Sans Souci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is Rococo in style and notable for its numerous temples and follies in the park. The principal rooms, with tall slender windows, face south over the vineyard gardens; the north facade is the entrance front, where a semicicular cour d'honneur was created by two segmented Corinthian colonnades. Sanssouci (usual spelling) was placed on the list of World Heritage Sites in 1990 with the following citation: "The palace and park of Sanssouci, often described as the 'Prussian Versailles', are a synthesis of the artistic movements of the 18th century in the cities and courts of Europe."

Frederick the Great (1749-1786) is often described as the greatest tactical genius of all time. As a king, he guided the growth of the provincial kingdom he inherited toward its place at the head of the German nations. He earned a great reputation as a military commander in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8). He seized Silesia, and defeated the Austrians, and in the second Silesian War gained further territories. In 1772 Prussia took most of the Polish Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland.