Church of Peace

Geschichte

The Protestant Church of Peace (Friedenskirche) is situated in the Marly Gardens on the Green Fence (Am Grünen Gitter) in the palace grounds of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany. The church was built according to the wishes and with the close involvement of the artistically gifted King Frederick William IV and designed by the court architect, Ludwig Persius. After Persius' death in 1845, the architect Friedrich August Stüler was charged with continuing his work. Building included work by Ferdinand von Arnim and also. The church is located in the area covered by the UNESCO World Heritage Site Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.The cornerstone of the churchhouse was laid on April 14, 1845. The building was dedicated on September 24, 1848, though construction continued until 1854. The structure resembles a High Medieval Italian monastery.The Church of PeaceFrederick William himself made the original sketches on which the design was to be based. He gave his court architect Ludwig Persius two main instructions: The church was to derive in form and size from the early Christian Basilica di San Clemente in Rome. And it had to accommodate the apse mosaic from the church San Cipriano on the island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon, which Frederick William had purchased in 1834 when that church was scheduled for demolishment. A popular etching of the early Christian version of the Basilica di San Clemente in Rome made by and probably inspired the design of the Potsdam church.