Gotische Fontäne

You are standing in front of it. It’s a fountain unlike any other you’ve seen before. Perhaps that’s because it’s actually a library, a neo-gothic tower pavilion of sandstone. Imagine, a library built on a foundation of stone, a place to store the written word, but standing right here on the edge of the Heiliger See. The Gotische Fontäne wasn’t always this way. Back in the late 18th century, it was the private library of King Frederick William II, a place where he could surround himself with the best of German and French literature. The library was housed here in the Gotische Fontäne, a testament to the king’s passion for both German and French culture. The building was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans, the same architect responsible for the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. He was a man of great taste and created a building that was both grand and intimate, a true reflection of the king’s personality. The library remained here until the 1930s. Then, all the books were moved to the Potsdam City Palace. This caused the name of the structure to become even more ironic, a building called the Gotische Fontäne, or Gothic Fountain, despite no longer holding any literature. Then, the war came. A bomb fell directly into the Heiliger See, near the Gotische Fontäne. This damaged the building’s foundation, causing it to tilt, just like the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. For decades, it remained a relic of the war, a reminder of the destruction that had ravaged Potsdam. But then, in 1993, the state of Berlin, in a gesture of goodwill for Potsdam’s 1000th anniversary, gave Potsdam 1.6 million Deutsche Marks. This money allowed for the Gotische Fontäne to be completely dismantled. Each of the 691 sandstone blocks was carefully removed. The foundation was secured with massive steel beams. All these repairs took five years, costing 4.1 million Deutsche Marks. Luckily, the original stones were still intact and could be used to build the library again, brick by fragile brick. The Gotische Fontäne was restored to its former glory. That’s why it is a true architectural highlight, even if it is closed to the public.