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Potsdam owes its development into a garrison town to the Prussian King Frederick William I, who prioritized everything toward building a strong army.

Frederick II transformed Potsdam into a prestigious residence city. The creations of his era still define the appearance and character of the city today.

The economic boom that began in Germany after 1871 did not bypass Potsdam. Between 1860 and 1890, the population grew by approximately one-third.

March 21, 1933, entered German history as the ominous "Day of Potsdam." Following the Reichstag fire in Berlin, Hitler used the opening ceremony of the newly elected Reichstag as a propaganda message.

On May 8, 1945, World War II officially ended, and in July, Potsdam was at the center of global attention: the Potsdam Conference of the victorious powers took place at Cecilienhof Palace.

The peaceful revolution in the GDR also reached Potsdam. Over 100,000 citizens of the socialist district city responded to a call for demonstrations from opposition groups and protested on November 4, 1989, for democratic goals.

On July 3, 993 Potsdam was documented for the first time: The thirteen-year-old king of the East-Franconian-German Empire and later emperor Otto III gave his aunt, the abbess Mathilda of Quedlinburg, the place Poztumi.

From the state capital Potsdam to the federal capital Berlin it is only a short hop.

The gate, which resembles a Roman triumphal arch, had two architects and thus also two styles. Karl of Gontard designed the part of the gate facing the city on behalf of Frederick II. His disciple Georg Christian Unger designed the part of the gate facing the fields.

Churchill, Truman, and Stalin made history at Cecilienhof Palace, when in 1945 the Potsdam Conference of the victorious powers of World War II was held here.