Alexandrowka is one of the most unexpected places in Potsdam — a small colony of Russian-style log houses built in 1826 for the surviving members of a Russian military choir. Twelve Russians had been brought to Potsdam as prisoners of war after the Napoleonic Wars and employed to sing for Frederick William III. When the tsar they had served died, the Prussian king built them a village in his memory.
The result is twelve wooden houses in a cruciform plan, each sitting in its own orchard garden, with an Orthodox chapel on the hill above. The houses look genuinely Russian — carved window frames, painted eaves, deep-pitched roofs — transplanted into the Prussian landscape. The colony is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is still a residential area, though one of the houses operates as a small museum. It is a short walk north of Sanssouci Park and easily combined with a visit to the Belvedere on the hill above.