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Home Towns - Potsdam, Germany Great Star and Hunter's Castle

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Map of the Great Star, 1780 Satellite Image, 2009

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXThe Great Star King Frederick William I loved coursing, a kind of hunting in which the prey is simply run down. In addition do fast horses and dogs, this activity needs an area in which the animals can excel to top speed. Between 1725 and 1729, the King had 40 square miles of brushland turned into a coursing-heath. That included sixteen trails, all radiating from a star-shaped center, called the "Great Star." Hunters could easily make it back just by heading to the nearest trail. Today, Parforceheide (German for coursing-heath) is a popular hiking area. Eight of the original trails still exist, and they still lead to the "Great Star." When we visited the Star in 2007, it was under reconstruction, but when we came back in 2010, it was beautifully restored. The Great Star is also the namesake for the nearby Star Borough, home of volker's family.

Above are three of the trails leading from the "Star." The plaque to the left shows the original direction of all 16 trails. It is located at the center of the intersection. To the right is an unintentional scientific payoff of Prussian accuracy; a so-called altitude line marker. To measure tectonic movements it was important to have two markers connected by an absolutely straight and absolutely leveled line. The "Star" provided both! Below is a 360⁰ panoramic shot of the star.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHunter's Castle You can't swing a dead cat in Potsdam without hitting a castle. This one is the only one, soldier King Frederick Wiliam I had built for himself. Compared with all the other magnificent buildings, this one is really rather modest. The King was cheap in everything that didn't concern the military and allowed himself only a few hobbies. One of them was hunting. For his hunting adventures, he had this house built next to the Great Star. He simply called it the "Star-House", but later it became commonly known as the Hunter's Castle. There are conflicting information about the architect. Most likely, it was built between 1730 and 1732 by dutch foot-soldier and carpenter Cornelius van den Bosch. Other sources name Johann Boumann, builder of Potsdam's Dutch Quarters. There might be some truth to it, since the castle was used as the prototype for the Dutch Houses that were built right after this one was finished. If your German is good enough, you can find more information at Potsdam-Wiki, at Wikipedia and at Prussia.de, which is the official homepage of the Hohenzollern family.

Next to the Hunter's Castle is the Castellan's House (right), which was built in 1733. The Castellan obtained a liquor license as early as 1750. Unfortunately, what could be Potsdam's oldest restaurant, closed in 1992 and the house has been boarded up ever since.

Shortly after it was built, the Hunter's Castle was all but forgotton, because the next Prussian King, Frederick the Great did not share his father's passion for game. In his oppinion, hunting "... might strenghten the body, but it does not attend to the mind and breaks the spirit." Like many times before, we agree with "Old Fritz." In spite of all its ups and downs, the castle's interior is almost completely preserved in its original state. Like the outside, the inside too is modeled after a a Dutch middle-class house - a lifestile that suited the rather frugal king. Due to the fragile state of the interior, the castle is kept locked up and almost airtight most of the year. Only for a few special occasions, it is open to visitors. Lucky for us, the annual reenactment of the Great Deer Coursing happened while we were there and we took the rare opportunity to see the inside of Potsdam's least known castle.

The "Hunter's Hall" is the largest room in the house. It has wood panneling, adorned by five paintings showing hunting scenes and five gold-plated stag skulls with antlers. There is also a kitchen tiled in Dutch style (below left), a room for the King's adjutant and a small bedroom built in the style of a Dutch sailing ship's cabin (below right).

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