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Last Impressions - Festival of Lights

Festival of Lights - German cathedral at Gendarmenmarkt

Berlin’s Deutscher Dom – not to be confused with the Berliner Dom which is the largest protestant church in Berlin – is best known as one of the three buildings which make up the spectacular ‘trinity ensemble’ in the Gendarmenmarkt square in Mitte including its twin the Französische Dom (French Cathedral) and the Konzerthaus or Concert Hall. The Deutscher Dom was erected in 1708 under Elector Friedrich III, who had crowned himself King Friedrich I in 1701 and was intent, along with his wife Queen Sophie Charlotte, in turning Berlin into a royal residence to rival Versailles.

The building is by Martin Grünberg and was given its galleried ‘dome’ (hence the name Dom) originating from the French ‘dome’ or cupola, in 1785 by Carl von Gontard. It was known as the Neue Kirche (New Church) and only later referred to as the German Church. It is considered remarkable because of its five-sided floor plan. In 1780 Friedrich’s grandson, Friedrich the Great (1740-1786) commissioned Carl von Gontard to build two non-functional domes for the existing churches to offset the Comedy Theatre next to them ensembles which were inspired by Christopher Wren’s and Inigo Jones’s domes on St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The French dome housed the Huguenot Museum whereas the German dome was the address for the Berlin Historical Association.

Another victim of Allied bombings, the building was badly damaged during the war. The church and tower burned down in 1943, and were slowly restored between 1982 and 1996. Since 1992 a German Parliament exhibition can be seen here entitled “Wege, Irrwege and Umwege” roughly translated as “Paths, Loosing Track and Detours” or the development of parliamentary democracy in Germany – ways and roundabouts. No religious services are held here.

Source: berlin.de

Festival of Lights - Charlottenburg Palace

Between 1695 and 1699, the Elector of Brandenburg, Kurfürst Frederick III, who would later in 1701 become the first Prussian King (as Frederick I), built Lietzenburg Palace as a summer residence for his beloved wife, Sophie Charlotte. After her death in 1705, Frederick renamed it Charlottenburg in her memory. Despite being badly damaged in World War II air raids, the Palace’s unique 18th century features can still be seen today. After the war, the palace, along with many of the buildings in the vicinity, was reconstructed and now boasts a number of museums and exhibitions which serve to make it one of Berlin’s cultural centers.

Source: berlin.de

Festival of Lights - Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is the trademark of Berlin. The main entrance to the city, surrounded by the wall for thirty years, was known throughout the world as a symbol for the division of the city and for the division of the world into two power blocs. Today's international visitors to Pariser Platz come to re-experience this first gateway to the city, and to enjoy the long-denied freedom to walk through this magnificent work of art and look at it up close.

It was built as the grandest of a series of city gates constituting the passages through the customs wall encircling the city at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the only gate which survived, because it constitutes the monumental termination of Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which led directly to the residence of the Prussian kings until the destruction of the city castle. The entire construction and ornamentation of the gate reflect the extraordinary importance it was granted by its builders. The architect selected as the model for his design the Propylaea in Athens, the monumental entry hall of the Acropolis. Just as the Propylaea led to a shrine of the Ancient world, this gate was to represent the access to the most important city of the Prussian kingdom. This reference to Antiquity made it the structure which founded the Classic age of architecture in Berlin, an epoch which brought the city its sobriquet "Spreeathen" ("Athens of the Spree" -- Berlin's river is called the Spree). The most important sculptor in Berlin during this period carried out the accompanying agenda of visual explanation. The Brandenburg Gate is crowned with a quadriga depicting the goddess of victory, "who brings peace", marching into the city. The relief on the pedestal portrays her again with her attendants. Personifications of virtues like friendship and statesmanship are represented, along with symbols of arts and sciences, because they make a city like Berlin bloom in times of peace. Reliefs with the exploits of Hercules in the passages allude to the time of the wars and the subsequent period of reconstruction, during which Friedrich II made Prussia into a European power and laid the foundation for flourishing trade and crafts. The gate thus is also a memorial for the king who died a few years before its construction.

The Brandenburg Gate is not only a symbol of division and reunification; it was also the site of many other events in German history, a history characterized by so many peaks and troughs. In 1806 Napoleon marched triumphantly into Berlin and carried the Quadriga away with him to Paris as a spoil of war. In 1814, after the victorious conclusion of the wars of liberation, Schinkel replaced the oak wreath on the goddess' scepter with an iron cross, changing the figure's interpretation from a courier of peace into a goddess of victory. In 1933 the National Socialists marched through the gate in a martial torch parade, introducing the darkest chapter of German history, ultimately leaving the city destroyed and Germany divided.

Source: stadtentwicklung.de

Festival of Lights - French cathedral at Gendarmenmarkt

The Französischer Dom or French Cathedral is not a cathedral in the traditional sense of the word. The German name of Dom refers to the ‘domed’ tower later erected on the existing church in 1785, almost one hundred years after it had been built originally as the Französische Friedrichstadtkirche.

It was erected as a place of worship in 1672 for the Huguenots, members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, also known as French Calvinists. Fleeing religious persecution and expulsion from France following the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau, around 6000 French Protestants were granted asylum in Berlin by the Great Elector Friedrich III (King Friedrich I from 1701) who had responded swiftly to the French expulsion order with the Edict of Potsdam, granting permission to French Protestants to settle in Berlin. The Huguenots built a thriving community, preserving a French language church service for nearly a century. It was only in protest against Napoleon’s occupation of Prussia in 1806 that the service switched to German.

The Französische Friedrichstadtkirche was erected between 1701 and 1705, in the grid-layout, newly built area known as Friedrichstadt. Its central area – now the Gendarmenmarkt - became the Friedrichstadt market and two churches were built here. On the northern side the French Church, was modelled by Louis Cayart on the Huguenots’ main church in Charenton – which had been destroyed in 1688. To the south of the market the Neue Kirche - later German Church recognizable by its innovative five-side central structure. The identical domes which then gave the Churches their new name of French and German Domes were erected in 1780-85 with no inner architectonic connection to the churches.

In 1905 the building’s interior was redesigned by Otto March with the creation of a three-axis central projection on the west façade. His ideas for the church remained influential and a new phase of restoration took place between 1978 and 1983, as a consequence to the damage which occurred during the War with the addition of an intermediate floor and an extra room.

The French Dome church has housed the Hugenottenmuseum - Huguenots Museum - since 1929 and the Berlin Historical Association has its offices in the German Dome.

The tower’s restoration has made it possible to climb up to a spiralling staircase - an absolutely worthwhile climb for a spectacular view of the square and of Mitte.

Source: Berlin.de

Festival of Lights - Schauspielhaus am Gendarmenmarkt

Once a Theater, now a concert hall is one of the masterpieces of classical architecture in Germany and has a long history. As early as 1776 at the instigation of Frederick the Great opened at this point a little comedy house, the Elder to the plans of the Prussian Building Director John Bouman was built. The name change to Royal National Theatre in 1787 highlighted the rise of one of the leading theaters in the country.

At the beginning of the 19th Century, Carl Gotthard Langhans was charged with the construction of the theater, which opened on New Year's Day 1802 ceremony. But in 1817 the theater was destroyed by fire, who made a new building necessary. King Friedrich Wilhelm III. gave the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel's bid for the theater, but he was tied with his plans to several provisions of the King. After three years of construction, the theater was inaugurated in 1821 in the presence of the king.

After the theater had been by the fighting at the end of World War II severely affected, it was built 1979-1984 as a concert hall again.

Source: Berlin.de

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