What is the origin of the name of the Gendarmenplatz in Berlin?

Hello.

"Gendarmenplatz   
... one of Berlins most beautiful places. The name comes from
'gendarmerie', which is sort of a militarized police. It was the
Hugenots that, expelled from France, setled in Berlin with the
kaiser's blessing. Some of them became one of his most trusted
soldiers. Hence the name."
source:
Virtualtourist.com
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/c394/

"... the noun "Platz" means "place" or "square" (in the sense of "plaza"),"
source:
Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jebenhausen/message/394

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search strategy:
Gendarmenplatz
"platz means"

I hope this helps.

Some minor corrections from a native German:

1. The correct name of the square is "Gendarmenmarkt" (Markt = Market Square).

2. The place is named for the barracks of the cuirassier (=heavy
calvalry)regiment "Gens d'armes" (French, "men-at-arms"). Prussian
king Frederick William I had the barracks constructed at the square in
1736.

3. In 1773, under King Frederick II ("the Great") the regiment was
relocated to new barracks, the military buildings around the square
were demolished to make room for a huge-scale re-design of the place.

Regards,
Scriptor

Scriptor,

When was the name of the square changed to Gendarmenmarkt?  When I
visited Berlin regularly during my exchange in Germany, it was always
Gendarmenplatz (and so say all of the postcards and books I purchased
then).  This was admittedly nearly 20 years ago, and things do change,
so I'm curious.

--Missy

Dear Missy,

The confusion about the square's name certainly results from the fact
that in former East Germany, the name had been changed to "Platz der
Akademie" (Academy Square).  This may have led to some
misunderstandings. However, this seems to be quite a common mistake.
Searching for "Gendarmenplatz" on Google leads to 77 results - all
actually referring to the Gendarmenmarkt.

In 1991, it got back its traditional name again, but it never was
officially called "Gendarmenplatz". There is, by the way, no
Gendarmenplatz anywhere in Berlin.

Viele Grüße,
Scriptor

According to
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/c394/

(as mentioned in the answer by juggler-ga) "It was the Hugenots that,
expelled from france, setled in Berlin with the kaisers blessing".

However, it wasn't a kaiser or a king, but the Elector of Brandenburg
whose policy (Edict of Potsdam, 1685) persuaded the Huguenots to
settle in Brandenburg (i.e. Prussia since 1701)
http://www.hugenotten-uckermark.de/Hughis2e.htm