A History of Berlin

The Rise of the Hohenzollern

The area currently occupied by Berlin has been settled since the Stone Age, but its 'modern' history began in the 13th century with the founding of the trading posts of Berlin and Cölln by itinerant merchants. In the 1440s, Elector Friedrich II of Brandenburg established the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Berlin's importance increased in 1470, when the elector moved his residence there from Brandenburg and built a palace near the present Marx-Engels-Platz. During the Thirty Years' War Berlin's population was decimated, but in the mid-17th century the city was reborn stronger than before under the so-called Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm. His vision was the basis of Prussian power, and he sponsored Jewish and Huguenot refugees seeking asylum and benevolent rule.

The Great Elector's son, Friedrich I, the first Prussian king, made the fast-growing Berlin his capital, and his daughter-in-law Sophie Charlotte encouraged the development of the arts and sciences and presided over a lively and intellectual court. Friedrich II sought greatness through building and was known for his political and military savvy. In the late 18th century, the Enlightenment arrived with some authority in the form of the playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and thinker and publisher Friedrich Nicolai; both helped make Berlin a truly international city. The 19the Century began with the French occupation of 1806-13. In 1848 a democratic revolution was suppressed, somewhat stifling the political development that had been set in motion by the Enlightenment. The population doubled between 1850 and 1870 as the Industrial Revolution, spurred on by companies such as Siemens and Borsig, took hold. In 1871 Bismarck, the Prussian Prime Minister, united Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm I. The population of Berlin was almost two million by 1900.