Albert Einstein Science Park

Telegrafenberg is a hill in Brandenburg, Germany.

The Einstein Tower (German: Einsteinturm) is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by architect Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. The telescope supports experiments and observations to validate (or disprove) Albert Einstein's relativity theory. The building was first conceived around 1917, built from 1919 to 1921 after a fund-raising drive, and became operational in 1924. Although Einstein never worked there, he supported the construction and operation of the telescope. It is still a working solar observatory today as part of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. Light from the telescope is directed down through the shaft to the basement where the instruments and laboratory are located. There were more than half a dozen telescopes in the laboratory. This was one of Mendelsohn's first major projects, completed when a young Richard Neutra was on his staff, and is his best-known building. Between 1917–1920 Mendelsohn created numerous sketches with the attempt to create a structure that reflects Einstein's groundbreaking theories. The exterior was originally conceived in concrete, but due to construction difficulties with the complex design and shortages from the war, much of the building was actually realized in brick, covered with stucco. Because the material was changed during construction of the building, the designs were not updated to accommodate them. This caused many problems, such as cracking and dampness. Extensive repair work had to be done only five years after the initial construction, overseen by Mendelsohn himself. Since then numerous renovations have been done periodically. The building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during World War II, leaving it in a state that, as the architecture blog A456 noted, was ironically more in line with Mendelsohn's conceptual sketches than the pre-war structure was. It underwent a full renovation in 1999, for its 75th anniversary, to correct problems with dampness and decay that had meant decades of repair. It is often cited as one of the landmarks of expressionist architecture. According to lore, Mendelsohn took Einstein on a long tour of the completed structure, waiting for some sign of approval. The design, while logical and perfectly sufficient to its purpose, stood out like an "ungainly spaceship" in the suburbs of Potsdam. Einstein said nothing until hours later, during a meeting with the building committee, when he whispered his one-word judgment: "Organic". Mendelsohn himself said that he had designed it out of some unknown urge, letting it emerge from "the mystique around Einstein's universe".

The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, also known as GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam or just GFZ, is the national research center for Earth Sciences in Germany, located on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam, in the German federal state of Brandenburg, and is part of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres. "GFZ" stands for GeoForschungsZentrum (Geo-research Centre).

The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany. Its 88 Members of Parliament are usually elected every 5 years. It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the state government and public administration, deciding on the budget and electing its presidium, state constitutional judges, the members of the state court of audit and the minister president. On 1 September 2019 elections to the 7th Landtag were held. Six political parties managed to gain representation. The SPD became the largest party in the Landtag with 25 seats, followed by the AfD with 23 seats, the CDU with 15 seats, The Greens and the Left with 10 seats each and finally the BVB/FW won 5 seats, making it the smallest party represented in the Landtag. Elections to the 1st Landtag of Brandenburg were held in 1946 in the Soviet Occupation Zone. The composition of the 2nd Landtag was determined before the 1950 election. This Landtag only continued to exist until 1952. It has existed in its current form since the recreation of the state of Brandenburg following reunification. Since the 1990 election the SPD has remained the largest party and participated in all state governments since and all minister presidents of the state to this day have been from the SPD. The office has been held by Dietmar Woidke since 28 August 2013.

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main station in the German city of Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg. It lies on the Berlin–Magdeburg railway and was founded in 1838. However, it has had this name only since 1999. It was originally called Bahnhof Potsdam (Potsdam station) and it was called Potsdam Stadt (city) station from 1960. The station is the terminus of line S7 of the Berlin S-Bahn, which comes from Ahrensfelde. It is also connected with the central bus station, which is a transfer point between Potsdam and the southwestern region of Berlin, and has a stop on the Potsdam tram network. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station.

The Potsdam City Palace (German: Potsdamer Stadtschloss) is a building in Potsdam, Germany, located on the Old Market Square, next to the St. Nicholas' Church (Nikolaikirche). It was the second official residence (the winter residence) of the margraves and electors of Brandenburg, later kings in Prussia, kings of Prussia and German emperors. Heavily damaged in World War II and later dismantled by the East German communist regime, the partial reconstruction, with historic facades and a modern interior, was completed in late 2013. The building has since served to house the parliament of the federal state of Brandenburg.

The Museum Barberini is an art museum in Potsdam opened in 2017. Its exhibitions range from the so-called Old Masters to contemporary art, with an emphasis on impressionist painting. Centered around works from the collection of its founder and patron Hasso Plattner, the Barberini presents three temporary exhibitions per year, featuring loans from international museums and private collections. Academic conferences serve to prepare these exhibitions. At the same time, shorter gallery displays – the so-called “art histories” – put works from the collection into constantly shifting contexts. The museum aims to offer a diverse programme of events and educational activities as well as digital offers like the Barberini App and the 4K Smart Wall in the museum. The director of the Museum Barberini is Ortrud Westheider.

The Nuthe is a river in Brandenburg, Germany, left tributary of the Havel. Its total length is 65 kilometres (40 mi). The Nuthe originates in the Fläming region, near Niedergörsdorf. It flows north through Jüterbog, Luckenwalde, Trebbin and Saarmund. The Nuthe joins the Havel in central Potsdam. It has been said that crossing the Nuthe three times in a row is good luck.

The Old Market Square (German: Alter Markt) is a centrally located square in downtown Potsdam which forms the historical centre of the city. The square consists of the area around St. Nicholas' Church. Today the term refers in particular to the area directly in front of the church. It is bordered by several prestigious historical buildings. The square has been the site of much architectural reconstruction work in recent years which has restored much historic building fabric that was lost in World War Two.

St. Nicholas Church (German: St. Nikolaikirche) in Potsdam is a Lutheran church under the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia of the Evangelical Church in Germany on the Old Market Square (Alter Markt) in Potsdam. The central plan building in the Classicist style and dedicated to Saint Nicholas was built to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the years 1830 to 1837. The tambour of the 77-metre-high church that towers above the roofs of the city was built later, from 1843 to 1850. Its construction was taken over by Ludwig Persius and, from 1845, Friedrich August Stüler. Towards the end of the Second World War, the church was hit during the British air raid on Potsdam and subsequently badly damaged by Soviet artillery fire. After many years of rebuilding the church was re-consecrated in 1981 by the Evangelical Parish of St. Nicholas, Potsdam, and, today, is open to visitors. In addition to the normal church services, concert events are also held in the church.

Acht Ecken (Eight Corners) is the name of a former architectural ensemble in Potsdam, Germany. At the intersection of Schwertfegerstraße and Friedrich-Ebert-Straße, four identical baroque houses were built on the corner plots in 1771 by Bayreuth architect Carl von Gontard. Each building was designed with a concave facade towards the crossroads, resulting in eight corners in total. Today, only one of the four buildings is left. Friedrich-Ebert-Straße was turned into a wide traffic artery after World War II destructions, occupying the two eastern building sites. The southwestern property was rebuilt with a modern prefab concrete building in the 1960s.

The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (German: Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, abbreviated ZZF) is an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the contemporary history of Europe, especially Germany, and member of the Leibniz Association.