Sanssouci Palace, which Frederick the Great had built to his personal specifications, is one of the most important 18th-century royal palaces. Architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff finished the single-storey building in 1747 in only two years. Planned on the lines of a French pleasure castle, Sanssouci represents the pinnacle of Frederician Rococo. The statuary, the structure of the building itself and its site pay tribute to 'carefree leisure'. Beneath a striking dome is the famous oval Marble Hall, where Frederick the Great held his legendary round-table meetings with the intellectual elite of his day, sharing his many artistic and philosophical interests with guests such as Voltaire in an idyllic rural setting. Most of the 18th-century furnishings have survived to provide an authentic view of this place of cultural meetings, on which in large part rests the reputation of Frederick the Great as a monarch of the Enlightenment and major patron of the arts.

Die Hohenzollern-Schlösser in Berlin, Potsdam und der Mark Brandenburg dokumentieren eine fast 400-jährige Tradition höfischer Kultur. Vorgestellt werden die königlichen Residenzen, Lustschlösser und Parkanlagen, die sich heute in der Obhut der Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg befinden und die großteils unmittelbar nach der Wiedervereinigung in die Welterbeliste der UNESCO aufgenommen wurden.

I principi brandeburghesi-prussiani ornavano le loro residenze con castelli e parchi rappresentativi, impiegando gli architetti ed artisti piu illustri dell'epoca. I Castelli dei Hohenzollern a Berlino, Potsdam e nel Brandeburgo documentano una tradizione di cultura cortigiana di quasi quattrocento anni, cominciando con la posa della prima pietra del Jagdschloss Grunewald nel 1542 fino al Castello Cecilienhof a Potsdam, completato nel 1917. Tra gli architetti si trovavano delle capacita come il Nering, Knobelsdorff, Buring, Gontard, Langhans, Schinkel e il Persius, e tra i giardinieri uomini come il Godeau, Eyserbeck e Lenne. Il centro dell' attivita edilizia si trovava prima a Berlino, poi a Potsdam come seconda residenza e nel Brandeburgo. Oggi le residenze dei rei prussiani, di cui quelli piu importanti dal 1990 fanno parte del Patrimonio Mondiale della UNESCO, sono in custodia della Stiftung Preussische Schloesser und Garten Berlin-Brandenburg.