Französischer Dom

The Französischer Dom on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt is home to the Huguenot Museum, a place that traces how French Protestants shaped the city after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Invited by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, many Huguenots settled in Berlin, bringing skills and trades that were valuable to the kingdom. The museum has been located inside the cathedral since 1929. (Note: it was closed until 2019.)

Stories of arrival and status

A striking scene appears in room nine of the museum: an artwork shows Crown Princess Dorothea reacting with surprise—“But he’s a refugee!”—as Pierre Fromery presents a set of exquisite jewels. The moment challenges a common belief of the time that refugees arrived with nothing. Many Huguenots came with craft, capital, and networks, and their presence quickly influenced Berlin’s economy and culture.

Language shaped by newcomers

The large French community left a mark on the local dialect, Berlinerisch. Everyday expressions absorbed French roots, sometimes in playful or unexpected ways. Kinkerlitzchen is traced to the French quincaillerie, meaning hardware or small wares. Muckefuck is often linked to mocca faux, or artificial coffee, though linguists do not universally agree on this origin. These words, and others like them, speak to centuries of contact between languages.

A church modeled on memory

The Französischer Dom itself was designed to echo the Huguenots’ main church in Charenton, near Paris, which was destroyed in 1688. Its architecture stands as a reminder of loss and continuity: a familiar silhouette rebuilt in a new city, where the community formed institutions, worshiped, and preserved its history in the museum that the cathedral now contains.