French (Französische) Cemetery and other Berlin, Germany Off The Beaten Path Tips

Some people might be surprised to learn that there's a French Cemetery in the heart of Berlin. These would be the same people surprised at the existence of a French Cathedral here, and at the fact that "French Street" is one of the major thoroughfares through the heart of old Berlin.

In the late 17th Century Berlin welcomed thousands of exiles from the harsh religious repression of Louis XIV of France. In fact, for a while, these Huguenots (French protestants) made up a fifth of Berlin's population.

It's fascinating to walk through the French cemetery and see all the French names on the tombstones. Many were important Berlin illuminaries. For example, Ludwig Devrient was a much loved actor in early 19th century Berlin. It was Devrient who was responsible for the naming of the region's favorite crisp wine, "sekt." One evening, as the Shakespearean actor dined at the fashionable "Lutter und Wegner" restaurant, he fell into a Shakespearean mode and demanded "sack" be brought to his table. (They brought him a riesling instead.) The misunderstanding and mispronunciation was widely imitated, and is still in use 190 years later.

And Lutter and Wegner are still serving "sekt" as well. Check out my review in the restaurant section.

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It's just a post-office!

But when it was built in the late 19th century, this terra-cotta palace was also used as stables for post-horses. Nice to see that they treated their animals so well!

At the intersection of Orienburgerstr. and Tucholskystr., just to the north of the Spree.

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This is probably quite attractive in the summertime, when the grass is green, the sky is blue, and the basin is full of water, which is how it was originally designed to be. Or maybe not.

Certainly in wintertime, Invalidenpark is quite bleak. Somewhat interesting, though, because it was designed by a prominent contemporary landscape designer, Christophe Girot.

This is the site of an 18th century "hospital" for wounded veterans, the "Invalidenhaus." It was this house which gave its name to "Invalidenstrasse," one of modern Berlin's major thoroughfares.

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