Deutscher Dom

At the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin-Mitte, the Deutscher Dom, with its distinctive dome, shapes the urban ensemble and was added between 1780 and 1785 as a tower to the Neue oder Deutsche Kirche. At the instigation of Friedrich II the baroque tower was erected opposite the Französischer Dom on the north side of the Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße.

The underlying Neue oder Deutsche Kirche had been built between 1701 and 1708 as a simultaneous church for Reformed and Lutheran congregations in the newly laid-out Friedrichstadt. The designation "Dom" here does not refer to a bishop’s church, but derives from the French word dôme (dome). The Französischer Dom received a mirror-image domed tower at the same time.

The addition of the dome followed urban design ideas for the beautification of the Gendarmenmarkt and, with a sculptural programme, contributed to the symbolism of religious tolerance; urban precedents are suspected in England and Italy. During construction a collapse occurred in 1781, but work continued. The dome has a diameter of about 13 metres and rests on a temple-like circular structure; the church space adjoining to the west stands on a pentagonal plan with a larger round dome of around 23 metres.

In the 19th century the building underwent an extensive Neo-Baroque redesign and the tower henceforth served as the office, archive and library of the Verein für die Geschichte Berlins. New organ installations and replacements characterised the fittings in the 19th and early 20th centuries. On 22 March 1848, 183 victims of the March Revolution were laid out in front of the Dom and buried amid widespread public mourning.

Severe damage from Allied air raids in 1943 and 1945 led to the near-total loss of the building fabric and of collections. The ruin was rebuilt from 1983 to 1996; the exterior was reconstructed faithfully, while the interior was given a modern design. After a fire during the works in 1994, the building reopened in 1996; following a land swap it passed into state ownership.

Since 2002 the Deutscher Bundestag has used the tower for the Parlamentshistorische Ausstellung, which, across five levels, is devoted to the history of the parliament and originated from the earlier exhibition "Fragen an die Deutsche Geschichte".