Gendarmenmarkt

This is one of the most beautiful things in Berlin, the Französische Dom or French Cathedral, sitting on the Gendarmenmarkt which bears a French name in honor of the Huguenots who fled to Berlin to escape persecution. Berlin had a reputation for religious tolerance. The atheist King Frederick II built a Catholic church right in front of his home, now Humboldt University, just to show people were welcome to worship as they pleased. Jews from all over Europe came to Berlin to live in peace, and when the Huguenots came there were so many of them (they made up about a quarter of Berlin's population) that King Frederick said they ought to build a church to welcome their new guests. So, imagine this, all the Catholics of Berlin got together and built their Protestant guests this building. Then as if that isn't touching enough, the Huguenots returned the favor and directly across from the Catholic-built Protestant church stands a Protestant-built Catholic church, the Deutscher Dom. King Frederick the atheist then slapped a concert hall between them just to keep things balanced.