French Cathedral

The Franzoesischer Dom on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt is, strictly speaking, not a cathedral but the tall domed tower that Carl von Gontard added to the plain French Friedrichstadt Church between 1780 and 1785 on the order of Frederick II - a baroque mirror to the simultaneously built Deutscher Dom across the square. The church itself dates from 1701 and served the Huguenot community, who after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 fled by the thousands to Brandenburg and decisively shaped Berlin's economic and cultural life. Since 1935 the tower has housed the Huguenot Museum, which tells this migration history. After severe war damage the building was finally restored in 1987. Today the main draw is the viewing platform just below the dome, which offers one of the finest cityscapes over Mitte - from the Konzerthaus to the TV tower.