Imperial Station in Potsdam

You are standing at the former Emperor’s station at Potsdam Park Sanssouci, constructed between 1905 and 1909 by order of Emperor Wilhelm II. Built in an English cottage style with a salon-like hall reminiscent of a royal carriage, it served as a private reception point for dignitaries. Theodore Roosevelt was the first head of state to arrive here, and in 1910 Tsar Nicholas II gifted the station with a fireplace mantel for the imperial salon.

Etiquette was built into its stone architecture: three separate staircases—the “Kaiser's staircase”, one each for the emperor, entourage, and servants. During WWI and the Weimar years it gradually lost its original role. From 1939 it became the secret headquarters of the Luftwaffe, and Hermann Göring’s private train used the platform. After 1945, it was the terminus of the Soviet “Blue Express” en route to Moscow.

Under GDR use it was repurposed for storage, schooling, and even a canteen, and was closed in 1977 due to structural decay. Following major restoration, it reopened in 2005 as Deutsche Bahn’s leadership academy, complete with historic salon carriages converted into seminar rooms.