History of Berlin
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The Brandenburg Gate depicted by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1912
Part of a series on the
History of Berlin
Margraviate of Brandenburg (1157–1806)
Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918)
German Empire (1871–1918)
Free State of Prussia (1918–1947)
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
● 1920s Berlin
○ Assassination of Talat Pasha
● Greater Berlin Act
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
● Welthauptstadt Germania
● Deportation of Jews from Berlin
● Bombing of Berlin in World War II
● Battle of Berlin
West Germany and East Germany (1945–
1990)
● West Berlin and East Berlin
● Berlin Wall
● Berlin Blockade (1948–1949)
● Berlin Crisis of 1961
● "Ich bin ein Berliner" (1963)
● "Tear Down This Wall" (1987)
● Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)
Federal Republic of Germany (1990–present)
● History of Germany and History of
Europe
See also
● Timeline of Berlin
● v
● t
● e
The history of Berlin starts with its foundation in the 13th century. It became the capital of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1417, and later of Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Kingdom of
Prussia. Prussia grew about rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and formed the basis of the
German Empire in 1871, which survived until 1918, after the empire's defeat in World War I.
After 1900 Berlin became a major world city, known for its leadership roles in science, the
humanities, music, museums, higher education, government, diplomacy and military affairs. It
also had a role in manufacturing and finance.
During World War II, bombing, artillery, and ferocious street-by-street fighting destroyed large
parts of Berlin. Troops would also hide in buildings. Berlin was divided among the four major
Allied powers. For over four decades, it encapsulated the Cold War confrontation between West
and East. With the reunification of Germany in 1990, Berlin was restored as a capital and as a
major world city.
Contents
● 1
● Etymology
●
● 2
● Prehistory
●
● 3
● Emerging city (1100 – 1400)
●
● 4
● Margraviate of Brandenburg (1400 – 1700)
●
● 5
● Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1871)
○ 5.1
○ Prussian capital
○
○ 5.2
○ Economic growth
○
○ 5.3
○ Religion
○
○ 5.4
○ Berlin Romanticism
○
● 6
● German Empire (1871–1918)
○ 6.1
○ Imperial capital
○
○ 6.2
○ Labour unions
○
○ 6.3
○ First World War
○
● 7
● Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
●
● 8
● Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
○ 8.1
○ Nazi plans
○
○ 8.2
○ Second World War
○
● 9
● West and East Germany (1945–1990)
○ 9.1
○ Blockade and airlift
○
○ 9.2
○ The June 17 Uprising
○
○ 9.3
○ Berlin Wall
○
○ 9.4
○ Student movement
○
○ 9.5
○ 750th anniversary
○
● 10
● Federal Republic of Germany (1990–today)
○ 10.1
○ Reunification
○
○ 10.2
○ Capital
○
○ 10.3
○ Land Berlin in reunified Germany
○
● 11
● Historical population
●
● 12
● See also
●
● 13
● References
●
● 14
● Bibliography
●
● 15
● External links
●
Etymology[edit]
Statue of Albert the Bear (c.1100-1170)
The origin of the name Berlin is uncertain. It may have roots in the language of West Slavic
inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-
[1] [citation needed]
("swamp"). Folk etymology connects the name to the German word for bear, Bär.
[2][self-published source]
A bear also appears in the coat of arms of the city.
Prehistory[edit]
The oldest human traces, mainly arrowheads, in the area of later Berlin are dating to the 9th
millennium BC. During Neolithic times a large number of villages existed in the area. During the
Bronze Age it belonged to the Lusatian culture. For the time around 500 BC the presence of
Germanic tribes can be evidenced for the first time in form of a number of villages in the higher
situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD, the Burgundians
followed. A large part of the Germanic tribes left the region around 500 AD.
In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane, reached the region. Today
their traces can mainly be found at plateaus or next to waters. Their main settlements were
[3]
today's Spandau and Köpenick. No Slavic traces could be found in the city center of Berlin.
Emerging city (1100 – 1400)[edit]
In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of
Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. At the end of the 12th century German
merchants founded the first settlements in today's city center, called Berlin around modern
Nikolaiviertel and Cölln, on the island in the Spree now known as the Spreeinsel or Museum
Island. It is not clear which settlement is older and when they got German town rights. Berlin is
mentioned as a town for the first time in 1251 and Cölln in 1261.
The year 1237 was later taken as the year of founding. Afterwards the two settlements merged
[4]
into the town of Berlin-Cölln; they formally merged in 1432. Albert the Bear also bequeathed to
Berlin the emblem of the bear, which has appeared on its coat of arms ever since. By the year
1400 Berlin and Cölln had 8,000 inhabitants. A great town center fire in 1380 damaged most
written records of those early years, as did the great devastation of the Thirty Years War 1618–
[5]
1648.
Margraviate of Brandenburg (1400 – 1700)[edit]
Map of Berlin and Cölln (1652, East on top)
Berlin around 1688 (Drawing of 1835)
The Edict of Potsdam
In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until
1440. Subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors
of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and finally as German emperors. When Berlin became
the residence of the Hohenzollerns, it had to give up its Hanseatic League free city status. Its
main economical activity changed from trade to the production of luxurious goods for the court.
● 1443 to 1451: The first Berliner Stadtschloss was built on the embankment of the
river Spree.
○ At that time Berlin-Cölln had about 8,000 inhabitants. Population figures
rose fast, leading to poverty.
● 1448: The inhabitants of Berlin rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the
construction of a new royal palace by Elector Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was
not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic
privileges.
● 1451: Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had
to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city.
● In 1510: 100 Jews were accused of stealing and desecrating hosts. 38 of them were
burned to death; others were banished, losing their possessions, only to be returned
by later margraves.
● 1530: The Tiergarten park began when Elector Joachim I donated the property for
use as a royal game preserve; it was opened to the public in the mid-17th century; it
ceased being a hunting park in 1740 when the job of redesigning it in the English
[6]
landscape style began.
● 1539: The electors and Berlin officially became Lutheran.
● 1540: Joachim II introduced the Protestant Reformation in Brandenburg and
secularized church possessions. He used the money to pay for his projects, like
building an avenue, the Kurfürstendamm, between his hunting castle Grunewald and
his palace, the Berliner Stadtschloss.
● 1576, Bubonic plague killed about 6,000 people in the city.
● Around 1600: Berlin-Cölln had 12,000 inhabitants.
● 1618 to 1648: The Thirty Years' War had devastating consequences for Berlin. A
third of the houses were damaged, and the city lost half of its population.
● 1640: Frederick William, known as the “Great Elector”, succeeded his father George
William as Elector of Brandenburg. Later he initiated a policy of promoting
immigration and religious toleration. Over the following decades, Berlin expanded
greatly in area and population with the founding of the new suburbs of
Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt. During his government Berlin reached 20,000
inhabitants and became significant among the cities in Central Europe for the first
time. He also developed a standing army
● 1647: The boulevard Unter den Linden with six rows of trees was laid down between
the Tiergarten park and the Palace.
● 1671: Fifty Jewish families from Austria were given a home in Berlin. With the Edict of
Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William invited the French Calvinist Huguenots to
Brandenburg. More than 15,000 Huguenots came, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin.
By 1687 they comprise 20% of the population, and many were bankers, industrialists
[7]
and investors.
● 1674 and after: The Dorotheenstadt was built in a bow of the river Spree, north-west
of the Spreeinsel (Spree Island), where the Palace was situated.
● 1688 and after: The Friedrichstadt was built and settled.
● Around 1700: Many refugees from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg had arrived.
