In his texts on Friederike von Rauch's photographs of the Neues Palais in Sanssouci, Rudolf Prinz zur Lippe brings the dark corners and quiet areas of the magnificent building to life. He questions and unmasks the splendid decorations and brings to light many a loving quirk by giving voice to apparent trivialities: "It—pathos—has withdrawn into one of the furniture storage rooms." His sensitive observations approach the palace with an attentive gaze. The book presents courtly architecture and decorative art, perceived in a different way in texts and images, that transform the sublime palace of Frederick the Great into a human world.


At the close of 2018, JOVIS Verlag published a book about the Neues Palais with photographs by Friederike von Rauch. In that book, the atmospheric glimpses behind the scenes and details of the former royal palace are paired with text miniatures by the philosopher Rudolf Prinz zur Lippe. These have now been expanded and assembled together in this sophisticated volume.