250 IN SEARCH OF OLD FRITZ^250
favourite and most successful architectural device. One such col-
onnade ran west to the long low range of the rebuilt Stables (Mar-
stall)• Another colonnade (prolonged by an elegant balustrade)
reached south to the Lustgarten and the Havel. All of this served to
enclose the Parade Platz. Frederick was frequently discovered there in
the morning, drilling the troops, and on Sundays this great square
drew every visitor:
At the stroke often there began to unfold a mighty spectacle,
putting an end to the chatter of the crowd, which had sounded
like the murmur of the sea or merchants at an exchange. It
seemed scarcely possible that so many thousands of troops could
be so directed as to become like toys led by a string, or puppets
at the end of a wire... The colonel, who commanded the
parade, had a terrifying demeanour as he rode along the front
and between the ranks, and all the time the men stood as
immobile as a wall. Then eighty drummers and forty fifers
sounded at the same instant, making a frightful din. (Sanders,
1783-4, II, 209, 192)
Leaving the parade, the tourist walked just over two hundred
paces to the west and found himself at the Garnison-Kirche (1731-5),
whose tall, slender tower was the symbol of Potsdam. Here every-
thing was designed to
raise the Prussian soldier in his own estimation above those of
other European states. No relics, saints, or shrines are there to
be found: the music, ornaments and decorations are all
military, and all appropriate. Trophies and ensigns, gained in
battle, float from the roof in every part of the edifice. (Wraxall,
1806,1, 99)Frederick never went near the place.
Continuing his promenade, the foreign traveller turned right at
the impressive military orphanage (Waisenhaus) and exited by way
of the Brandenburger-Tor (rebuilt 1770), which formed one of the
openings in the excise wall which embraced all the landward sides of
the town. Four hundred and fifty paces to the north, where the road to
Bornstedt began to curve uphill to the left, the tourist arrived at the
obelisk with fantastic 'Egyptian' hieroglyphs which signified the
entrance to the long and narrow royal park of Sans Souci. More than
Berlin, more than Potsdam town, these sandy acres were associated
with the character of Frederick.
It was immediately obvious that this was the residence of no
ordinary sovereign. There was no attempt to stun the stranger, no
grand stony courtyard d la Versailles or Schonbrunn, and indeed little