Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of Berlin, and lies embedded in a hilly morainic landscape dotted with many lakes, around 20 of which are located within Potsdam's city limits. It lies some southwest of Berlin's city centre. The name of the city and of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin.
Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Emperor until 1918. Its planning embodied ideas of the Age of Enlightenment: through a careful balance of architecture and landscape, Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which would remind its residents of their relationship with nature and reason.The Potsdam project, 1996, HRH The Prince of Wales, Charles; Hanson, Brian; Steil, Lucien; Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force; Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, 1998, Introduction.
The city, which is over 2,000 years old, is widely known for its palaces, its lakes, and its overall historical and cultural significance. Landmarks include the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, Germany's largest World Heritage Site, as well as other palaces such as the Orangery Palace, the New Palace, Cecilienhof Palace, and Charlottenhof Palace. Potsdam was also the location of the significant Potsdam Conference in 1945, the conference where the three heads of government of the USSR, the US, and the UK decided on the division of Germany following its surrender, a conference which defined Germany's history for the following 45 years.
Babelsberg, in the south-eastern part of Potsdam, was already by the 1930s the home of a major film production studio and it has enjoyed success as an important centre of European film production since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Filmstudio Babelsberg, founded in 1912, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Potsdam was named a UNESCO City of Film in 2019, joining UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.
Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century. Today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city.
Geography
The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period. Today, only one quarter of the city is built up, the rest remaining as green space.
There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See, and Sacrower See. The highest point is the Kleiner Ravensberg.
Subdivisions Potsdam is divided into seven historic city Stadtteile (quarters) and nine new Ortsteile (suburbs/wards, former separate villages), which joined the city in 2003. The appearance of the city boroughs is quite different. Those in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings.
The city of Potsdam is divided into 32 Stadtteile (boroughs, both quarters and suburbs/wards together), which are divided further into 84 statistical Bezirke (districts).
Today, one distinguishes between the older parts of the city (areas of the historic city and places suburbanized at the latest in 1939) – these are the city center, the western and northern suburbs, Bornim, Bornstedt, Nedlitz, Potsdam South, Babelsberg, Drewitz, Stern and Kirchsteigfeld – and those communities incorporated after 1990 which have since 2003 become Ortsteile – these are Eiche, Fahrland, Golm, Groß Glienicke, Grube, Marquardt, Neu Fahrland, Satzkorn and Uetz-Paaren. The new Ortsteile are located mainly in the north of the city. For the history of all incorporations, see the relevant section on incorporation and spin-offs.
Structure with statistical numbering: Note: Reports from later years omit mention of borough designations with single-digit numbers.
1 Potsdam Nord 11 Bornim 12 Nedlitz 13 Bornstedt 14 Sacrow 15 Eiche 16 Grube 17 Golm 2 Nördliche Vorstädte 21 Nauener Vorstadt 22 Jägervorstadt 23 Berliner Vorstadt 3 Westliche Vorstädte 31 Brandenburger Vorstadt 32 Potsdam West 4 Innenstadt 41 Historische Innenstadt 43 Zentrum Ost und Nuthepark 44 Hauptbahnhof und Brauhausberg Nord 5 Babelsberg 51 Klein Glienicke 52 Babelsberg Nord 53 Babelsberg Süd 6 Potsdam Süd 61 Templiner Vorstadt 62 Teltower Vorstadt 63 Schlaatz 64 Waldstadt I und Industriegelände 65 Waldstadt II 7 Potsdam Südost 71 Stern 72 Drewitz 73 Kirchsteigfeld 8 Nördliche Ortsteile 81 Uetz-Paaren 82 Marquardt 83 Satzkorn 84 Fahrland 85 Neu Fahrland 86 Groß Glienicke
At the end of 2019, a change was made to the administrative structure: Borough 41 has been renamed: previously Nördliche Innenstadt, now Historische Innenstadt. Borough 42 (Südliche Innenstadt) has been divided into two boroughs, 43 (Zentrum Ost und Nuthepark) and 44 (Hauptbahnhof und Brauhausberg Nord). The number 42 was thus repealed. Some very sparsely populated urban boroughs have been disbanded: Borough 33 (Wildpark) was incorporated into borough 32 (Potsdam-West). Borough 66 (Industriegelände) was incorporated into borough 64 (formerly Waldstadt I). The borough was then renamed Waldstadt I und Industriegelände. Borough 67 (Forst Potsdam Süd) was incorporated into borough 61 (Templiner Vorstadt).
Climate Officially the climate is oceanic - more degraded by being far from the coast and to the east (Köppen: Cfb), but using the 1961–1990 normal and the 0 °C isotherm the city has a humid continental climate (Dfb), which also shows a slight influence of the continent different from the climates predominantly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Low averages below freezing for almost all winter causing snows that are frequent and winters are cold, but not as stringent as inland locations or with greater influence from the same. Summer is also relatively warm with temperatures between 23 and 24 °C, the heat waves being influenced by the UHI of Potsdam.
The average winter high temperature is , with a low of . Snow is common in the winter. Spring and autumn are short. Summers are mild, with a high of and a low of .
The Potsdam weather station has recorded the following extreme values: Its highest temperature was on 27 June 2026. Its lowest temperature was on 11 February 1929. Its greatest annual precipitation was in 2007. Its least annual precipitation was in 2018. The longest annual sunshine was 2,246.7 hours in 2018. The shortest annual sunshine was 1,355.3 hours in 1903.
Etymology The name "Potsdam" originally seems to have been Poztupimi. A common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning "beneath the oaks", i.e., the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi (pod "beneath", dub "oak"). However, some question this explanation.August Kopish, "Die Königlichen Schlösser u. Gärten zu Potsdam", Berlin, 1854, p. 18
History Pre- and early history
The area around Potsdam shows signs of occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and Potsdam was probably founded after the 7th century as a settlement of the Hevelli tribe centred on a castle. It was first mentioned in a document in 993 as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda. By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town. It gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a small market town of 2,000 inhabitants.
Early modern era
Potsdam lost nearly half of its population due to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).
A continuous Hohenzollern possession since 1415, Potsdam became prominent, when it was chosen in 1660 as the hunting residence of Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg, the core of the powerful state that later became the Kingdom of Prussia. It also housed Prussian barracks.
After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration. Its religious freedom attracted people from France (Huguenots), Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. The edict accelerated population growth and economic recovery.
Later, the city became a full residence of the Prussian royal family. The buildings of the royal residences were built mainly during the reign of Frederick the Great. One of these is the Sanssouci Palace (French: "without cares" or "no concern", by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, 1744), famed for its formal gardens and Rococo interiors. Other royal residences include the New Palace and the Orangery.
In 1815, at the formation of the Province of Brandenburg, Potsdam became the provincial capital until 1918, except for a period between 1827 and 1843 when Berlin was the provincial capital (as it became once again after 1918). The province comprised two governorates named after their capitals Potsdam and Frankfurt (Oder).
Governorate of Potsdam
Between 1815 and 1945, the city of Potsdam served as capital of the (). The Regierungsbezirk encompassed the former districts of Uckermark, the Mark of Priegnitz, and the greater part of the Middle March. It was situated between Mecklenburg and the Province of Pomerania on the north, and the Province of Saxony on the south and west (Berlin, with a small surrounding district, was an urban governorate and enclave within the governorate of Potsdam between 1815 and 1822, then it merged as urban district into the governorate only to be disentangled again from Potsdam governorate in 1875, becoming a distinct province-like entity on 1 April 1881). Towards the north west the governorate was bounded by the rivers Elbe and the Havel, and on the north east by the Oder. The south eastern boundary was to the neighbouring governorate of Frankfurt (Oder). About 500,000 inhabitants lived in the Potsdam governorate, which covered an area of about , divided into thirteen rural districts, partially named after their capitals:Thomas Curtis (1839). The London encyclopaedia, or, Universal dictionary of science, art, literature, and practical mechanics, by the orig. ed. of the Encyclopaedia metropolitana Volume XVIII, p. 11
AngermündeBeeskow-Storkow (as of 1836)East HavellandEast PrignitzJüterbog-LuckenwaldeLower BarnimPrenzlauRuppinTeltow (as of 1836)Teltow-Storkow (until 1835)TemplinUpper BarnimWest HavellandWest PrignitzZauch-Belzig
The traditional towns in the governorate were small, however, in the course of the industrial labour migration some reached the rank of urban districts. The principal towns were Brandenburg upon Havel, Köpenick, Potsdam, Prenzlau, Spandau and Ruppin. Until 1875 Berlin also was a town within the governorate. After its disentanglement a number of its suburbs outside Berlin's municipal borders grew to towns, many forming urban Bezirke within the governorate of Potsdam such as Charlottenburg, Lichtenberg, Rixdorf (after 1912 Neukölln), and Schöneberg (all of which, as well as Köpenick and Spandau, incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920). The urban Bezirke were (years indicating the elevation to rank of urban Bezirk or affiliation with Potsdam governorate, respectively):
Berlin (1822–1875)Brandenburg/Havel (as of 1881)Charlottenburg (1877–1920)Eberswalde (as of 1911)Lichtenberg (1908–1920)Schöneberg (1899–1920)Deutsch-Wilmersdorf (1907–1920)Rixdorf (Neukölln) (1899–1920)PotsdamRathenow (as of 1925)Spandau (1886–1920)Wittenberge (as of 1922)
20th century Berlin was the capital of Prussia and later of the German Empire, but the court remained in Potsdam, where many government officials settled. In 1914, Emperor Wilhelm II signed the Declaration of War in the Neues Palais (New Palace). The city lost its status as a "second capital" in 1918, when Wilhelm II abdicated and Germany became a Republic at the end of World War I.