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Flagging Neptune

In Sanssouci the “grotto craze” during the Rococo led to the construction of an open building covered in shells; on its roof, the marine god Neptune himself stands on two dolphins and raises his trident. But for a long time, no water ran from the jugs of the water nymphs on both sides into into the shell-shaped bowls. The water games personally designed by Frederick the Great for Sanssouci did not work due to lack of technical capacities. Even specialists from the Netherlands were not able to overcome the difference in height of 42 metres between the river Havel and the palace.
It was only after the invention of the steam engine that modern technology was able to support Neptune. In 1842 Friedrich Wilhelm IV. built a machine house in the Oriental style to house the steam engine which from now on pumped the water uphill.