Old Guard (Potsdam)
The Alte Wache is an early classicist building in Potsdam on Lindenstrasse and the corner of Charlottenstrasse. It was built by order of King Friedrich Wilhelm II. 1795–97 according to plans by Andreas Ludwig Krüger .
history
The city wall ran along Charlottenstraße between the first and second Baroque second city expansion . Traders arriving from Werder and Brandenburg were checked here at the beginning of the 18th century . After the wall ran further north in the course of today's Hegelallee with the second city expansion, it acted as the main guard.
The Hauptwache, known today as the Alte Wache, was a gift from the king to his former regiment “Prince of Prussia”. At that time the building comprised a guard room, the assembly chamber on the upper floor and stalls for butchers. Today the building houses the branch of a major German bank.
architecture
The plastered building, erected between 1795 and 1797 according to plans by Andreas Ludwig Krüger, has arcades faced with ashlar on its two sides on coupled Tuscan pillars, an architectural element that was rarely used in the Potsdam urban area. Above the eaves is a low sandstone parapet decorated with diamond reliefs, which is broken by pedestals on which trophies stand. The sculptural decorations erected on three sides of the attics by the brothers Johann Christoph and Michael Christoph Wohler depict military motifs according to the purpose of the building and include 18 statues and groups of figures made of sandstone on both sides . Mars reaches for his sword above the facade facing Charlottenstraße , above Lindenstraße, Minerva is depicted flanked by trophies on a pedestal extending over two axes .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Old Guard. State capital Potsdam, accessed on June 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Information board on the building, State Capital Potsdam, read on June 11, 2017
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 23 '55.7 " N , 13 ° 3' 5.7" E