:  We stop in Potsdam for a visit to Cecilienhof, where Truman, Churchill, and Stalin negotiated the post-WWII agreement that shaped European history for four decades…

 

 

…but did not expect this visit to be as interesting as it was.

 

 

To start with, the grounds and buildings are beautiful.

 

 

The entrance.

 

 

In order to disguise the actual size of the palace, with its 176 rooms, individual building elements were cleverly grouped around several courtyards.

 

 

I did not realize that we could not take interior photos, so this one and the next were taken before a kind and gracious “keeper of the palace” asked me to not take pictures.

 

 

 

 

The Potsdam Conference was held here from July 16 to August 2, 1945.  (I was one-and-a-half years old)  

 

 

In short, the goals of the conference included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of war.

I found it interesting how the men chose or were given rooms.  Stalin wanted a room with two doors – so he had an exit door if needed.  They couldn’t agree on who should enter the conference room first, middle, and last, so it was decided they would enter three different doors at the same time.

 

 

 The Berlin Wall ran through the palace yard – in the area where the people are standing – meaning those in the building had no view of the river.

 

 

 We left Cecilenhof with new insights on a historical event that happened in our lifetime.