POTSDAM, pots'dim, Germany, a district and a city of the province of Brandenburg in Prussia. (1) The administrative district of Potsdam lies between Mecklenberg-Schwerin And Anhalt in the western part of the province of Brandenburg, and is well watered by lakes, and the rivers Oder, Havel, Spree and Ucker, with several connecting canals, and is marked by fine strips of forest and stretches of moor land, .and has a flourishing commerce, good fisheries, agriculture and grazing. There are 18 administrative divisions in the district, and 10 electoral districts for the choice of deputies to the Reichstag. Area, about 8100 square miles; pop. about 2,000,000, of whom 1,800, 000 are Evangelical Protestants, 114,000 Ro man Catholics, 9,250 members of other Chris tian bodies and 20,780 Jews. (2) The capital city of the province is situated in its most pleasant and beautiful part, on an island where the Nuthe and several canals and lakes join the Havel, 17 miles southwest of Berlin. Most of the city is well built, with broad straight streets, fine houses, and trees planted in the squares and streets; and the five different parts, the old city or Potsdam proper, and the Berlin, Nauen, Brandenburg and Teltow quarters are connected by bridges, steamers and tramways. Among the city's beautiful squares are the Wil helmsplatz, with a bronze statue of Frederick William III, by Kiss; the Bassinplatz with Dutch architectural treatment; the Lustgarten with its parade-ground and park and a bronze statue of Frederick William I, by Hilgers, busts of the heroes of the War of Liberation and statues of the generals of the armies of Bran denburg and Prussia and cannons captured be tween 1680 and 1858; the Old Market with a red and white marble obelisk 75 feet high; and in the narrowest part of the river on the Freund schaftsinsel aplace with a bronze equestrian statue of the Emperor William I, by Herter, erected in 1900. The churches of the city, five Protestant and one Catholic, include the Gar rison Church planned by Gerlach in 1730 (and rebuilt in 1898), with a tower 295 feet high and the graves of Frederick William I and Frederick II i the Nicholas Church, begun in 1830 and finished in 1850, with a beautiful dome 240 feet high and four bell-towers; the French church, after the Pantheon; the church of the Holy Spirit, with a steeple as tall as the Garrison Church; and the fine Friedenskirche. Among
the profane edifices the chief are the Branden burg Arch, on the lines of the Roman triumphal arch, built in 1750, and leading to Frederick the Great's palace and French gardens of Sans Souci; the palace of San Souci is a low build ing on fine terraces, its historical associations quite out of all proportion to its poor appear ance; the New Palace built at the close of the Seven Years' War; the Marble Palace, the former residence of the Kaiser, situated in a northeastern suburb; northwest of this palace the Pfingstberg, an ornate building with two towers and a fine view. In the extreme north eastern part of the city in one of the broadest expanses of the river hes the large Pfaueninsel (or Peacocks' Island) with a park and a hunting lodge. Woods, hills and the stretches of water everywhere make the city an ideal one.
The city is situated on the Berlin-Magdeburg branch of the Prussian governmental railroad system, and has other rail connections with Berlin. The commerce is comparatively unim portant; there are sugar factories, several breweries, etc. It is an important garrison post, and among the educational institutions of the city are a military school, a war-school for the training of officers and a military orphanage, in which there are 800 pupils. There are also excellent schools for girls, a normal school for women, training schools for gardeners, etc. Pop. 62,243, of whom 5,000 are Catholics and 500 Jews.
Potsdam was a Wendish fishing village founded about 1300, and attained no importance until 1660 when it was selected as a site for a palace by the Great Elector. In 1685 (8 Novem ber) by the terms of the Edict of Potsdam he opened the city to the French refugees and made the city his residence. He not only built the palaces mentioned above as his, but erected many private houses to keep up the tone of architecture. Frederick William IV did hardly less for the city's scenic features with the help of Lena and Meyer. The Peace of Potsdam was signed here 3 Nov. 1805, ratifying an alli ance between Russia and Prussia against France.
Consult the works cited under the article BERLIN; also (Geschichte der Koniglichen Residenzstadt Potsdam' (1883) and (Potsdam ein deutscher Fiirstensitz) (illustrated, 1893).