Over 500 original artifacts, pictures, short texts, audios and film clips illustrate Potsdam's development from the Middle Ages to the present: historical highlights and lineages, well-known personalities, anecdotes and curiosities.
Curious questions
Where and when did the city come into being? What did Frederick II have his guards at the city gates tell him? How did the Old Market Square develop in the 18th century? How did Casanova or Alexander von Humboldt experience Potsdam? The Dutch, Swiss, Russians – who came when and why? Why does the imported mulberry tree still grow here today?
When was Potsdam considered a flourishing manufacturing city and what was produced? Why did Hindenburg and Hitler open the Reichstag in March 1933 in Potsdam of all places? Where were Soviet army bases located? How did the fall of the wall in 1989 play out in the city?
The city's history is told thematically in an accessible and memorable way: Luxury and splendour, immigration and the military, kings and the bourgeoisie, religion, urban development and architecture, art, crafts and scientific achievements.
Curious? We look forward to your visit!
Admission is free.
An audio guide in English can be rented for €2.
Group tours in English are also available - contact: museumsservice@rathaus.postdam.de
Opening hours Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays (except 24.12. and 31.12.): 12 a.m. - 6 p.m.)
(On Friday, 21 November 2025, the museum will close at 5 p.m. due to a private event. Last admission is at 4 p.m.)
We have an exciting background story for you to accompany our photo collage. Please read it here.
