It wasn’t a bend in the river, but a terrace on land that fascinated many of us during our Smithsonian Journey’s 2015 Elbe River tour. On a day boasting luminous skies and perfect temperature, we visited Cecelienhof to retrace the events of the Potsdam Conference.
Although popularly called a castle, Cecelienhof is a sprawling English Manor House outside of Potsdam that was built between 1914 and 1917. The various wings of the house sport half-timbered walls and 55 mostly decorative chimneys (it had modern central heating). The house sits in the middle of sumptuous gardens ordered up 130 years earlier by Frederick William II, the pleasure-loving nephew who succeeded his stern uncle Frederick the Great.
Chosen because of its seclusion and undamaged condition at the end of WWII, the meetings between Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, and Joseph Stalin took place from July 17 to August 2, 1945. Needless to say, the negotiations here would shape—and scar—Europe for the rest of the 20th century.
The garden in front of the main entrance to the house (the Ehrenhof or honor courtyard) was planted in a star-shape of vivid red flowers, exactly according to Stalin’s orders. This not-so-subtle reminder of his role as a victor in Berlin is still seen today. Thirty-six of the more than 170 rooms were refurbished and used for the leaders’ meetings. The variety of entrances to these elegant rooms facilitated the diplomatic protocol (such as who entered at what point, from which direction).
With our able guide, we went room by room, staying the longest in the central hall where the famous round table marks held the spotlight for negotiations to divide up Europe. Even the flags of the United States, Britain, and USSR on the walls show the intricacies of protocol: they were mounted in three places, so that each took a turn as central flag. Every aspect of the conference was choreographed.
But the most famous choreography occurred when Churchill, Truman, and Stalin sat on the terrace in wicker chairs to be photographed for posterity.
Shortly after this photo, Winston Churchill would travel home to be ousted as Prime Minister in an election that surprised the world and, most would agree, affected the outcome of the Potsdam negotiations. (Clement Attlee would continue the negotiations as new Prime Minister.) But that was not yet known as they sat in those chairs, seemingly relaxed for a few moments, beside the luscious green meadow leading to a the sparkling lake known as the Jungfernsee.
Within less than two decades, that meadow would be slashed by the Berlin Wall. The gentle Jungfernsee would be wired with mines to prevent anyone from swimming to the free West.
After our visits to Prague, Dresden, and Leipzig earlier in this tour – scenes of so much of the history of the cold war and the struggle to bring down the iron curtain – Potsdam took on even more meaning.
Several folks in our group were themselves teenagers when the Potsdam Conference took place. For them, this visit wasn’t an agenda item to see something historical. It was a powerful return to their personal past, reliving events that shaped their adult lives.
