Which German architect designed the Neue Wache in Berlin?

The German architect who designed the Neue Wache in Berlin was Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

Schinkel designed the building as a royal guardhouse and memorial connected with Prussia’s wars of liberation against Napoleon. Construction took place from 1816 to 1818 on Unter den Linden, between the Zeughaus and the building now associated with Humboldt University. The Neue Wache is regarded as a major work of German Neoclassical, or Greek Revival, architecture.

Its compact, fortress-like plan was inspired partly by the Roman castrum. The exterior combines massive corner projections with a deep Doric portico whose columns have no bases, creating a severe and monumental appearance. A pediment sculpture by Johann Gottfried Schadow completed the original architectural ensemble.

The building’s meaning changed repeatedly. It served as a royal guardhouse until the end of World War I, became a war memorial in 1931, and was altered again after World War II. Since 1993, its central memorial in Berlin has commemorated victims of war and tyranny. A related historical complication is that Salomo Sachs claimed earlier designs submitted in 1806 influenced the plans ultimately executed under Schinkel.