Frederick the Great's Influence on Berlin
Architecture from Frederick II Still Graces Germany’s Capital Today
Dec 7, 2008
Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, was the king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. He was part of the Hohenzollern dynasty that ruled Germany, Prussia and Romania starting in the 11th century.
Berlin was in rough shape at the beginning of Frederick’s reign. The population was devastated by the plague and then the Seven Years War, which ended in 1763. The war also destroyed Berlin’s finances. Frederick wanted to make Berlin worthy of being a capital city, culturally, politically and militarily.
French Culture's Influence on Frederick
Frederick the Great looked toward other peoples for cultural influences, but none more so than France. He deemed French culture superior to all others, especially to Germany. In a 1746 letter to his sister, Frederick wrote, “We are emerging from barbarism and are still in our cradles. But the French…are a century in advance of us in every kind of success.”
Frederick modeled his own rules in Berlin on the French Enlightenment, encouraging a free press, banning censorship, abolishing torture and promoting religious tolerance.
French became the language of the elites. Young men were instructed to learn in France. And Berliners began calling Paris the new Athens.
Frederick's Influence on City Architecture
Frederick also built up the city in a style that combined baroque, rococo and neo-classical styles. Many of these buildings still exist in Berlin today. He concentrated new construction along the wide, boulevard Unter den Linden, which leads from the Brandenburg Gate to Museums Island.
Today, the most obvious mark Frederick left of himself is a large statue standing high over Unter den Linden. Frederick commissioned the statue from Christian Daniel Rauch. It depicts Frederick powerfully riding his steed toward the palace.
In 1772 Frederick the Great organized the first partition of Poland, along with Catherine the Great of Russia and Maria Theresa of Austria. Prussia received a Catholic area known as Silesia.
To welcome newly arriving immigrants from Silesia, Frederick built St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in 1773. It was named after Silesia’s patron saint, Hedwig of Andechs. Berlin was a Protestant city, so the construction of a Catholic church and its location along Unter den Linden demonstrates the religious tolerance of Frederick the Great and Berlin citizens.
Frederick also commissioned the Opera House that stands today at Bebelplatz. Completed in 1742, it was the first opera house to be a physically separate structure from a palace. This was also culturally significant because it encouraged non-elites to attend opera performances.
The opera house opened with Graun’s Cleopatra e Cesare on December 7, 1742.
The Opera House was destroyed twice in World War II because Hitler had insisted on rebuilding it after the British first heavily bombed it in 1941. Four years later in 1945, the opera house was bombed again, this time by the Americans. It remained destroyed until 1951 when rebuilding commenced
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