Potsdam

Some of the oldest surviving film footage showing the city of Potsdam, its parks and palaces, can be found on a print from The Hague. The short film released by the Dutch production company "Nederlandsche Bioscop Maatschapij" (Nebima) has survived in the German Bundesarchiv. It was shot in 1920 and was rediscovered as recent as 2010. "Potsdam" contains a sequence of 14 individual motifs. In addition to Sanssouci Palace and the New Palace, attractions are: Chinese House, Belvedere, Orangery Palace, Church of Peace, etc. Only at the end does the film leave the palace grounds to depict some landmarks in Potsdam’s inner city: The Brandenburg Gate, the City Palace with “Ringerkolonnade” and the Fortuna Portal with St. Nicholas Church in the background. The Dutch Quarter or other buildings by the Amsterdam-born architect Jan Bouman were apparently of no interest to the Dutch film company. The musical accompaniment comes from Helmut Schulte and was played on the Filmmuseum's Welte cinema organ.