This article is about the city in Germany. For other articles subjects named Berlin, see Berlin (disambiguation).
Main article: History of Berlin
Berlin was founded around 1200 as two cities, Berlin and Cölln, which only united in 1307.
Berlin is therefore quite old; however, not much is left of these ancient communities. Instead, the impression one gets visiting Berlin today is one of great discontinuity, visibly reflecting mainly the many ruptures in Germany's difficult history in the 20th century.
After having been the residential of the Prussian kings, Berlin only became big in the 19th century, especially after becoming the capital of the 1871 German Empire.
It remained Germany's capital in the Weimar Republic and under the Nazis; it was therefore a primary target in the air raids of World War II.
After the city's separation in two, East Berlin was the capital of the GDR, while the FRG had its capital in Bonn.
An island of the western world in the territory of the east, Berlin was the natural focal point of the two blocks of the Cold War.
In 1961, the Berlin Wall was constructed.
After the German reunification in 1990, Berlin was made the capital of all of Germany again.
Even though Berlin does have a number of impressive buildings from earlier centuries, the city today is mainly stamped by the primal role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century.
On the one hand, each of the governments which had their respective seat in Berlin --namely the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the
GDR, and now the reunified Germany-- initiated ambitious construction programs, each with a distinctive taste (or, depending on one's standpoint, the lack of it).
On the other hand, Berlin was devastated in the bombardments during
World War II, and many of the old buildings that were left were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both the West and the East in overambitious architecture programs. Although not much is left of the actual
Wall, one can usually still tell from the architecture if one is in the former eastern or western part.
- Kurfürstendamm with the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church). The church was bombed out in World War II and its ruin has been preserved in the damaged state.
- Tiergarten (Berlin's biggest park), Tegel, and Grunewald Forests.
- Kreuzberg[?], Insulaner
- Rathaus Schöneberg[?] with Kennedy Platz
- Reichstag building, the old and new seat of the German parliament, renovated by Sir Norman Foster.
- Brandenburg Gate
- Straße des 17. Juni
- Unter den Linden[?]
- Scheunenviertel[?], formerly the slums of Berlin, but today the place of alternative culture, with countless clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes holds the New Synagogue in the Oranienburger Straße (originally built in the 1860s in Moorish style with a large golden dome, and reconstructed in 1993) and the Hackesche Höfe[?], a conglomeration of several buildings around several courtyards, nicely reconstructed after 1996.
- Checkpoint Charlie, remains and a museum about one of the gates in the Berlin Wall
- Potsdamer Platz, an entire quarter constructed from scratch after 1995.
- Gendarmenmarkt[?]
- Cathedral of St. Hedwig[?] (St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale)
- Berliner Dom[?]
- Nikolaiviertel, with the Nicolaikirche[?]
- Alexanderplatz
- Schaubühne
- Volksbühne
- Deutsches Theater
- Berliner Ensemble
- Deutsche Oper
- Staatsoper Unter den Linden
- Komische Oper
After the fall of the
Berlin Wall (
1989), many houses partially destroyed in World War II and not yet rebuilt were situated in the city center (formerly the western part of East Berlin).
They became a fertile ground for all sorts of underground and counter-culture as well as many nightclubs, including the world-famous
Tresor, which is one of the most important
Techno clubs on earth.
Berlin has a rich art scene, but it is increasingly coming under financial pressure, because rents have been increasing since the German government moved back to Berlin from
Bonn.
Link to this page
