描述
- Insights into rooms of the Neues Palais that remain closed to visitors
- The reader experiences the castle at all times of day and in a different and unaccustomed ‘operating mode’
- Friederike von Rauch is an esteemed, excellent photographer who is moving here in a field full of ornament and visual distraction that is rather untypical for her
A hundred years ago, the baroque Neues Palais in the Sanssouci park, Potsdam, Germany, became a museum. Today’s visitors are almost completely unaware that beyond palatial interiors, the rooms continue, hidden from sight, and have long served as workshops, offices, or depots. As part of a comprehensive restoration of the castle, this activity has now been moved elsewhere. This represents a major turning point for the Neues Palais.
For Samuel Wittwer, Director of the castles and collections, it was important to preserve the unique atmosphere of the castle during the transition, taking an artistic rather than objectively documentary view of the essence of the building. The photographer Friederike von Rauch succeeded in doing so convincingly on her countless forays through the castle, for she has captured the special features – in detail as well as in wider pictorial gestures. With insightful observations, Rudolf Prinz zur Lippe sets accomplished counterpoints to the visual highlights in his texts. The result is a book that goes beyond conventional notions – Prussia’s castles have never presented themselves so poetically before.
