Cecilienhof Palace

Address: Im Neuen Garten, 14469 Potsdam, Germany

Website: https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-gardens/locations/cecilienhof/

Cecilienhof is an early 20th-century palace in Potsdam built as a residence for Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife Cecilie between 1914 and 1917. It is notable as the location of the 1945 Potsdam Conference where Allied leaders met after World War II.

Visitors typically tour the palace’s English Tudor-style interiors and the rooms laid out for the 1945 conference, as well as temporary museum exhibitions about the conference and the late Hohenzollern period. The building’s red-brick, domestic scale and timbered gables contrast with older Prussian palaces nearby.

Commissioned by the Hohenzollern family and completed during World War I, the house remained a private royal residence until the upheavals of the 20th century and was later used for official meetings and museum purposes. Its role in 1945 gave it lasting international historical importance.

Cecilienhof stands in the Neuer Garten on the northeastern shore of the Heiliger See in Potsdam, Brandenburg, roughly west of central Berlin, and is approached through the palace park and lakeside paths.

• Heritage status: The site is part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site and is managed as a historic house museum with period rooms and exhibition displays.
• Potsdam Conference: The Potsdam Conference was held here from 17 July to 2 August 1945; the rooms used by the Allied leaders are a principal focus of most tours.

What to See#

• Conference rooms: The conference rooms and central reception rooms where the 1945 Potsdam Conference took place, preserved as museum spaces with original room layouts.
• Neuer Garten and grounds: The surrounding Neuer Garten park and riverside setting that provide the palace’s landscaped context and approaches.

Cecilienhof Palace is in the Neuer Garten in Potsdam. From Berlin take a regional train (e.g., RE service) to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (about 30-40 minutes), then continue by local bus or taxi to the Neuer Garten/Schloss Cecilienhof area; from Potsdam city centre it is a short drive or a 20-40 minute walk depending on your start point. There is on-site pedestrian access from nearby parking and public-transport stops.

• Arrive early at Cecilienhof in the Neuer Garten to avoid tour-bus crowds and to allow time to walk the surrounding gardens and lakeside paths before or after an interior tour.
• Buy tickets in advance for the palace interior and guided tours - the Potsdam Conference rooms and related exhibitions can have limited-capacity visits, especially during peak season.
• Combine Cecilienhof with nearby Sanssouci Park on the same day and use public transit from central Potsdam to avoid parking shortages around the Neuer Garten.