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 Great Military Orphanage - Potsdam, Germany
N 52° 23.810 E 013° 03.095
33U E 367432 N 5806962
Potsdam's largest Baroque Ensemble
Waymark Code: WM103YJ
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 02/21/2019
Views: 2
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Potsdam's largest Baroque Ensemble, the Great Military Orphanage, is a complex of four buildings, covering an entire city block.
When King Frederick William I created a foundation for the children of fallen soldiers, he ordered architect Pierre de Gayette to build an orphanage. Construction started in 1721 and ended in 1738. The first children arrived in 1724.
Later, in 1771, Frederick William's son and follower on the Prussian throne, Frederick the Great, ordered a complete makeover of the complex, which was done by Carl von Gontard.
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Like many buildings downtown, the orphanage was damaged in World War II. It was partly restored after the war and kept serving as an orphanage. In 1992, the soldier-King's foundation was revived and the complete restoration of the building was finished in 2004.
Soldier King Frederick William I was frugal in everything that didn't concern the military. But when it came to his soldiers, he spared neither efforts nor expenditures. And that included the many surviving dependants of soldiers who died in the costly War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714).
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In 1725, the foundation took care of 600 orphans and at the beginning of the Silesian War in 1740, over 1,500 children lived here. While this orphanage was a huge charitable effort by the Prussian state, it must be mentioned too that the children took very much care of their own food and accommodation, often working up to ten hours a day, very often "rented out" to local businesses - a dark back side of the Prussian "rule-of-law" principle. |
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 Military Orphans; source: Wikipedia.
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Added Bonus (if you speak German): The Orphanage Museum offers a Geocaching-Tour for children 9 to 13 years old through historical Potsdam.
Extra Bonus: Das Waisenhaus-Museum bietet eine Geocaching-Tour durch's historische Potsdam für Kinder von 9 bis 13 Jahren an.
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Style: Baroque
Type of building (structure): City hall, college, hospital or another building of public use
Date of origin:: 1721
Architect(s): Pierre de Gayette
Web site of the object (if exists): [Web Link]
Address:
Waisenhaus-Museum,
Breite Straße 9a (Innenhof),
14467 Potsdam,
Germany
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Visit Instructions:
Logging requirements: Please upload your own personal photo of the structure. You or your GPS can be in the picture, but it’s not a requirement.
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