The Tomb of Frederick the Great
Encyclopedia
Sanssouci
Sanssouci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is...
. He wished to be buried in a tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
next to his "Weinberghäuschen" and next to his favourite dogs.
In his 46-year reign, Frederick frequently concerned himself with his own death. Besides his political testament
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
of 1752, which he re-elaborated before almost every battle, he made new orders before every war, in which he regulated the smallest details of all his familiars and finances. Just as frequent were his repetitions of the instructions for his funeral:
I have lived as a philosopher and wish to be buried as such, without circumstance, without solemn pomp, without splendour. I want to be neither opened nor embalmed. Bury me in Sanssouci at the level of the terraces in a tomb which I have had prepared for myself... Should I die in time of war or whilst on a journey, I should be buried in the first convenient place and brought to Sanssouci in the winter). (1769)
His nephew and successor Frederick William II did not obey these instructions and ordered him to be buried in the Potsdam garrison church
Garrison Church (Potsdam)
The Garrison Church was a Baroque church in Potsdam, eastern Germany. It was built under the second Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I. between 1730 and 1735. During World War II, the church burned down on 14 April 1945. The ruin was demolished on 23 June 1968 by the SED leadership under Walter...
(destroyed in 1945) next to his father, the soldier-king Frederick William I.
However, the church grave was not the final resting place of the Prussian Kings. Almost 160 years later, in the turmoil of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, German soldiers took the coffins to safety in an attempt to save them from possible destruction. In March 1943 they were taken into an underground bunker in Potsdam-Eiche and then in March 1945 to the salt mine at Bernterode
Bernterode (bei Worbis)
Bernterode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Eichsfeld, Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 September 2009, it is part of the town Breitenworbis....
in Eichsfeld
Eichsfeld
The Eichsfeld is a historical region in the southeast of Lower Saxony and northwest of Thuringia in the south of the Harz mountains...
(Thüringen
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
). From there they were carried off after the war by soldiers of the U.S. Army to Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
(Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
). The coffins stayed in the Marburg Elisabeth Church
Elisabeth Church (Marburg)
St. Elisabeth's Church is a religious building in Marburg, Germany, built by the Order of the Teutonic Knights in honour of Elisabeth of Hungary...
until their transfer to Burg Hohenzollern
Burg Hohenzollern
Hohenzollern Castle is a castle about south of Stuttgart, Germany. It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors....
at Hechingen
Hechingen
Hechingen is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.- City districts :...
(Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
) in August 1952.
After the reunification of Germany the final wish of Frederick the Great was fulfilled. On August 17, 1991, the 205th anniversary of his death, the sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
with the mortal remains of the King was laid out in the forecourt of Sanssouci palace, escorted by an honour guard of the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
. The burial took place that night in the tomb Frederick had planned for the purpose since 1744 on the highest terrace of vineyards. "Quand je serai là, je serai sans souci" (Once I am there, I shall be carefree) Frederick the Great said in 1744.
His soldier-king father found his final resting place in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Mausoleum at the Church of Peace
Church of Peace (Sanssouci)
The Protestant Church of Peace is situated in the Marly Gardens on the Green Fence 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...
in Sanssouci Park.