Berlin (city)

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Industrial city, administrative region (German Land) and capital of Germany, lying on the River Spree; population (2003 est) 3,274,500, urban agglomeration 3,933,300. Products include machine tools, electronics, textiles and garments, engineering goods (including cars), electrical goods, paper, food and drink, and printed works. After the division of Germany in 1949, East Berlin became the capital of East Germany and Bonn was made the provisional capital of West Germany. The Berlin Wall divided the city from 1961 until it was opened in November 1989. Following the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, East and West Berlin were once more reunited as the 16th Land (administrative region) of the Federal Republic, and Berlin became once again the national capital.

Features
Unter den Linden, the tree-lined avenue that was once the whole city's focal point, has been restored in what was formerly East Berlin. The fashionable Kurfürstendamm and the residential Hansa quarter (1957) form part of the former West Berlin. Prominent landmarks include Schloss Charlottenburg (1695–99; the home of several museums); the Brandenburg Gate (1791); the gutted tower of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (1891–95), left unrestored as a reminder of war; the Reichstag or parliament building (built 1884–94), which was burnt down in 1933 and was further damaged at the end of World War II, was rebuilt under the direction of English architect Norman Foster and reopened in April 1999; Congress Hall (1957; ‘the pregnant oyster’); the restored 18th-century State Opera; Schloss Bellevue (Berlin residence of the president); and the National Gallery (1968), designed by Mies van der Rohe. It is also the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (established in 1867).

Potsdamer Platz, which was the centre of the city in the 1920s and 1930s, came under commercial and residential renewal in the 1990s, when it became the largest construction site in Europe. Friedrichstrasse, the Alexanderplatz, and No Man's Land are being redeveloped. The Tiergarten (250 ha/618 acres) park includes a zoo. The environs of Berlin include the Grünewald forest and the Wannsee and Havel lakes. In the Grünewald is the Trümmerberg, a hill 130 m/427 ft high, formed out of 18 million cu m/70 million cu ft of war debris and now used as an artificial ski slope.

The city contains several research institutes including the Hahn-Meitner Institute for Nuclear Research, the Max Planck Institute, and the Research Institute for Marine Engineering and Shipbuilding. Berlin, with three universities and other institutions, is also a major centre of higher education.

History
First mentioned in about 1230, the city grew out of two Wendish villages, Berlin and Kölln, which were chartered later in the 13th century and merged in 1307. The town joined the Hanseatic League in 1359, and became the seat of the electors of Brandenburg (after 1701, the kings of Prussia) in 1486. Berlin's growth and importance was closely tied to the rise of the Hohenzollern family, and it became their capital in the 16th century. From the middle of the 18th century Berlin developed into a commercial and cultural centre. After the Napoleonic Wars, Friedrich Wilhelm III was responsible for the squares, avenues, and neoclassical buildings, many designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, including the Altes Museum and the Schauspielhaus.

19th–20th centuries
During the 19th century, Berlin emerged as a centre of national feeling and increasingly a serious rival of Vienna. Following the construction of railway links and of a canal system that linked the city to the Oder, Elbe, and Rhine rivers and to the North Sea, the importance of Berlin as an industrial and commercial centre was greatly increased. In 1866 it became the seat of the North German Confederation, and was made the capital of the German Empire in 1871; it prospered and expanded rapidly, becoming one of the great cities of the world. The German military defeat of 1918 brought on a period of social and political unrest; the city suffered severe economic crises during the 1920s, but continued to flourish as a cultural centre. It remained the second-largest European city, and a notable economic, political, commercial, and educational centre throughout the Nazi period.

In World War II air raids and conquest by the Soviet army (23 April–2 May 1945) destroyed much of the city. After the war, Berlin was divided into four sectors – British, US, French, and Soviet – and until 1948 was under quadripartite government by the Allies. Following the Berlin blockade the city was divided, with the USSR maintaining a separate municipal government in its sector. The other three sectors (West Berlin) were made a Land of the Federal Republic in May 1949 and Bonn became the provisional capital; in October 1949 East Berlin was proclaimed capital of East Germany. On 13 August 1961 the Soviet zone was sealed off by the Russians, and the Berlin Wall was built along the zonal boundary. Access to East Berlin was severely restricted, although restrictions were lifted occasionally, and a pass system was introduced in 1964. The division of the city into sectors resulted in severe tension between the USSR and the Western powers.

In June 1991 the Bundestag (the lower chamber of government) voted to restore Berlin as the capital of a unified Germany (by 337 votes to 320 votes). The move of the Bundestag offices went ahead despite a campaign by some politicians to delay it until 2010 or stop it altogether. The Bundesrat (upper house or federal council) voted in 1991 to retain its seat in Bonn along with eight of 18 ministries.

Black and red recall the tunics worn by soldiers during the Napoleonic wars. Gold was added to create a flag similar to the French tricolour, a symbol of revolution. Effective date: 23 May 1949. >>