Germany - Potsdam, Sanssouci - Chinese House

The Chinese House (Chinesisches Haus) is a garden pavilion in Sanssouci Park. King Friedrich II had it built between 1755 and 1764, southwest of his summer palace, to adorn his flower and vegetable garden. The pavilion was designed by Johann Gottfried Büring in the then-popular style of Chinoiserie, a mixture of ornamental rococo elements and parts of Chinese architecture.

Friedrich der Große modeled the Chinese House on a trefoil-shaped garden pavilion in the palace grounds of Lunéville in France. The central building contains three rooms. Rounded windows and French windows that reach almost to the ground let light into the pavilion's interior. The ceiling is supported by sandstone columns in the shape of gilded palm trees. The pavilion was used for drinking tea and during the summer as dining hall.

People from the area stood as models for the eating, tea-sipping and music-playing gilded sandstone figures in front of the pavilion The cupola crowning the roof is surmounted by a gilded Chinese figure with an open parasol.