This morning we will assemble after a sumptuous breakfast, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, for a lecture by Adam that takes German history from the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire up to the outbreak of World War I.

Next, we take our private coach across Berlin—a great opportunity for our guide to describe the city and its complex history—and out to Potsdam, a journey of 24 miles.  Potsdam is an extraordinary place, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site (shared with Berlin) since 1990 for its palaces, of which there are 150 spread across over 500 acres, and its gardens. It was created by Frederick the Great, who set out to build himself a miniature Versailles on the sandy soil of Brandenburg, including the glorious rococo palace of Sanssouci with its vast honey-colored façade and arched windows.  Sanssouci was built by Frederick as a summer palace expressly for leisure—even its name means ‘without care’—and its 18th-century interiors are gloriously intact. His real loves were his books, his dogs, his picture galleries and his vineyard, and the palace, with its elaborate décor and vast gardens in various styles, was his ‘Prussian Arcadia.’ He wished to be buried on the upper terrace of the famous vineyard, a wish finally granted in 1991.

After a lovely lunch together, we spend the afternoon visiting Cecilienhof, last of the great Hohenzollern palaces and famous for hosting the ‘Big Three’ (Truman, Churchill and Stalin) for the Potsdam Conference in summer 1945. When the Emperor William II built this gabled, half-timbered palace for his son, Crown Prince William, from 1913-17, he managed to out-Tudor the Tudors. This is also the place where World War II ended and the Cold War began, for the three statesmen (Churchill was later replaced by Atlee) signed the Potsdam Agreement, which led to the division of Europe and, ultimately, the building of the Berlin Wall.

Back in the direction of Berlin, we will make a stop for afternoon tea followed by Craig’s lecture The Bachs Put Berlin on the Map. After that, we will hear a performance of Bach music with our own Professor Craig tickling the ivories in a sumptuous setting. 

This evening, Berlin is yours.

THE HOTEL ADLON KEMPINSKI BERLIN (B, Lunch (L), Afternoon Tea)