For a moment there, I thought I was going to have another Bremen moment. But no I have been to Brandenburg, and I have proof with this one picture of Frederick The Great’s palace at Sans Souci. I know it’s my photo because there are people on the steps – a postcard shot would be totally depopulated. And why so few people? Because I made a rookie mistake by going to Potsdam on a Monday when all museums and castles are traditionally shut!
After wandering round the palace grounds, we went to Alexandrowka, an idyllic Russian village. Thereafter, we meandered for a while in the centre of Potsdam, and I marvelled at the number of book shops!!! (That was 2009. Is it still true?)
I remember taking lots of photos – I can even see the shots in my mind. But where have they all gone? I dreaded finding gaps in my record when I started this project, and now I have …
I’ll just have to go back and retake them, won’t I? 😉 But if I do that, I’ll make a tour of Brandenburg. I’ll head to Neuruppin to visit Theodor Fontane’s birthplace. (Note to self check out the Fontane Festspiele) and then south-east to Frankfurt an der Oder to visit Heinrich von Kleist’s birthplace.
A visit to Frankfurt an der Oder will also mean that I will have traversed Germany from West to East via north-flowing rivers: the Mosel, the Rhine, the Main, the Weser, the Elbe, and finally the Oder.
Recommended reads from Brandenburg
I still love Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest, which I read for A-level and have read five or six times since. It was the also the first ever #germanlitmonth readalong. (Effi Briest Readalong: Week 1/Week 2/Week 3 )
I rediscovered Kleist’s drama The Broken Jug during the first #germanlitmonth too! I saw the completely bonkers Penthesilea during an Edinburgh Fringe event. Now you know why I want to see where the man came from. (My reviews of Kleist.)
The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (born Dahme) has been a huge success since Peirene Press published it in 2013. She is one of only two authors Peirene Press have published twice. You Would Have Missed Me sits in my TBR and would have been my Brandenburg read for GLM X had I not decided to read only new-to-me authors.
So what did I read? Come back later today to find out …
Again, not one I’ve visited, but it does look nice. Also, it just clicked that if you translate ‘sans souci’ from French to Australian, you get ‘no worries’, which sounds just the ticket 😉
Thank you Lizzy, I continue to enjoy your German travels 🙂
This is so, so beautiful. I visited it as a child but never had time to go there again when I revisited Berlin as an adult. Potsdam is a bittersweet pleasure for me, as I remember visiting the Cecilienhof where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945 and seeing the original documents where they decided the fate of the East European states amongst themselves.
Looks beautiful! Must read my copy of Effi Briest!