Cornelia Brelowski: Museum visit at Berlin’s sister city – postcard from Potsdam

TEXT: CORNELIA BRELOWSKI

It will get hot this summer – it always does these days. Therefore, both residents and visitors may try and get a breath of fresh air in one of the numerous gardens and castle grounds surrounding Berlin since imperial times. But on the way to, say, Sanssouci, you can rather nonchalantly pop into one of the world’s most extraordinary collections of impressionist masters – situated only 5 minutes from Potsdam main station.

You will enjoy the fresher and cooler air already when alighting from the train – on offer are the S-Bahn (overground) and the regional train, both departing from various of Berlin’s major stations. I for one prefer the regional train. Although it runs at an hourly rhythm as opposed to the more frequent overground, it is quicker, has fewer stops and is more comfortable – at the same fare. Leaving the main station in Potsdam, you cross the bridge into town and immediately turn right towards the Alter Markt square, where you will find the former Palais Barberini, erected by Frederic the Great in 1771–72 as a grand town house in close proximity to the City Palace. Together with the Church of St. Nicholas and the Old City Hall, the ensemble formed the centrepiece of the Prussian kings’ royal seat for a long time. Designed by architects Georg Christian Unger and Carl von Gontard, the palace was modelled after the Baroque Palazzo Barberini in Rome as a cultural hub and had an eventful history until it was destroyed at the end of WW II.

Kids’ tour. Photo: David von Becker

With its reconstruction as a museum in 2017, SAP co-founder and art patron Hasso Plattner created a fitting place for his comprehensive collection of impressionists and post-impressionists, presented permanently along with three special exhibitions per year. I just went to see the one around Max Liebermann, a prominent Berlin artist and collector, as well as founder of the avant-garde formation Berlin Secession and president of the Prussian academy of the arts from 1920-1932. After his death and his wife’s suicide (preventing her from being deported at the age of 85), his collection was confiscated by the Nazis and had to be painstakingly retrieved after the war through years of provenance research via for example the Max Liebermann Society. Many of the lost treasures were identified and their historical context reconstructed. Even if you missed this extraordinary treat – not to worry: the next special exhibition will follow soon, featuring Paul Signac in the context of Neo-impressionism, starting 4 July and running well into October.

Museum Barberini and St. Nicholas Church, Potsdam. Photo: Helge Mundt

After having gorged on impressionist eye candy, you can rest at the in-house café and treat yourself to a genuine Solyanka, or a piece of quiche or cake, and further enjoy the cool environment. And if the day is not too hot – why not take a stroll through town all the way to Sanssouci, walk the gardens and take the train back to Berlin from the old Kaiserbahnhof station Park Sanssouci? It would make for a perfect summer day in Berlin’s most beautiful sister city.