The Konzerthaus belongs to the trifecta of glorious Berlin architecture plugged in the Gendarmenmarkt, along with the Deutscher Dom and Französischer Dom. A prime example of German Neoclassical design, the four-hall concert house was erected by Karl Friedrich Schinkel between 1818 and 1821 as the “Schauspielhaus.”

Twice preceded by a previous incarnation—the “Französische Komödienhaus” in 1776 and as a theater designed by Karl Gotthard Langhans, later ravaged by fire in 1817—the building has witnessed over two centuries worth of German performing arts. The starry roster of Berlin premieres include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in 1826, Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s “Faust I” in 1838 and, less glamorously, Gerhart Hauptmann’s play “Iphigenie in Delphi” in 1941, at the height of the Nazi takeover.

With over 100 concerts every year, the Konzerthaus is the official home of the eponymous orchestra in Berlin and to thousands of gawking tourists drawn to its grandiloquent design.