Its parish comprised the northern part of the then new quarter of Friedrichstadt, which until then belonged to the parish of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church. The Lutheran and Calvinist congregants used German as their native language, as opposed to the French-speaking Calvinist congregation owning the French Church of Friedrichstadt on the opposite side of Gendarmenmarkt. The congregants'
native language combined with the domed tower earned the church its colloquial naming Deutscher Dom. The church is not a cathedral in the actual sense of the word.Church and congregationsIn 1701-1708 Giovanni Simonetti built the first church after a design of Martin Grünberg. It was the third church in Friedrichstadt, established in 1688, which was a town of princely domination, while the neighbouring old Berlin and Cölln were cities of town privileges. The Prince-Elector originally only provided for a Calvinist congregation, since they - the Hohenzollerns - themselves were Calvinists. Therefore, in 1708 the New Church became a Calvinist and Lutheran Simultaneum.
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