Gendarmenmarkt: Huguenots, Domes and a Concert for Freedom
Why is it significant?
Stand in the centre of the square and turn slowly: a domed tower to the north, an almost identical domed tower to the south, and between them, at the top of a broad flight of steps, Schinkel's concert hall. Many people call it the most beautiful square in Berlin, and it is hard to argue.
Key Facts
| Place | Gendarmenmarkt: Huguenots, Domes and a Concert for Freedom |
|---|---|
| Address | Gendarmenmarkt, 10117 Berlin, Germany |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.51380, 13.39280 |
| Part of Walk | Kings, Domes and Empty Shelves: Museum Island & Prussian Berlin |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand in the centre of the square and turn slowly: a domed tower to the north, an almost identical domed tower to the south, and between them, at the top of a broad flight of steps, Schinkel's concert hall. Many people call it the most beautiful square in Berlin, and it is hard to argue.
Start with the word Dom. Neither of these churches is a cathedral. The towers were added in the 1780s by Frederick the Great's architect Carl von Gontard, and the word comes from the French dôme, meaning a cupola. Frederick wanted his square to echo the twin churches of Rome's Piazza del Popolo, so the towers are mostly for show, attached to two older, much humbler churches. Building them was not smooth either: one of the towers collapsed during construction and had to be started again.
The church to the north is the French one, and it tells the story of the people who shaped this part of the city. In 1685 Louis the Fourteenth banned Protestantism in France, and the Great Elector answered at once with the Edict of Potsdam, inviting the Huguenots to Brandenburg. Thousands came: weavers, doctors, gardeners, jewellers. Around 1700, it is often said, about one in five Berliners spoke French. Berliners still claim words from them, like the Bulette, the city's beloved meatball. And the name Gendarmenmarkt? For much of the eighteenth century a cavalry regiment called the Gens d'armes kept its stables right here, on the square where you now hear Mozart.
At Christmas in 1989, just weeks after the Wall opened, Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the concert hall in front of you, with musicians from East and West. He changed one word in the Ode to Joy: Freude became Freiheit, joy became freedom.
And with that, our walk through royal Berlin ends: from a citizens' town hall and the city's oldest church, past a palace that came back from the dead and a square where books burned, to a square where kings, refugees and musicians all left their mark. Take a seat on the steps of the concert hall, and enjoy the view.