Located in the center of Potsdam, the state capital of Brandenburg, the Museum Barberini does not only offer encounters with art. Set in the midst of a historic cultural and natural landscape, the museum on the old market square, Alter Markt, is an ideal place to begin exploring the area by foot.
Helge Mundt
Neighborhood and Surroundings
Potsdam is full of sights and history: as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the former royal residence, a legendary city of films, the historic location of the Potsdam Conference after World War II, the place where spies were exchanged between East and West, the capital of Brandenburg, and a center of scholarship. Most important of all are the palaces and gardens of the Prussian kings including Sanssouci and Neues Palais, the historic center with its Baroque squares, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Dutch Quarter or Holländisches Viertel with its characteristic gabled houses, all of which are surrounded by the idyllic lakes of the Havel.
Helge Mundt
City Tours "Italy in Potsdam" and "France in Potsdam"
The audio guide Italy in Potsdam on the Barberini app invites you to discover thirty buildings and works of art in the area surrounding the Museum Barberini that were created in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries based on Italian prototypes. Ranging from the Church of St. Nicholas and the Brandenburg Gate to the Orangery in Sanssouci, the tour guides you through the city and points out astonishing parallels between architecture in Potsdam and Italy.
With the arrival of the French Impressionists at the Museum Barberini, Potsdam has become home to one of the most important collections of art from this era. The close relationship between Potsdam and France has therewith acquired a new dimension. This city tour France in Potsdam was created to mark the fifth anniversary of the Museum Barberini in January 2022 and highlights the French influences and connections that have helped shape Potsdam over the centuries.
City Tour "Art on the River"
Discover art on the "Walk of Modern Art" sculpture trail along the banks of the Havel River. This guided tour leads you from the Alter Markt, Potsdam's city center, to the cultural location Schiffbauergasse. Interesting facts about the city's history are combined with background information about the sculptures and artists. You will also get insights into the Potsdam Museum, the Museum Barberini, the Kunstraum Potsdam and the museum FLUXUS+, where teatime in the museum café with piano accompaniment awaits you to round off the tour.
Henry Balaszeskul
Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam
Experience how history is intertwined with art and culture, and discover the many cafés, restaurants, and small shops in Potsdam. We recommend the following for excursions in the surroundings:
Culture
Palaces and Gardens
From Sanssouci and its picture gallery, the Orangery, the Neues Palais, and Cecilienhof Palace to the Belvedere, Roman Baths, and Babelsberg Palace: the UNESCO World Heritage Site includes expansive parks and famous palaces, surrounded by the landscape of rivers and lakes of Potsdam.
Holders of a Museum Barberini ticket can purchase the reduced combined ticket sanssouci+ or charlottenburg+ on presentation of the same ticket, provided that the visit to the Palaces and Gardens takes place on the day before, the day of the visit or the day following the visit to the museum.
Holders of the combined ticket sanssounci+ or charlottenburg+ are entitled to reduced admission to the Museum Barberini. The entitlement is valid on the day before, the day of the visit or the following day of the combined ticket.
Potsdam Museum
Potsdam Museum—Forum for Art and History has one of the largest collections of art, culture, and regional history in Brandenburg.
Church of St. Nicholas
Potsdam’s urban silhouette is defined by the dome of this church. Inspired by St. Peter’s in Rome, it was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
Film Museum
This collection relating to the history of cinema, with exhibitions and also an arthouse cinema, is located in the former stables of the Prussian kings.
Schiffbauergasse
In addition to the Hans-Otto-Theater you will find a lively offering of alternative culture here, including modern dance in a factory, concerts in a washhouse, exhibitions in an art space, and Fluxus+.
Einstein Tower
The observatory, which is located on the Telegrafenberg and was designed by the architect Erich Mendelsohn and the physicists Erwin Finlay Freundlich and Albert Einstein, is an icon of Expressionist architecture.
Brauerei Meierei, Potsdam
Food and Drink
Espressionisten
The baristas make a great coffee at this coffee bar in the historic center of Potsdam.
Theaterklause
A popular place for lunch, it is a wine bar and café that serves Mediterranean dishes in the evenings.
Meierei
This former dairy farm from the days of King Frederick William II is now a restaurant, brewery, and beer garden with a view of the lake.
Chi Keng
Modern Asian cuisine on Luisenplatz, with a view of Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate near Sanssouci Park.
Villa Kellermann
The two-star German cook Tim Raue serves German classics with Asian touches in a nonchalantly glamorous salon in an opulent villa on Heiligensee.
Italian-Mediterranean cuisine within walking distance of the museum. In summer you can sit very nicely on the Neuer Markt, one of the best preserved baroque squares in Europe.
Modern coffee bar on the edge of the Dutch Quarter with a view of the daily market on Bassinplatz.