Gendarmenmarkt began as a market square 400 years ago, then became the parade ground for Frederick William I's Cuirassier regiment in the 1700s. The Soldier King stationed his mounted gens d'armes, his army, here, giving the square its name.

His architect, Martin Grünberg, built the twin churches, the French and German Domes. It was finished in 1708, and it still dominates the square today with their almost identical belfries. Between them stands the Konzerthaus, designed by Friedrich Schinkel, who left his fingerprints across Berlin.

The square attracted a remarkable literary circle in the 1800s. E.T.A. Hoffmann, who wrote the story that inspired Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, crossed the square nightly for his wine at Lutter & Wegener. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born nearby, and Rahel Varnhagen held her famous salon around the corner.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours reveal how Gendarmenmarkt connects Frederick's military Prussia to Berlin's literary golden age, tracing Schinkel's architectural legacy and the Huguenot refugees who shaped the city.