Berlin

I

Introduction

Berlin, capital and largest city of the Federal Republic of Germany. Administratively, Berlin also constitutes one of Germany’s 16 states. Berlin became the capital of Germany in 1871, when the numerous independent kingdoms and principalities of Germany united to form a single nation-state (see German Unification (1871)). The city quickly developed into one of Europe’s major industrial and cultural centers and became the single most important city in Germany.

From 1945 until 1990 Berlin was a divided city. Following the defeat of the Nazi regime (see National Socialism) in World War II (1939-1945), the victorious Allied Powers—the United States, Britain, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—divided Germany into four zones, each occupied by one of the Allied Powers. They also divided Berlin, which was in the Soviet sector, into similar zones. The Soviet-controlled sector of the city became known as East Berlin, and the Western-occupied sector became known as West Berlin. In 1949 East Berlin became the capital of the German Democratic Republic (known as East Germany), one of two successor states established in Germany after the war. That same year the capital of West Germany, the other successor state, was established in the city of Bonn. West Berlin remained an urban island surrounded by Communist East Germany. The city became a focus of Cold War tensions between Communist countries led by the USSR and anti-Communist states led by the United States.

In 1990, following the collapse of Communism in the USSR and East Germany, Germany was reunified, and a united Berlin was declared its capital. The government gradually began moving its offices from Bonn to Berlin, a process that was largely completed by early 2000.

Berlin is located in the northern European lowlands on a broad, sandy plain that surrounds the Spree River. The city’s highest hill, which rises 120 m (394 ft) above sea level, consists of rubble collected after World War II. Berlin lies so far north that it gets dark by mid-afternoon in December but stays light until almost 10 pm in June. High temperatures average 23ºC (74ºF) in July and 2ºC (35ºF) in January. Precipitation averages 590 mm (23 in) a year.

---

---

II

Berlin and Its Metropolitan Area

Modern Berlin covers 883 sq km (341 sq mi). In 1920 the old city merged with 8 towns, nearly 60 villages, and a number of surrounding farms and estates to form the current city boundaries. Berlin’s city limits encompass the entire metropolitan area and include large areas of undeveloped land. Forests and farmlands cover nearly one-third of the city. From reunification until 2001, the city was divided into 23 boroughs. In an effort to make urban government more efficient, an administrative reform that took effect in 2001 reduced the number of boroughs to 12.

At the heart of Berlin lies the medieval core of the city, located along the western bank of the Spree River. To the west of the medieval city is a formal grid of streets laid out on either side of Unter den Linden, a wide central avenue stretching from east to west and flanked with double rows of linden trees. Before the postwar division of Berlin, this area, called the Mitte (city center), served as the administrative and financial center of Berlin and contained the main banks, publishing houses, large stores, the university, and government buildings. Well-known streets crossing Unter den Linden are Friedrichstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse. The former royal park known as the Tiergarten occupies the land to the west of the Mitte district.

Gradually the city’s residential and industrial areas grew around the city center. In the mid-19th century a dense mass of tenements was erected to the north, east, and south of the central Mitte district. Known as Mietskasernen (rent barracks), these buildings were home to members of the working class who labored in nearby industrial plants. In contrast, aristocrats and members of the middle class lived in the peripheral communities of that time (Dahlem, Grunewald, Köpenick).

Prior to World War II, Berlin contained many imposing buildings, many of them built after 1871, when Berlin became the German national capital. Much of old Berlin was devastated during World War II by Allied bombing raids and by fierce house-to-house fighting that occurred when Soviet troops captured the city in 1945 at the end of the war. Wartime destruction left the historic core of the city standing amidst 26 sq km (10 sq mi) of rubble.

The victorious Allies faced a daunting task in 1945. Berlin had lost almost three-quarters of its 1.5 million residential units. During the first two months of occupation, when the USSR held full sway over all of Berlin, the Soviet Army also dismantled and removed 67 percent of Berlin’s industrial capacity.

After the war, the boundary between East and West Berlin was drawn through the heart of the city. In 1961 the East German government encircled West Berlin with a fortified wall that traced the boundary. This wall was known as the Berlin Wall. In the postwar redevelopment period, both East and West Berlin turned their backs on the wall and the area on either side of it, which remained a partially abandoned zone.

A

East Berlin

For several years after 1945, East Germany paid war reparations to the USSR, thereby slowing its economic redevelopment considerably. When funds became available, East German leaders opted to focus on building housing for workers. Postwar housing construction in East Berlin often took the form of prefabricated high-rise apartment blocks that surrounded a central area containing schools, playgrounds, and shops. The largest of these, such as Marzahn on the eastern fringe of the city, housed about 100,000 people.

Before reunification in 1990, the East German government restored some of the historic buildings on Unter den Linden, including the classical State Opera House and Saint Hedwig’s Cathedral, both built in the mid-1700s. The East German government also restored the neoclassical Brandenburg Gate, an 18th-century city gateway at the western end of Unter den Linden that has become an international symbol of the city.

B

West Berlin

As Berlin became a focus of the Cold War during the 1940s, West Berlin’s Allied protectors strove to keep the city alive. West Germany gave tax breaks to West German firms that established or maintained businesses in West Berlin or bought goods produced there, and the Western allies provided massive economic assistance. During the Cold War years, West Berlin rebuilt its infrastructure and residential areas, expanded its subway system, and constructed a major international airport.

The rebuilding of West Berlin was particularly dramatic in the 1960s, when the West German government and its allies made an effort to make the city a showcase for the benefits of capitalism. A new central business district was developed southwest of Tiergarten along the Kurfüstendamm and other nearby streets. Department stores, sidewalk cafes, throngs of people, and office towers brilliantly lit at night by neon signs made this district the equal of any other modern city center in the Western world.