Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
many it retained a formal and precise bent, never quite reaching the exuberance favoured in
regions further south.
The Great Elector may have laid the groundwork, but it was only under his son, Elector
Friedrich III, that Berlin acquired the stature of an exalted residence, especially after he
crowned himself
King
Friedrich I in 1701. Two major baroque buildings survive from his
reign, both blueprinted by Johann Arnold Nering: Schloss Charlottenburg, which Johann
Friedrich Eosander later expanded into a Versailles-inspired three-wing palace; and the
Zeughaus (armoury; today's Deutsches Historisches Museum) on Unter den Linden. The
museum's modern annex, named the IM Pei Bau (IM Pei Building) after its architect, was
added in the 1990s. Fronted by a transparent, spiral staircase shaped like a snail shell, it's a
harmonious interplay of glass, natural stone and light and an excellent example of Pei's
muted postmodernist approach.
Meanwhile, back in the early 18th century, two formidable churches were taking shape on
Gendarmenmarkt in the heart of the immigrant Huguenot community, which at the time ac-
counted for about 25% of the population. These were the Deutscher Dom (German Cathed-
ral) by Martin Grünberg, and the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral) by Louis Cayart.
No king had a greater impact on Berlin's physical layout than Frederick the Great. To-
gether with his childhood friend, architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, he master-
minded the Forum Fridericianum, a cultural quarter centred on today's Bebelplatz. It was
built in a style called 'Frederician Rococo' that blended baroque and neoclassical elements.
Since the king's war exploits had emptied his coffers, he could only afford to partially real-
ise his vision by building the neoclassical Staatsoper Unter den Linden (State Opera House);
the St-Hedwigs-Kathedrale (St Hedwig Cathedral), inspired by Rome's Pantheon; the play-
ful Alte Königliche Bibliothek (Old Royal Library); and the Humboldt Universität (Hum-
boldt University), originally a palace for the king's brother Heinrich. Knobelsdorff also de-
signed the Neuer Flügel (New Wing) expansion of Schloss Charlottenburg. His crowning
achievement, though, was Schloss Sanssouci (Sanssouci Palace) in Potsdam.
After Knobelsdorff's death in 1753, two architects continued in his tradition: Philipp
Daniel Boumann - who designed Schloss Bellevue (Bellevue Palace) for Frederick's young-
est brother, August Ferdinand - and Carl von Gontard, who added the domed towers to the
Deutscher Dom and Französischer Dom on Gendarmenmarkt.
