The foundation of the city dates from 1547, two years after the first discovery of silver on the cerro by an Indian herder named Gualci. Charles V. conferred upon it the title of “villa imperial.” From 1545 to 1800 the crown tax of one-fifth upon the mineral product amounted to £32,600,000, showing an acknowledged output of £163,000,000. The actual output, however, must have been much greater, as Spain was flooded with contraband silver, and there was a large trade in it at La Plata ports, whence it was taken to Brazil and Portugal. The total output to 1864 has been estimated at more than £400,000,000, but the annual output at the beginning of the 20th century barely exceeded 400,000 ozs. The struggle for independence began in Potosi on the 9th of November 1810, but the Spanish forces succeeded in retaining possession down to 1822.
POTOTAN, a town of the province of Iloilo, island of Panay, Philippine Islands, on the Jalaur river, about 17 m. N. of
Iloilo. Pop. (1903), 37,373, including the population of Dingle
(12,129) and Mina (4280), annexed after the census was taken.
There is a fine church in the old town and a large stone church
in Dingle; in the old town are several other buildings of masonry
and some beautiful “fire” trees for shade. The principal
industries are the cultivation of sugar-cane, Indian corn, rice,
tobacco and hemp, and the raising of cattle, carabaos, sheep and
horses.
POTSDAM, a town of Germany, the administrative capital of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, and one of the principal
residences of the German Emperor, beautifully situated on the
river Havel, 16 m. S.W. of Berlin, on the main line of railway
to Magdeburg. Pop. (1905), 61,414. It is also connected with
the capital by two local lines and by a steamboat service through
the chain of lakes formed by the river. The greater part of the
town lies on the right bank of the Havel and is connected with
the Teltow suburb on the opposite bank by a long bridge (Lange
Brücke). At the north end of this bridge rises the royal palace,
a large quadrangular building of the 17th century, with a
colonnade, chiefly interesting for the numerous relics it contains
of Frederick the Great, who made it his favourite residence. At
the south-eastern corner of the palace, close to the bridge, is
the tree under which petitioners waited for the answer to their
grievances, which Frederick the Great gave from an opposite
window. It also contains reminiscences of Voltaire, who resided
here for several years. The principal churches are the Nikolaikirche;
the Church of the Holy Ghost, built in 1728; the garrison
church, containing the remains of Frederick the Great and his
father, Frederick William I.; and the Friedenskirche, or Church
of Peace, erected by Frederick William IV. in 1845–1850. To the
Friedenskirche is attached a mausoleum built after the model
of a chapel at Innichen in Tirol, in which are buried Emperor
Frederick III. and his consort, the Princess Royal of Great
Britain, and two of their children who died in infancy. Among
other conspicuous buildings are the large barracks and other
military establishments; the town hall; and the Brandenburg
gate, in the style of a Roman triumphal arch. The town has
fine statues of several of the Prussian kings, including Frederick
the Great. The Lustgarten, the Wilhelmsplatz and the Plantage
are open spaces laid out as pleasure-grounds and adorned with
statues and busts. In spite of its somewhat sleepy appearance,
Potsdam has manufactures of silk goods, chemicals, furniture,
chocolate, tobacco and optical instruments. Market-gardening
affords occupation to many of the inhabitants, and the cultivation
of winter violets is a specialty. The Havel is well stocked
with fish. On a wooded eminence to the south of the town lies
the observatory with extensive premises.
Potsdam is almost entirely surrounded by a fringe of royal palaces, parks and pleasure-grounds, which fairly substantiate its claim to the title of a “German Versailles.” Immediately to the west is the park of Sans Souci, laid out by Frederick the Great, and largely extended by Frederick William IV. It is in the formal French style of the period, and is adorned with fountains, statuary and artificial ruins. Near the palace is the famous windmill; now royal property, which, according to a tradition now regarded as doubtful, its owner refused to sell to the king, meeting threatened violence by an appeal to the judges of Berlin. A little farther on is the Orangery, an extensive edifice in the Italian style, containing numerous pictures and other works of art. The park also includes the Charlottenhof, a reproduction of a Pompeian villa. At the west end of the park stands the New Palace, a huge brick edifice 375 ft. in length, erected by Frederick the Great at enormous expense in 1763–1769. It was occupied for a while by the emperor Frederick III., and was rechristened by him “Friedrichskron.” On the accession of the emperor William II. its original name was restored. It is now the residence of the emperor. It contains reminiscences of Frederick and of Voltaire, a few pictures by ancient masters, a theatre, and a large hall decorated with shells and minerals. The spacious buildings at the back are devoted to the “Lehrbataillon,” a battalion of infantry composed of drafts from different regiments trained here to ensure uniformity of drill throughout the army. To the north of Potsdam lies a small Russian village, Alexandrowka, built in 1826 to accommodate the Russian singers attached to the Prussian guards. A little to the east of it, on the Heiligersee, is the New Garden, containing the Marble Palace. The list of Potsdam palaces may be closed with two situated on the left bank of the Havel—one at Klein-Glienicke, formerly the country-seat of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia (the “Red Prince”), and the other on the hill of Babelsberg. The latter, designed as a miniature copy of Windsor Castle, in the midst of a park in the English taste, was formerly the summer residence of the emperor William I.
Potsdam was originally a Slavonic fishing-village named Poztupimi, and is first mentioned in a document of 993. It became a town in the 14th century, but was unimportant until the great elector built a palace here between 1560 and 1682; and even at the close of his reign it only contained 3000 inhabitants. The elector Frederick William I. greatly enlarge Potsdam, and his stiff military tastes are reflected in the monotonous uniformity of the streets. Frederick the Great continued his father's work, and is the real creator of the modern splendour of the town, to which all his successors have contributed.
See H. C. P. Schmidt, Geschichte und Topographie der Residenzstadt Potsdam (Potsdam, 1825); G. Sello, Potsdam und Sanssouci (Breslau, 1888); Mügge, Führer durch Potsdam und Umgebung (Potsdam, 1896); Kopisch, Die königlichen Schlösser und Gärten zu Potsdam (Berlin, 1854); and Bethge, Die Hohenzollernanlagen Potsdams (Berlin, 1889).
POTSDAM, a village of St Lawrence county, New York, U.S.A., in the township of Potsdam, on the Raquette river, about 68 m. N.E. of Watertown. Pop. of the village (1905) 4162; (1910) 4036; of the township (1905) 8992; (1910) 8725. The village is served by the New York Central & Hudson River railway. It has a public library and is the seat of a state Normal School (1869), an outgrowth of St Lawrence Academy (founded in 1810 by
Benjamin Raymond and maintained by him until 1816, when it
was incorporated); of the Thomas S. Clarkson Memorial School of
Technology (1896), founded by his sisters in honour of Thomas
Streatfield Clarkson (1837–1894); and of the Crane Normal
Institute of Music. The village has a considerable trade in
dairy products. In the neighbourhood are extensive quarries
of the well-known “Potsdam sandstone,” the uppermost division
of the Cambrian system, described as a “fine-grained sandstone
cemented with silica,” and very durable. The House of Parliament
at Quebec, All Saints Cathedral at Albany, New York,
and many other public edifices were built of this stone.
The “Ten Towns” of St Lawrence county, including the township of Potsdam, were sold by the state in 1787. The first settlement was made on the Raquette river, close to the present village, in 1803; the township was incorporated in ISO6 and the village in 1831. Potsdam was named after Potsdam in Prussia because of the occurrence in each locality of reddish sandstone.
POTT, AUGUST FRIEDRICH (1802–1887), German philologist, was born at Nettelrede, Hanover, on the 14th of November 1802. He studied in Göttingen, and in 1825 became schoolmaster at Celle, Hanover; but after two years removed to Berlin, where he became privatdozent at the university. He studied comparative philology, and in 1883 was made professor at Halle, where he lived till his death on the 5th of July 1887. His Etymologische Forschungen (1834–1836) entitled him to rank as Bopp's foremost disciple in the Indo-Germanic science of language. Pott also devoted much attention to the origins of the gipsies.
POTT, PERCIVALL (1714–1788), English surgeon, was born in London on the 6th of January 1714. He served his apprenticeship with Edward Nourse, assistant surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, and in 1736 was admitted to the Barbers
