Planning, Construction and Initial Use

The Neues Palais was built between 1763 and 1769 – after almost ten years of planning and a delay in the start of construction caused by the Seven Years’ War – at the western end of Park Sanssouci as a guest palace for Friedrich the Great. The first designs of Potsdam’s largest palace – which is the last significant building ensemble in the Prussian baroque style – date back to 1755. The king exercised a major influence on the planning and construction process. The Colonnade and the Communs (the adjoining buildings), with their adjacent courtyards, were built from 1766 to 1769. The southern Commun I (Building 9) housed the palace kitch-ens, and – like the northern Commun II (Building 11) – had rooms for the servants and gen-tlemen of the court and the retinues of the royal guests who stayed in the Neues Palais.