Schloss Cecilienhof

Cecilienhof, once built as a palace for the German Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, is best known for the Potsdam Conference that was held there between July 17 and August 2, 1945. During this conference, the Allies negotiated the fate of the defeated Third Reich. The Potsdam Agreement was ultimately signed by Truman (Roosevelt's successor), Atlee and Stalin. The Labour PM Atlee replaced Churchill midway through the conference who had been defeated in the July 26 election. In addition to the Heads of Government, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and senior military officials were also present.

Numerous agreements had been made, such as:

Germany's borders were redrawn. In particular, a lot of land was lost to Poland. The border came to be located on the Oder and the Neisse;
About the denazification, demilitarization and democratization of Germany;
Recovery payments mainly at Russia's insistence;
German citizens within the old borders would be repatriated to Germany within the new borders. This led to ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian disaster;
The trial of war criminals.

The meeting room and the rooms of the heads of government can still be seen in the building.There are also several princely rooms to visit on the top floor.

Adolf Hitler visited Schloss Cecilienhof in 1926, 1933 and 1935.

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Source

• Text: Jan de Jager
• Photos: Frank Bruinsma
• https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilienhof