Berlin

I

Introduction

Berlin, city in north-east Germany, capital of a united Germany from 1871 to 1945 and again since 1990. It lies on the flatlands of the North German Plain at the confluence of several rivers and among many lakes. Its name probably comes from a word for island; its slight elevation made it a site for human settlement even in prehistoric times. The city has an area of approximately 889 sq km (343 sq mi).

After World War II Berlin, badly damaged during the war, was surrounded by the German Democratic Republic (GDR; also known as East Germany), and was partitioned into East Berlin and West Berlin. The divided city not only symbolized the collapse of the German Empire, of which it was the capital, but also became a focus of Cold War tensions between the Communist nations led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the group of Western nations led by the United States. The Berlin Wall, a wall separating East and West Berlin and built by the East Germans in 1961, blocked free access in both directions until November 1989; some 100 people died attempting to cross from East to West Berlin. By the time Germany was unified in October 1990, much of the wall had been torn down. A few small segments remain as memorials. Population 3,387,800 (2005 estimate).

II

Economy

Following the division of the city of Berlin in 1949, the economies of the two halves of the city were integrated into the economies of the two newly separated republics of Germany.

The economy of East Berlin was totally integrated with that of East Germany and also benefited from a steady stream of visitors from West Berlin and West Germany. East Berlin was the hub of East Germany's commercial, financial, and transport systems, and, although it comprised less than one-half of the old unified city, it was also a huge manufacturing centre. Among its main products were steel and rubber goods, electrical and transport equipment, chemicals, and processed food. The Spree River, which is connected by waterways with the Baltic Sea, widened in East Berlin to form a major inland harbour. An airport at Schönefeld, just south of the city, served both East and West Berlin.

Much of West Berlin's industrial capacity was destroyed in World War II, and its economy suffered again in 1948 and 1949, when the USSR blockaded the area in an attempt to drive out the Western powers. Beginning in the 1950s, however, West Berlin's economy was revitalized with much assistance from West Germany and from the United States, which provided support under the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). The city soon became an important manufacturing centre, producing electrical and electronic equipment and substantial quantities of machinery, metal, textiles, clothing, chemicals, printed materials, and processed food. West Berlin also developed as a centre for international finance, for research and science, and for the important West German film industry. It was linked to West Germany by motorways, canal systems, a railway, and airlines, which used Tegel, Tempelhof, and Gatow airports in West Berlin and Schönefeld airport in nearby East Germany.

With the destruction of the Berlin Wall the two halves of the city were once again physically integrated. Their economic integration became official in July 1990. East Berlin underwent the greatest economic changes with many formerly state-owned businesses succumbing to privatization.

While reunification (Die Wende, or “the change”) allowed many families and friends long separated by the Berlin Wall to reunite, it also brought numerous economic and social problems. Berlin now has to cope with housing shortages, strikes and demonstrations, unemployment, and increases in crime and right-wing violence against foreigners. Unification costs in Germany have led to increased taxes, reduced government subsidies, and cuts in social services. Many East Germans feel patronized and overwhelmed by the West. Complaining of second class treatment, they believe that reunification has failed to deliver the promised “good life”. Many West Germans believe they are sacrificing their standard of living to support East Germans.

III

Places of Interest

The imposing Brandenburg Gate (1788-1791), inspired by the Propylaea of the Parthenon in Athens, is located at the western end of Unter den Linden, a famous boulevard in Berlin that extends east to Museum Island, in the Spree River; the Brandenburg Gate was closed to free access until December 1989. On or near the boulevard are the classical-style State Opera House (1743); the State Library (1774-1780); the Baroque Arsenal building (1695-1706; designed by Andreas Schlüter), now housing a historical museum; St Hedwig's Cathedral (1747-1773); the Gothic Church of St Nicholas (late 14th-early 15th century); the French Cathedral of the Platz der Akademie area, the heart of the French quarter in the 17th century; and the Wilhelm von Humboldt University (1809; formerly known as Friedrich-Wilhelm University), whose faculty has included 27 Nobel Prize winners and the philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Well-known streets crossing Unter den Linden are the Friedrichstrasse and the Wilhelmstrasse, on which once stood the Reich Chancery of Adolf Hitler.

Berlin's most famous boulevard is the Kurfürstendamm, which is lined with fashionable hotels, restaurants, shops, and cinemas. At the boulevard's eastern end is a ruined tower, all that remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (1891-1895; destroyed during World War II), preserved as a memorial to the futility of war. Adjacent to the ruins are a polygonal church and its separate campanile (1959-1961). Branching from the Kurfürstendamm is the Tauentzienstrasse, a major shopping street and the site of the Europa Centre (1963-1965): a 22-storey complex of restaurants, shops, offices, cinemas, a planetarium, and an ice rink. To the north-east is the Tiergarten park, the largest of Berlin's nearly 50 parks, which extends about 3 km (2 mi) to the Brandenburg Gate. In the Tiergarten are the large, modern Congress Hall (1957); the Reichstag building (1884-1894), once the seat of the German parliament, which was burnt down in 1933 and again damaged at the end of World War II, but which has since been largely restored; the Berlin Zoological Garden, the largest and one of the oldest in the world; and an aquarium. Near the Tiergarten is the Kulturform complex, including the Museum of Applied Arts; the Bauhaus Archives and Museum, commemorating the Bauhaus school of architecture and design (1919-1933); the Musical Instrument Museum; the National Library; the New National Gallery (1968), designed by Mies van der Rohe, housing a collection of 20th-century art; and the striking Philharmonie Concert Hall (1963), an asymmetrical structure that serves as the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

South-east of the Tiergarten is Oranienburgerstrasse and environs, the heart of pre-war Berlin's Jewish district. Revitalization of the area has included restoration of the New Synagogue (1866), which was badly damaged on Kristallnacht and by bombing. Reopened in 1995, the synagogue is a centre for the study and preservation of Jewish culture. The area is also known for its art galleries, cafés, bars, and artists' studios. Berlin's oldest Jewish cemetery is nearby.

Museum Island (Museumsinsel), in eastern Berlin, is the site of five important museum buildings. The Pergamon Museum (1930) contains a fine collection of Graeco-Roman and Asian art. The Bode Museum (1898-1904), closed for renovation until 2005, displays ancient Egyptian and Byzantine art. The Old Museum (1830) shows antiquarian ancient art and manuscripts. The New Museum (1843–1859) was completely destroyed by air raids during World War II; it is currently being restored, with reopening scheduled for 2007. The Old National Gallery (1866-1876) houses 19th-century German painting and sculpture; rebuilt in 1950 and closed for restoration in 1997, it reopened to visitors in December 2001. Museum Island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

On the east bank of the Spree is Alexanderplatz, a large square with restaurants and stores; nearby are the Television Tower (365 m/1,197 ft) and the Red Town Hall. A statue facing the eastern entrance to the town hall commemorates the Trummerfrauen (Rubble Women), thousands of women of all ages who cleared up vast quantities of debris left in Berlin after World War II.

Forests and farmland cover nearly one-third of Berlin. In the south-western part of the city is the vast Grünewald forest which contains much woodland, and the large Wannsee lake formed by the Havel River, as well as a Renaissance-style hunting lodge (principally mid-16th century, with 18th-century additions), the large stadium built for the 1936 Olympic Games, and a broadcasting tower (1924-1926) measuring 138 m (453 ft) high. Other points of interest include Charlottenburg Palace (begun 1695), which houses the Museum of Decorative Arts, and the Neo-Classical Schloss Humboldt, home of the early 19th-century naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

In the Dahlem district of western Berlin, near the Grünewald, are a group of famous institutions, which include the Painting Gallery, with displays of European art from the 13th to the 16th century; the Ethnological Museum; the Sculpture Gallery; museums of Indian, Islamic, and East Asian art; and the German Folklore Museum. North of Dahlem is the Bridge Museum, displaying 20th-century German Expressionist art by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and others. Other museums in the city are a museum of Greek and Roman antiquities; the Bröhan Museum, with Art Deco and Jugendstil collections displayed in period settings; and the Egyptian Museum, which contains the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti.

The Jewish Museum in Kreuzberg, founded to provide an insight into the life and history of Jewish people in Germany and, in particular, their suffering under the Nazis, opened to the public in September 2001. The building’s starkly distinctive concrete and zinc architecture in the shape of a broken star of David was designed by Daniel Libeskind.

Besides the Humboldt University, institutions of higher education include the Bruno Leuschner College of Economics (1950); the Hans Eisler College of Music (1950); the Free University of Berlin (1948), founded mainly by professors and students dissatisfied with conditions at the Humboldt University in East Berlin; and the Technical University of Berlin (1879). Additional cultural facilities include museums of Berlin and German history, the Comic Opera, and the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, home of the Berliner Ensemble, noted for productions of plays by its founder Bertolt Brecht. Also located in Berlin are the German Film and Television Academy (1966) and the College of Arts (1975). Additional performing-arts facilities include the German Opera and the Hebbel Theater. The city is the site of an annual film festival and numerous other festivals. Berlin hosts the annual Grüne Woche, Germany's largest agricultural fair.

In Berlin's northern suburb of Sachsenhausen is the site of one of the first concentration camps in Germany, built in 1936; the site is now a memorial. After the war Soviet police used the camp to house war criminals, former Nazis and military officers, and opponents of the occupying regime. The camp was closed in March 1950. In 1992 arsonists set fire to the camp museum during a wave of attacks against foreign asylum-seekers.

Berlin has an efficient integrated transport system, with an underground railway, elevated train lines, buses, and trams.

IV

History

Archaeologists have found traces of hunter-gatherer activity in the area dating from around 8000 bc. In the early part of the first century, Germanic tribes settled the region. By ad 500 they had moved south and west, leaving the area to the Wends. Frankish king Charlemagne conquered the lands in the 8th century, but by the 10th century Wendish tribes regained control.

In 1147 the Wends were vanquished by Conrad III, Duke Henry the Lion, and Count Albert the Bear; the latter became Margrave of Brandenburg. Germans reinforced the Wendish forts, and around 1230 founded western Berlin and Kölln, its twin settlement on an island in the Spree River (now Museum Island). The two towns prospered commercially and in 1359 joined the Hanseatic League. In 1415 Berlin-Köln, as part of the electorate of Brandenburg, came under the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Both towns were then forced to withdraw from the league and were jointly made the capital of Brandenburg. They were formally merged into one town in 1709.

Under the Hohenzollerns, important leather, textile, and paper industries were developed in Berlin, and the city also became known for its potteries and breweries. From 1576, however, repeated outbreaks of plague reduced its population by many thousands. In 1600 Berlin had about 12,000 inhabitants.

During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) Berlin at first benefited from Brandenburg's neutrality, but after 1631 it had to provide quarters for several Swedish armies, which also exacted heavy contributions. Starvation, new outbreaks of plague, and arson and robberies further impoverished the town and depopulated it by half.