Dutch Quarter

Holländisches Viertel – © TMB-Fotoarchiv/Boettcher

There are exactly 134 red, two-storey brick houses, arranged on four squares. Known as the Holländerhäuser (“Dutch houses”), they were built for Dutch immigrants by the architect Jan Bouman between 1734 and 1742. They make up the largest exclusively Dutch housing development outside the Netherlands. Well preserved and refurbished, they are now the core of a popular area in the historic centre of Potsdam. You can find arts and crafts shops, galleries, workshops, antique dealers and cosy cafés throughout the district, as well as two museums. The Jan-Bouman-Haus has displays and videos on everything you might want to know about how the Dutch quarter was built. The Potsdam Museum exhibits pictures of Old Potsdam, as well as paintings and graphic art from the 18th to the 20th century. There is also an exhibition of photographs from before and after the Second World War. There are three major festivals a year in the Dutch quarter – the tulip festival in April, the potters’ market in September and the Dutch Christmas market in the advent period.