Museum

Friedrichswerder Church

Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Berlin’s Neoclassical star, switches architectural languages and gives the city its first Neo-Gothic church. Nearly two centuries later, construction next door forces the whole place to close.

Address: Falkoniergasse
Area: Berlin, Germany

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Why it is worth the detour

Berlin’s first Neo-Gothic church, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel—an architect better known for Neoclassicism. Today it displays nineteenth-century German sculpture and an exhibition devoted to Schinkel.

What else is close by

The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.

200 m
Berlin State Opera
Frederick the Great wants an opera house, and subtlety is not part of the plan: it will stand alone in central Berlin like a monument. Two centuries later, bombing damages it—and East Berlin rebuilds the royal stage.
250 m
Bebelplatz
The street sign says Bebelplatz; the old Berlin name says Opernplatz. One square, two identities—and the opera still makes a strong case for the original.
250 m
German Historical Museum
An old armoury is sitting out the action while its modern sidekick keeps the museum running. That is Berlin in miniature: the past under renovation, with history continuing next door.
400 m
Gendarmenmarkt
Friedrich Schiller holds the centre while two churches and a concert hall face him across the square. The scene looks composed and complete; during the Second World War, most of it was badly damaged or destroyed.
400 m
Altes Museum
A Prussian king gives the order; Karl Friedrich Schinkel answers with a grand Neoclassical museum. The royal world moves on, but the building keeps its original job.
550 m
Alte Nationalgalerie
At the foot of the staircase, a Prussian king still gets top billing: his memorial occupies the grand approach to the gallery he ordered. Berlin has turned the walk to a museum door into theatre.