Arrive at Sanssouci and proceed through the north side entrance court, where two semi-circular colonnades reach out like welcoming arms. Before you enter the rectangular, columned vestibule, you'll be issued slippers to wear. This is to protect the parquet floors from wear-and-tear. Cross the vestibule and step into the Marmosaal, or Marble Hall, an oval chamber lined with sixteen columns and statuary and with a gilded dome.
Go left into Frederick's suite, which, like the suite on the opposite side of the Marmosaal, is laid out in an enfilade, so that if all the doors are open you can see from one end of the palace to the other. The first room in the suite is the Vorzimmer or ante-room, which served as both dining room and audience chamber. In Frederick's time the kitchen was off in the west wing. Frederick William IV moved it to the east wing, but it is hardly any closer to the dining room, though that hardly matters when you have an army of servants.
Continue on into the Concert Hall, where Frederick gave flute recitals for his friends. Its walls are covered with paintings on mythological subjects. Beyond this is Frederick's bedroom and study, where he died in 1786. At the east end of the bedroom, go down the little passage to the library, a circular chamber paneled in cedar.
Turn around, go west down the passage, then turn right, then left into the Little Gallery, which is lined with windows, mirrors, paintings and statuary. Return to the vestibule and Marmosaal and turn west into what is now called the Ladies' Wing. Pass through the first three guest rooms and on to Voltaire's room, a chamber with floral decor that the French philosopher used during his visits. Step into the passage at the northwest corner, turn left and you'll see the circular room of Count von Rothenburg, Frederick's ambassador to France. Proceed through a series of service rooms and guest rooms to the exit. There's a gift shop in the kitchen in the east wing.
Explore the grounds. Park Sanssouci consists of about 750 acres and there are several other palaces on the grounds, but at least make sure you see the stepped terraces on the south side of Sanssouci. These were planted with grape vines and lead down to a fountain. On the top level of the terrace is a flat gravestone carved with the name "FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE." When Frederick died, he was initially buried in a Potsdam church next to the brutal father he despised. His body was moved around several times in the following centuries, but in 1991, after East and West Germany were finally reunified, Prince Louis Ferdinand, Pretender to the Prussian and German thrones, had Frederick's final wishes carried out and buried Frederick next to his Italian Greyhounds.
