I have chosen a postcard from Germany today. From Potsdam in eastern Germany. According to Marco (who sent me the card) Potsdam is 1020 years old and has 13 castles and more than 100 famous places.
Wikipedia says this:
This church is situated in the palace grounds of the Sanssouci park. The church was built according to the wishes (and with the close involvement) of the artistically gifted King Frederick William IV and designed by court architect Ludwig Persius. The church is located in the area covered by the UNESCO World Heritage Site Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.
The cornerstone was laid on April 14, 1845. The building was dedicated on September 24, 1848, though construction continued until 1854. The structure resembles a High Medieval Italian monastery.
Frederick William himself made the original sketches on which the design was to be based. he gave his architect two main instructions: the church was to derive in form and size from the early Christian Basilica di San Clemente in Rome. And it had to accomodate the apse mosaic from the church in San Cipriano on the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon, which Frederick William had purchased in 1834 when that church was scheduled for demolition.
The king saw the design of early Christian sacred buildings, converted from market and court halls, as particularly appropriate. He was trying to establish a reconciliation between the Protestant majority of the original Prussian state and the Catholics of the more recently acquired lands, notably in the Rhineland Province. Since he associated Gothic architecture with the Catholic faith, he was looking for an alternative design vocabulary for the Prussian-Protestant church.. Skipping martin Luther, he went back to early Christianity as an inspiration. However, he did not distinguish too finely between early Christian and High Medieval architecture - as long as it was Romanesque.
That was my contribution for today,
Have a good day and see you tomorrow for Map Monday.
Blessings,
Lisca
9 comments:
Seems to be a lovely way to get cards from all over the world, this is the first time I've heard about Post Crossing. Enjoy the rest of the weekend Lisca!
Love and hugs
Maarit
Love the church reflected in the water.
I wish we had gone to Potsdam when we were in Berlin in September!
Perfect Romanesque church.
In Cologne, I watched the 12 churches in the Romanesque style.
Masterpieces.
Greetings from Poland.
Lucia
Old things in the US are new compared to Europe!
those arches indoors are just breathtaking. i am amazed. very cool. ( :
Driven past Postdam a few times never been there. Very nice church would have gone to visit that one if I knew about it years ago when I visited Berlin
wow, you really do have friends from all over the world.
I do Postcrossing (www.postcrossing.com) so I don't know the people who send me the cards, just as I don't know the people i send cards too, but it is very interesting. I've been doing it for almost 10 years now.
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