One of the best-known sights of Potsdam also includes the Glienicker Brücke. The former agent bridge connects Berliner Straße in Potsdam and Königstraße in Wannsee . The state border between Brandenburg and Berlin and the city border with Potsdam run across the middle of the bridge.
The bridge from Berlin to Potsdam in the southwestern corner of the capital was not just a checkpoint between West Berlin and the GDR. The Glienicker Brücke border crossing was at the same time a symbol of the confrontation between East and West, a place for the exchange of international spies, and a gloomy setting for numerous spy novels and films.
During the division of Germany, three agent exchanges with a total of 40 people took place at Glienicke Brücke. That is why the agent bridge is also called the “bridge of spies”. In 2015, the film “Bridge of Spies” was shot here, in which Tom Hanks played the lead role.
Today the Glienicker Bridge is the center of a serene lake landscape, surrounded by picturesque castles and parks, and is also one of the most visited attractions in Berlin .
Five Castles View
Those who come to Potsdam from Wannsee via Schäferberg can look over Jungfernsee, Glienicker Laake and Tiefen See from the lookout points on the Glienicker Bridge. From here the view opens up to a total of five castles.
On the Berlin side north of the bridge you can see the rotunda of the Great Curiosity, the casino and the court gardener and machine house of the Glienicke palace complex. Glienicke Castle itself is somewhat hidden behind trees.
Five Castles View
- Schloss Glienicke
- Schloss Sacrow
- Kronenschlösschen at Pfaueninsel
- Schloss Babelsberg
- Jagdschloss Glienicke
On the far opposite bank of the Jungfernsee, the baroque Sacrow Castle and the Heilandkirche stand out clearly from the green of the trees. The ruin castle shines white across from the Pfaueninsel.
To the south of the bridge, Babelsberg Castle sits enthroned on a hill in Babelsberg Park. And between the Königstrasse and the Glienicker Laake, you can see the dreamy hunting lodge Glienicke, from which the Great Elector went on his hunting trips.