Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden Germany

May 12, 2026 – May 13, 2026:

We started Berlin, Potsdam and Dresden, Germany a day late because Scandanavian Airlines decided at the last minute on May 10th (a 9:53 am email and a 10:05 am plane) to change our flight from Kraków to Berlin (through Copenhagen).

We didn’t even know about the change until we arrived at the Kraków Airport in the early evening on May 10, 2026 and tried to take our flight from Kraków to Berlin at 8:10 pm that night. The airline informed us our flight had already departed from Kraków and landed at Berlin earlier in the day.

So we ended up staying that night (May 10th) at the Garden Inn Hotel at the Kraków Airport and booking another flight to Berlin (through Copenhagen) on May 11, 2026 (taking up most of the day).

We felt like this statue at the Berlin Airport The Fall of Daedalus and Icarus (Der Fall Daidalos und Ikaros) by Rolf Scholz (1985) – one day of our vacation completely missed.

The Fall of Daedalus and Icarus (Der Fall Daidalos und Ikaros) by Rolf Scholz (1985)

DAY ONE, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2026

We started our day in Potsdam, Germany by taking a bus to…

SANSSOUCI PALACE & GROUNDS

Before entering Sanssouci Palace, we walked by the Historic Windmill (Hist. Mühle).

Historic Windmill (Hist. Mühle)

Sanssouci Palace:

Sans souci means “without a care,” and this was the carefree summer home of Frederick the Great (built 1745-1747). Of all the palatial buildings scattered around Potsdam, this was his favorite residence.

Sanssouci Palace

Statues Lining Sanssouci Palace

The above photos show the south Grand Entrance to Sanssouci Palace. We actually entered on the north side, through colonnade.

North Entrance Through a Colonnade

We walked a one-way route through the rooms of the palace. The first room was the Vestibule.

Vestibule

Then we entered a narrow room called the Small Gallery.

Small Gallery

The next room was the Library.

Library

Followed by the King’s Apartment with Study and Bedroom.

King’s Apartment with Study and Bedroom

Portrait of Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, aged 68 by Anton Graff

Then the Concert Room.

Concert Room

And the Audience Chamber.

Audience Chamber

Then the opulent Marble Hall.

Marble Hall

Finally, we visited the Guest Rooms.

First Guest Bedroom

Second Guest Bedroom

Third Guest Bedroom

Voltaire Room

Before leaving, we saw a portrait of Frederick the Great by Andy Warhol.

Portrait of Frederick the Great by Andy Warhol

Sanssouci Palace Grounds:

The south side of Sanssouci Palace is flanked by two statues, both by François Gaspard Adam in 1750.

Cleopatra with Grieving Cupid by François Gaspard Adam (1750)

Flora and Zephyr by François Gaspard Adam (1749)

Located behind the Flora and Zephyr statue is the grave of Frederick the Great.

Frederick the Great Grave

We next visited the…

Picture Gallery of Sanssouci:

Here, Frederick the Great presented nearly 180 of the best works of the Flemish and Dutch Baroque schools of painting, the Italian Renaissance, and the Baroque period, juxtaposed with outstanding ancient sculpture as well as French 18th century sculpture.

Picture Gallery of Sanssouci

Rotunda

Some of the highlights were:

Dido and Aeneas in the Cave by Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1646)

Meleager and Atalanta by Gerard van Honthorst (1632)

Nessus abducting Dejanira by the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens (Unknown Date)

Saint Jerome in His Hermitage by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1608-1609)

The Four Evangelists by Peter Paul Rubens (1614)

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio (c. 1601–1602)

Sanssouci Palace Grounds (Continued):

We next walked downhill to a central fountain surrounded by statues of Greek gods and goddesses and allegories of the four elements (fire, water, earth and air).

Central Fountain and statues

View of Sanssouci Palace

Allegory of Fire (left) and Water (Fishing) (right)

Allegory of Earth (Plowing) (left) and Air (Return from the Hunt) (right)

Apollo and Diana

Juno and Jupiter

Mars and Mercury

Minerva and Venus

Lastly, we visited the…

Chinese House:

The playful Rococo pavilion is likely the most famous surviving example of the Chinoiserie fashion that influenced court culture throughout Europe in the 18th century.

Chinese House

Exterior Figures

Interior

Interior Ceiling

Side Room

View of Exterior Figures from Interior Windows

Then we took a bus back to Potsdam Central Station, collected our luggage at our Potsdam hotel, and took a train to Berlin Central Station, where we stored our luggage in a big locker.

We then took a regional train to the…

Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery):

This “Painting Gallery” is one of Germany’s top collections of great works by European masters.

On our walk from the train station to the gallery, we saw a couple of interesting sculptures.

Memorial to Giordano Bruno by Alexander Polzin (2008)

And a Legoland sculpture of a Giraffe.

Legoland Giraffe

The highlights of the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) were:

As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe by Jan Steen (1665-70)

Catherine Hooft with Her Nurse by Frans Hals (1619-20)

Clarissa Strozzi at the Age of Two by Tizian (1542)

Cupid as Victor by Caravaggio (1601-02)

Divine Love Conquering Earthly Love by Giovanni Balglione (1601-02)

Giovanni Moscenigo by Jacopo Tinoretto (c. 1575-80)

King Charles II of Spain as a Twelve-Year-Old Child by Juan Carreño de Miranda (1673)

Magdalena and Jan Baptist de Vos, The Artist’s Children by Cornelis de Vos (1621-22)

‘Malle Babbe’ by Frans Hals (1633-35)

Old Man with Beard and Beret by Rembrandt (1645)

Portrait of a Young Lady by Petrus Christus (1470)

Portrait of a Young Woman with a White Headdress by Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1440)

Self-Portrait with a Velvet Beret and Coat with a Fur Collar by Rembrandt (1634)

The Child with the Bird by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1614 and after 1625)

The Merchant Georg Gisze by Hans Holbein the Younger (1532)

The Virgin and Child with Singing Angels by Sandro Botticelli (c. 1478)

Woman with Pearl Necklace by Jan Vermeer (1663-65)

We took a train back to Berlin Central Station, collected our luggage and took an Intercity train to Dresden.

DAY TWO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026

We took a tram to Old Town Dresden and did a walking tour.

OLD TOWN DRESDEN WALKING TOUR

Theaterplatz

We actually got off the tram about 2 blocks from Theaterplatz and had a pleasant walk through the Zwingergarten mit Zwingerteich (Zwinger Garden and Zwinger Pond) park.

View of Zwinger Palace from the Zwingergarten mit Zwingerteich park

We saw two statues in the park.

Memorial for Heinrich Schütz by Berndt Wilde (1985)

Memorial monument honors the German composer Robert Schumann

Soon we were in Theaterplatz, the home of the Saxon state opera.

Saxon State Opera (aka Semper Opera)

The exterior of the opera house is adorned by an imposing bronze quadriga with panthers created by German sculptor Johannes Schilling. On it are the God Dionysus and his wife Adriadne. Dionysus is half-naked; the nebris (young deer skin) covers only a part of his body. He wears a wreath of vine leaves and grape bunches. He holds the thyrsus in his right hand and the reins of the four panthers that draw the quadriga in his left. He’s looking at Adriadne. Ariadne wears a head veil and a himation that covers the lower part of her body. She embraces Dionysus with her right hand while leaning on the chariot with her left.

Dionysus and Aridne in a Panther Quadriga

The two greatest figures in German literary culture—Goethe and Schiller—flank the entry.

Goethe and Schiller Statues Flank Opera Entrance

As we faced the Opera House, the big building to our left is the back of the vast Zwinger Palace complex (our next stop).

Back of the Zwinger Palace

The next smaller building is the Schinkelwache which functions as a popular café and the opera’s box office.

Schinkelwache

Behind us, across the square from the Opera House, are the Hofkirche (the Catholic cathedral with its distinctive green-copper, onion-domed steeple) and the sprawling Royal Palace (with the clock tower).

Hofkirche

Royal Palace

All the buildings you see here—Dresden’s Baroque treasures—are thorough reconstructions. The originals were destroyed in a single night by American and British bombs, with only walls and sometimes just foundations left standing.

Next we walked around the back of Zwinger Palace and gazed at the Zwinger Palace Courtyard. We saw a statue and several fountains.

Statue of Carl Maria von Weber

Zwinger Palace Fountain

View of Zwinger Palace Courtyard

Nymph’s Bath

Zwinger Courtyard Fountain

While in the Zwinger Palace Courtyard, we viewed several structures.

Rampart Pavilion

Atlas Holding Up the World on the Top of the Rampart Pavilion

Crown Gate

Semper Gallery

Glockenspielpavillon

Mathematics-Physics Salon

We first visited the…

Old Masters Gallery (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister)

Dresden’s best collection of paintings, housed in the Zwinger’s Semper Gallery, features works by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, and more.

Old Masters Gallery (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister)

Here are some of the highlights we viewed:

Atlas, a Titan from Greek mythology condemned by Zeus to hold up the celestial spheres for eternity

Herculaneum Women (c. 330-20 BCE)

Under My Skin (1997) and Learning to See III (1993) by Antony Gormley

Mars by Giambologna (before 1587)

Sleeping Venus by Giorgione – Tizin (c. 1508-10)

11 by Nicolas Poussin (c. 1624)

Bernard von Reesen (1491-1521) by Albrecht Dürer (1521)

Young Man Wearing a Wreath by Salomon de Bray (1635)

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1657-1659)

The Procuress by Johannes Vermeer (1656)

Adam & Eve by Lucas Cranach the Younger (after 1537)

Rembrandt and Saskia in the Parable of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt (c. 1635)

Still-Life with Flowers by Juan de Arellano (c. 1670-75)

The Chocolate Girl by Jean-Étienne Liotard (c. 1744)

The Origin of the Milky Way by Peter Paul Rubens (1636-38)

The Sistine Madonna by Raffael (1512-13)

‘Caroussel Comique’ Procession in the Zwinger 1722 by Johann Alexander Thiele (before 1725)

Dresden from the Right Bank of the Elbe, above the Augustus Bridge by Bernardo Bellotto (1747)

Dresden from the Right Bank of the Elbe, below the Augustus Bridge by Bernardo Bellotto (1748)

The Zwinger Courtyard in Dresden by Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1751-52)

Next we visited the…

Mathematics-Physics Salon (Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon)

This salon is divided into four sections: The “Course of Time”; The “Universe of Globes”; “The Cosmos of the Prince”; and the “Instruments of the Enlightenment”.

The “Course of Time” showed several time pieces plus a mechanical device that could do calculations like a modern calculator back in 1620.

Clocks and Watches in the “Course of Time”

Automaton ‘Mounted Turk’ (late 16th century)

Geographical Table Clock by Pater Johannes Klein (1738)

Horizontal Sundial by Johann Willebrand (c. 1720)

Table Clock (c. 1590)

Wall Clock with Zeus Enthroned (19th century)

Mechanical calculator (ten places), Blaise Pascal, France, c. 1650

There were also display cases on electrostatics, surveying, microscopes, and telescopes.

Electrostatics, surveying, microscopes, and telescopes

The next section, the “Universe of Globes”, had a few big globes, some celestial, some earthly.

“Universe of Globes”

Celestial Globe by Vinzenco Coronelli (1693)

Terrestrial Globe by Vinzenco Coronelli (1688)

World Time Clock by Andreas Gärtner (1690)

The next section, “The Cosmos of the Prince”, has a collection of automatons, including an elaborate music box and a mechanical bear who plays the drums—pretty exciting stuff in 1625 (a video shows the wind-up action). This wing also has compasses, rulers, protractors, primitive encoding devices, scales, an astrolabe, and Augustus the Strong’s elaborate astronomical clock.

Mechanical Drumming Bear (c. 1625)

Mechanical Globe by Reinhard and Roll (c. 1586)

Musical Automatons

How a Sundial Shows the Time

Sundial that tells time at night (by moonlight)

THe last section of the Mathematics-Physics Salon (Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon), the “Instruments of the Enlightenment”, shows telescopes (the salon was originally part of the Saxon state observatory), an early 18th-century vacuum pump, and “burning mirrors” that were valued for their ability to focus the sun’s rays and, like a magnifying glass, create high-temperature light beams for use in scientific experiments.

“Instruments of the Enlightenment”

Double Lens Burning Apparatus

We now left the Zwinger Palace Courtyard and walked to the Royal Palace. On the way we saw a Cholera Fountain and a mural at the Palace of Culture.

Cholera Fountain

Mural on the Palace of Culture (Kulturpalast)

In the Royal Palace, we saw the New Green Vault (Neues Grünes Gewölbe), then the Historic Green Vault (Historisches Grünes Gewölbe). This palace, the residence of the Saxon prince-electors and kings, was one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Germany before its destruction in World War II. The palace is highlighted by the Saxon treasuries: the Historic Green Vault (Augustus’ goodies displayed in reconstructed Baroque halls) and the New Green Vault (more equally dazzling royal treasures in contemporary display cases). Other attractions include the Royal Armory, showing off sumptuous armor for horse and rider; the State Apartments, where Augustus did his pompous preening; and the Turkish Chamber, one of the oldest collections of Ottoman art outside Turkey.

Royal Palace

New Green Vault (Neues Grünes Gewölbe)

If you consider only the objects on display—not the setting—this is even more impressive than the Historic Green Vault. The number of objects was actually somewhat overwhelming.

The first room was the Saal der Kunststücke (Hall of Works of Art), containing treasures from the second half of the 16th century, such as “Drinking Vessel in the Shape of Daphne”.

Drinking Vessel in the Shape of Daphe by Wenzel Jamnitzer and Abraham Jamnitzer (1579-1586)

The second room was the Mikro-Kabinett (Micro Cabinet) with masterpieces of micro-carving, such as the “Cherry Stone With 185 Carved Faces”.

Cherry Stone with ‘185 Carved Faces’ (before 1589)

The third room was the Kristall-Kabinett (Crystal Cabinet) with pieces made of rock crystal, such as a rock crystal galley with scenes from classical mythology that accompanied Augustus the Strong on the journey to his coronation in Poland.

Rock Crystal Galley with Scenes from Classical Mythology by Saracchi Workshop (end of 16th century)

The fourth room was the Erster Raum des Kurfürsten (First Elector’s Room) with treasures from the first half of the 17th century, such as the “Large Ivory Frigate Supported by Neptune”.

Large Ivory Frigate supported by Neptune by Jacob Zeller (1620)

Large Ivory Frigate (detail)

The fifth room was the Zweiter Raum des Kurfürsten (Second Elector’s Room): Treasures from the second half of the 17th century, such as table clocks and rock crystal pitchers.

Table Clock by Abraham II Drentwett (c. 1680-1685)

The sixth room was the Raum der königlichen Pretiosen (Room of Royal Precious Objects): Ivory and pearl pieces, clocks and watches, such as “Nautilus Goblet With Venus” (“Venus Bowl”).

Nautilus Goblet with Venus by Gottfried Döring and Paul Heermann (1704-1718)

The seventh room was the Dinglinger-Saal (Dinglinger Hall) with pieces made by court goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger, such as the “Golden Coffee Service”, “The Royal Household at Delhi on the Occasion of the Birthday of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb”, and the “Bath of Diana”.

The Golden Coffee Set by Johann Melchoir Dinglinger, Georg Friedrich Dinglinger, and Paul Heermann (1697-1701)

The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb by Johann Melchoir Dinglinger (1701-1708)

The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb (detail)

The remaining rooms were the Email-Kabinett (Enamel Cabinet) with painted enamels and a large enamel painting depicting Cleopatra’s Feast; the Raum der reisenden Pretiosen (Traveling Treasures Room) with historical cases for the transport of masterpieces; they were shaped in such a way that the objects they were intended to hold fitted exactly; the Neuber-Raum (Neuber Room) which contains masterpieces of Johann Christian Neuber, such as the fragments of a decorative fireplace; the Sponsel-Raum (Sponsel Room) and lastly, the Watzdorf-Kabinett (Watzdorf Cabinet) with a hat clasp decorated with the Dresden Green Diamond, the only large naturally green diamond that has ever been found.

Dresden Green Diamond

Historic Green Vault (Historisches Grünes Gewölbe)

This famed, glittering Baroque treasury collection was begun by Augustus the Strong in the early 1700s. Over the years it evolved into the royal family’s extravagant trove of ivory, silver, and gold knickknacks, displayed in rooms as opulent as the collection itself.

There was no photography allowed in the Historic Green Vault (the below pictures are from management posted to the Internet).

The Amber Cabinet serves as a reminder of just how many different things you can do with fossilized tree sap (in a surprising range of colors), and the Ivory Room does the same for elephant tusks, with some strikingly delicate hand-carved sculptures.

Amber Cabinet Room

Ivory Room

During the firebombing of Dresden, much of the White Silver Room survived thanks to the iron grates encasing the windows.

White Silver Room

The Silver-Gilt Room displays tableware and gold-ruby glass.

Silver-Gilt Room

The wide variety of items in the largest room—the aptly named Hall of Precious Objects—includes mother-of-pearl sculptures, ostrich-egg and conch-shell goblets, and old portraits of Saxon rulers.

Hall of Precious Objects

The oak cupboards that line the Coats-of-Arms Room are emblazoned with copper-and-gold coats-of-arms.

Coats-of-Arms Room

The vault’s highlight is the grandly decorated Jewel Room—essentially, Saxony’s crown jewels.

Jewel Room

The last room is filled with Renaissance bronze statues, including Giambologna’s Mercury.

Mercury by Giambologna

We now left the Royal Palace and went under the skybridge between the Royal Palace and the Taschenberg Palace.

Skybridge between the Royal Palace and the Taschenberg Palace

On the other side, we entered Palace Square, with the Katholische Hofkirche (Catholic Church of the Royal Court), Saxon State Parliament Building (Sächsisches Ständehaus), and the Parade of Princes (Fürstenzug).

Katholische Hofkirche (Catholic Church of the Royal Court)

Saxon State Parliament Building (Sächsisches Ständehaus)

Parade of Princes (Fürstenzug)

Katholische Hofkirche (Catholic Church of the Royal Court)

We toured the Katholische Hofkirche (Catholic Church of the Royal Court) and were surprised by the contemporary altars in the church, along with the traditional nave and main altar.

Nave and Main Altar

Ornate Pulpit

Sculptures of Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine

Traditional Side Chapel

Contemporary Side Chapels and Altars

Saxon State Parliament Building (Sächsisches Ständehaus)

In front of this building stands a statue of Frederick Augustus I (Augustus the Strong). The base of this statue is surrounded by statues of four virtues (Justice, Mildness, Piety, and Wisdom).

Statue of Frederick Augustus I (Augustus the Strong)

Parade of Princes (Fürstenzug)

This mural is painted on 24,000 tiles of Meissen porcelain. Longer than a football field, it illustrates seven centuries of Saxon royalty. It was created to commemorate Saxon history and heritage after Saxony became a part of Germany in 1871.