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.

World Wars and Revolution

World War I and its aftermath led to revolt throughout Germany. On 9 November 1918 Philipp Scheidemann, leader of the Social Democrats, proclaimed the German Republic from a balcony of the Reichstag (parliament) and hours later Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a free Socialist republic from a balcony of the City Palace. In January 1919 the Berlin Spartacists Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg were murdered by remnants of the old imperial army, which entered the city and brought the revolution to a bloody end.

The city was heavily bombed by the Allies in WWII and, during the 'Battle of Berlin' from August 1943 to March 1944, British bombers hammered the city every night. Most of the buildings you see today along Unter den Linden were reconstructed from the ruins. The Soviets shelled Berlin from the east, and during the final assault on the city lost 18,000 of their own troops while causing widespread death and devastation.

Cold War and Reunification

In August 1945 the Potsdam Conference arranged for each of the victorious powers, the USA, Britain, France and the Soviet Union, to occupy a separate zone of the city. In June 1948 the city was split in two when the three western Allies introduced a western German currency and established a separate administration in their sectors. The Soviets then blockaded West Berlin, but a massive Allied airlift kept the area supplied and allowed it to resist invasion. In October 1949 East Berlin became the capital East Germany. The construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 stopped the drain of skilled labor to the West.

On November 9th 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and by July 1st 1990 the Wall was being hacked to pieces. The Unification Treaty between the two Germanys designated Berlin the official capital of Germany, and in June 1991 the Bundestag voted to move the seat of government from Bonn to Berlin over the next decade. A huge consortium of public and private organizations was charged with reconstructing the heart of a metropolis from scratch. As a result the 1990s saw a ballet of cranes revitalizing Potsdamer Platz, with a new urban district anchored by DaimlerCity and the Sony Center, completed in 1998 and 2000 respectively. In April 1999 the revamped Reichstag reopened and hosted the unified Germany's parliament, and Berlin was again officially the capital of Germany.

Brandenburger Tor

One of Berlin's most photographed locations, Brandenburger Tor or Brandenburg Gate, once marked the impenetrable boundary between East and West Berlin. Built in 1791, Brandenburger Tor has often been a center stage for Berlin's militant political rallies, including the memorable celebrations in November 1989, when the Berlin Wall was torn down. This imposing 18th-century structure has endured several symbolic reincarnations. Intended by its architect Carl Gotthard Langhans to be a symbol of peace, the gate was crowned by the Quadriga, a four-horse chariot driven by the winged goddess of victory, a couple of years later, turning it into a monument to Prussian militarism. It was incorporated into the Berlin Wall when it was raised in 1961. It was the backdrop of the celebrations in 1989 when the wall fell. Now traffic flows freely through the gate, now a symbol of the city’s reunification.

Checkpoint Charlie Museum

The Checkpoint Charlie Museum is all that remains of the famed tower that symbolized East-West tension during the Cold War. The tower itself was unceremoniously moved away a few months after the border reopened. In 2001, a replica guardhouse was returned to the site. The original is in the Allierten Museum in Zehlendorf. The museum is interesting with its display of ingenious devices employed in escape attempts from the former East Germany. A cinema shows films on the Third Reich and the Cold War era, and the museum also details the history of the Berlin Wall. It doesn't make it any easier to comprehend that this nondescript urban landscape was one of the critical pressure points in the global stand-off between East and West, and the scene of 80 deaths.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche

The original Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was bombed into rubble during World War II. The ruins of the old church have been integrated into the new one, built during the 1950s. The reconstructed church is dominated by blue stained glass and features some beautiful work by Chagall. There is a small museum depicting the history of the church, its destruction, and rebirth.

Kulturforum

This cluster of museums and concert halls west of Potsdamer Platz is a concentration of culture that anyone could ask for. Start with the Berliner Philharmonie, a concert hall with otherworldly acoustics, before walking over to the Kammer musikaal or Chamber Music Hall and the neo-Romanesque confection of Matthäuskirche. The must-see of the complex is the Gemäldegalerie or Picture Gallery, which boasts a wealth of European painting from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Seven rooms are reserved for paintings by German masters, among them Dürer, Cranach the Elder, and Holbein. A special collection has works of the Italian masters -- Botticelli, Titian, Giotto, Lippi, and Raphael, as well as paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters of the 15th and 16th centuries: Van Eyck, Bosch, Brueghel the Elder, and van der Weyden. The museum also holds the world's second-largest Rembrandt collection. Other highlights of the Kulturforum include the Kupfer Stichkobinett or Museum of Prints & Drawings and the Escher-like Kunstgewerbemuseum or Museum of Applied Arts.

Potsdam

On the Havel River just beyond the southwestern tip of Greater Berlin, Potsdam was the address of German nobility from the 17th century onward. They all left behind palaces as testament to their egos. Schloss Sanssouci or “No Worries Castle” was commissioned by Friedrich the Great in the mid-18th century and emulates the French grandeur and stateliness. Also here is Wilhelm II's mock-Tudor mansion, which was used by the Allies in July 1945 at the famous Potsdam Conference to determine the fate of a defeated Germany.

Stasi Headquarters

The old headquarters of the East German Secret Police, the notorious Stasi, is in the graceless suburbs of East Berlin. Through a huge network of full-time staff, aided by part-time informers numbering in the millions, the Stasi infiltrated East Germany with neurotic overkill, creating and fuelling an atmosphere of fear and mistrust to the extent that family dinner table conversations were curtailed. The headquarters of this once feared organization is now a museum, filled with artifacts of their work, including letter opening machines, spy cameras, and wire tapping devices.

Visiting Berlin

There are few direct flights to Berlin, but easy connections can be made from other European cities such as Amsterdam or London. Berlin is also readily accessible by rail, bus, or by car along the famous autobanns. The city itself is very pedestrian and cyclist friendly. There is a bus system, albeit slow, and a rail system that currently services mainly the eastern part of the city.