Park tour with Postcolonial Potsdam
In July 2026, the Potsdam Postcolonial Studies Collective gathered for a postcolonial tour of Potsdam’s Park Sanssouci led by Dr. Yann LeGall and Annette Steyn from Postcolonial Potsdam.
In the immediate vicinity of the Campus Neues Palais where most of us work, the tour points to the traces of what the Prussian Kings and Emperors considered as signs of grandeur and savoir-vivre and shows how these are closely connected to the exploitation and appropriation of foreign territories. The tour also highlights how knowledge transfer between Germany and its former colonies continues to be rather one-sided to this day.
Coming from different disciplinary backgrounds and different countries, but being located adjacent to the castles, gardens, and statues entangled with this part of Prussian and German colonial history, it was important for us to engage with this often-neglected historical context of the Potsdam landscape.
Postcolonial Potsdam is an interest group and member of Weltweiterdenken e.V. that deals with parts of the colonial history of Prussia and the postcolonial silence in contemporary Potsdam. The group regularly offers public and private tours which start at the New Palace and end by the obelisk (close to Potsdam’s city center). Depending on participants’ walking speed and questions, the tours take 2 – 2.5 hours. If interested, contact them via postcolonial.potsdam[at]posteo.de or check their webpage.