The Potsdam Museum on the Old Market Square is the main civic museum for the city, covering the history of Potsdam from its origins as a Slavic settlement through its rise as a Prussian royal residence to the present day. The permanent collection includes paintings, maps, and artefacts documenting the city's development across five centuries, with particular attention to the 18th-century transformation under Frederick William I and Frederick the Great.
Special strength lies in the material relating to the post-1945 period: the Allied bombing of April 1945, the Soviet military presence, the Cold War years, and reunification. For visitors who want context beyond the palaces and parks, the museum provides a grounded account of how Potsdam became the city it is today. Entry is affordable; the building itself, a neoclassical structure on the market square, is part of the restored Old Town ensemble.