History History

First mention of the town of Cölln in an official document. In the 13th century, on either side of the river Spree, there were two rival towns: Cölln and Berlin. It was not until 1307 that these two Brandenburg villages of merchants and fishermen had a joint council

The Golden Bull regulates the functioning of the elective monarchy in Germany: seven German princes are granted the right to elect the emperor. Along with Saxony, the Palatinate, Bohemia and the episcopates of Trier, Cologne and Mainz, Brandenburg acquires the status of Electorate.

In 1443, the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick II, known as the "Iron Tooth" (Friedrich Eisenzahn; of the Hohenzollern House), laid the foundation stone for his future castle on the banks of the Spree River, which was completed in 1451. In 1486, his grandson Jean-Cicéron made it his main residence, raising Berlin to the rank of capital. The Hohenzollern family ruled Berlin for more than four centuries.

The publication of Martin Luther's 95 theses in Wittenberg caused an earthquake in Germany and divided opinion between the Pope's faithful and his opponents, who were critical of the excesses of Catholic institutions, especially the trafficking of indulgences. The Brandenburgers, sensitive to Luther's precepts, gradually adopt the Reformed faith. In 1539, Elector Joachim II reluctantly accepted to convert to Lutheranism.

Elector Johann-Sigismung inherits the Duchy of Prussia. Little by little, the destinies of Brandenburg and Prussia tend to merge.

The defenestration of Prague opens a conflict that will ravage Germany for thirty years. Brandenburg was in turn devastated by the imperial troops (Catholic) and the Swedish army (Protestant). Brandenburg, like the other German principalities, lost a third of its population. In 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia put an end to hostilities.

Ten days after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the Edict of Potsdam allowed the settlement in the Electorate of Brandenburg of many Protestant refugees fleeing persecution in France. A quarter of these Huguenots settled in Berlin. It was for this religious community that Frederick the Great had the Französischer Dom built a century later on the Gendarmenmarkt. The reception of these refugees contributed to the repopulation of a state devastated by thirty years of conflict on its soil.

Lietzenburg Castle in the west of Berlin is inaugurated. It will then be renamed after the elector Sophie Charlotte. By extension, the castle will give its name to the city and then to the district of Charlottenburg.

To thank him for his support in the War of the Spanish Succession, Emperor Leopold I granted Frederick the status of king. The coronation takes place in Königsberg. On his return to Berlin, the Elector became Frederick I, King of Prussia.

The reign of Frederick II was decisive for Prussia's position in Europe. Because he was inspired by the Enlightenment, abolished torture and relaxed censorship, he is known as the "Philosopher King". Unlike his father the Sergeant King, who was obsessed with the army, Frederick II brought artists and philosophers to his court (the most famous being Voltaire). A music lover, he had an opera house built in Berlin (today the Staatsoper Unter den Linden) and the "Forum Fridericianum". He had Charlottenburg Palace enlarged (Knobelsdorff wing decorated in rococo style). The king's architectural attention is focused on Potsdam: Sans-Souci, Chinese pavilion, Neues Palais, etc. His reign is also marked by numerous wars and an aggressive foreign policy: his invasion of Silesia triggers the War of Austrian Succession and ushers in a growing antagonism with the House of Habsburg (and Empress Maria Theresa). Frederick II is also responsible for the first partition of Poland. The oxymoronic term "enlightened despot" did not stop exploring all the contradictions of Old Fritz.

The reign of Frederick William II was marked by the French Revolution. Prussia joins the coalition against revolutionary France and faces a new wave of French refugees.

In 1806, the Prussians suffered two heavy defeats at Jena and Auerstedt against the French army. In panic, several thousand Berliners left their city. The royal couple, Frederick William III and Louise, did the same and fled to Königsberg. On 27 October 1806, Napoleon entered Berlin at the head of 150,000 soldiers. He settled in the castle for a month. The city's works of art were plundered by the French. Napoleon had the quadriga at the Brandenburg Gate unbolted and transported to Paris. In 1813, the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig changed the balance of power. The Prussians manage to push back the French and enter Paris. The quadrige can return to Berlin.

The University of Berlin is back for the first time this academic year. The project is led by the eminent linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, from whom the university today takes its name. The institution moves into Prince Heinrich's palace, opposite the opera house.

The news of the popular uprising in Paris is being emulated in Berlin. The demands of the demonstrators are numerous: a pan-German assembly and freedom of the press, expression and assembly. On 18 March a large crowd gathered at the foot of Berlin Castle. King Frederick William IV granted several concessions, but the crowd did not disperse and the cavalry charged. The fighting lasts into the night, leaving about 180 insurgents dead. In April 1849, the members of parliament in Frankfurt proposed to Frederick William to become Emperor of Germany. The monarch, who had the greatest contempt for this assembly, refused the crown. The revolution is stifled.

The city's city wall is demolished. This is one of the measures taken by James Hobrecht, a building consultant. To cope with the city's rapid growth, he also launches a plan to build rental buildings that are taunted by Mietskasernen's nickname, "rental barracks".

After three wars (against Denmark in 1864, against Austria in 1866, against France in 1870), the German Empire(Kaiserreich) is proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Berlin, which then had about 1 million inhabitants, became the capital of a great Federal Empire composed of 4 kingdoms (Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg), numerous duchies and free cities. The Reichstag was built in 1884 by the architect Paul Wallot and began to be built in 1884.

The Kaiserreich is experiencing a phenomenal boom. Its capital, Berlin, is experiencing spectacular population growth and had 2 million inhabitants in 1900. It was a period of construction fever: entire districts sprang up, in Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg. The first garden cities were built, as well as sumptuous buildings whose pomp and circumstance fulfilled representative functions: the Berliner Dom, the Theater des Westens, etc. Thefirst garden cities were built in Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg. The Hospital of Charity allows many advances in medicine: Robert Koch identifies the tuberculosis bacillus; Emil von Behring develops a vaccine against diphtheria; Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays. Cinema is in its infancy. It is also the rise of a bourgeoisie eager for leisure and entertainment (cafés, theatres, sports, swimming, etc.) and of a working class seeking emancipation.

The Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt discovered the bust of Nefertiti (Nofretete in German) during excavations at Tell el-Amarna. The Egyptian queen was a huge success in Berlin, where she continues to attract visitors to the Neues Museum today.

Although Berlin was not directly affected by the fighting of the Great War, its population was concerned by rationing from 1915 onwards: first bread, then vegetables, milk, butter, sugar, meat, coffee... Strikes were forbidden and shows were censored.

Emperor Wilhelm II abdicates. Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the Republic from a Reichstag window. At the same time, the Spartakist Karl Liebknecht proclaims the Republic from a castle balcony. This is the beginning of the November Revolution. In Berlin, revolutionaries and SPD Free Democratic Party fight each other. The revolutionaries Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are murdered and their bodies thrown into the Landwehrkanal. The capital is in a state of civil war, and the newly elected Assembly first sits in Weimar, hence the name given to the republic born of the German revolution. The new Republic adopted a constitution and introduced women's suffrage.

The municipalities surrounding Berlin are integrated into the project: Charlottenburg, Schöneberg, Wilmersdorf, etc. This "Greater Berlin" now has almost 4 million inhabitants.

Adolf Hitler is appointed chancellor by Hindenburg. A torchlight procession is held under the Brandenburg Gate. Hitler dissolves the Assembly. The totalitarian machine is set up at full speed.

If the causes of the fire are still discussed by historians, its consequences leave no doubt: the fire was used by the Nazis to ban the KPD (Communist Party) and restrict public freedoms. This event accelerates the totalitarian machine: Hitler obtains full powers in March.

Josef Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda and virtuoso director, organizes an autodafé on Opernplatz (now Bebelplatz). Numerous books, emblematic of German culture, are burned, simply because their authors are liberal, communist or Jewish: Marx, Mann, Schnitzler, Döblin, etc. The event has a highly symbolic significance, but the repression of artists is real: many are pushed to resign, or will later be forced into exile, loss of nationality, or deportation.

The Berlin Olympics are the showcase for the fascist Germany that Adolf Hitler wanted. This communication operation comes at the right time after the atrocities that marked the beginning of the dictatorship and frightened the free world: the Night of the Long Knives (1934) and the Nuremberg racial laws (1935).

All over Germany, Jewish institutions and shops are ransacked. 91 people are killed. In Berlin, 40 synagogues are burned. The Neue Synagoge survives this destruction but will not be spared by Allied bombing

It is estimated that about 55,000 Berlin Jews were deported to the camps. Only 2,000 survived. A memorial is dedicated to them in the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

An attack that was supposed to kill the Führer in East Prussia fails. In Berlin, the officers informed of the conspiracy are reluctant to take advantage of the confusion to launch the coup. Operation Walkyrie results in the execution of the conspirators.

The battle of Berlin ends in a victory for the Red Army. On April 30, Eva Braun and Hitler commit suicide in their bunker. On May^1st, theSoviet flag flies at the top of the Reichstag. In the evening, Josef and Magda Goebbels have their six children poisoned and kill themselves. For the Berlin civilians, it is a period of looting, hunger, fear, barbarism, exactions, rapes. At the end of the war, Berlin is a field of ruins that the Allies divide into four sectors.

By cutting off land traffic between West Berlin and the rest of West Germany, the Soviets hope that the West will choose to abandon the western part of Berlin to avoid an escalation of the conflict. For eleven months, the Allies supplied the West Berlin enclave daily. This is the airlift. This episode crystallizes the tensions between the two Cold War powers.

In May, the newly-founded Federal Republic adopts the Basic Law and chooses Bonn as its capital. In October, the East German authorities establish the GDR with Berlin as its capital.

Berlin Castle, residence of the Electors, Prussian kings and German emperors, is blown up. Walter Ulbricht, General Secretary of the Central Committee, wanted to build the Palace of the Republic on the site. This, in turn, was demolished in the 2000s. In 2013, work began on rebuilding the castle. In 2021, the work was completed and the Humboldt Forum museum and cultural complex was inaugurated.

In response to increased production rates, strikes and demonstrations broke out in East Berlin and throughout the GDR. To quell the revolt, the East German authorities use Soviet tanks. The repression is bloody and the death toll for the whole of East Germany is 125. Later, Budapest in 1956 and Prague in 1968 suffered the same fate.

Walter Ulbricht launches Operation Chinese Wall. In the morning, Berliners discover that barbed wire separates the two parts of the city.

West Berlin youths demonstrate against the coming of the Shah of Iran. It is the beginning of a student mobilization which announces May 68.

To celebrate the city's 700th anniversary, the East German authorities are inaugurating the St. Nicholas quarter, the former medieval heart of Berlin, which they have just had rebuilt.

Berliners celebrate in jubilation the opening of the Wall that has separated the city for 28 years.

It was in the Kronprinzenpalais on Unter den Linden Avenue that the Treaty of German Reunification was signed one month before. On 3 October, the Tag der Einheit, Unity Day, was chosen as the national holiday.

The federal capital is transferred from Bonn to Berlin. TheBundestag, the Federal Assembly, is established in Berlin and moves into the Reichstag Palace, newly refurbished by Norman Forster. The city is a huge construction site, one ministry after another moves in. Pariser Platz and Potsdamer Platz are rebuilt. The underground and bus lines are rebuilt. Many street names are changed.

The Holocaust Memorial (Holocaust-Mahnmal), a stone's throw from the Brandenburg Gate, is inaugurated.

The year 2020 sees the opening of new locations in Berlin: BER airport welcomes its first passengers and the U5 subway line is extended to connect the central station to Alexanderplatz.

After 16 years at the head of the country, Chancellor Angela Merkel lost the federal elections and gave up her seat to Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

From 2022 to today, Berlin continues to develop with exciting new projects. 2022 marks the opening of a new museum, the Samurai Museum, as well as the enrichment of some of the city's landmarks, such as the opening of the Stabi Kutlurwerk, the first museum-library inside the National Library. During 2023, the Museum of Medicine, Charité, which traces 300 years of medical history, will reopen its doors after a period of renovation. The year 2023 will also introduce the new Fotografiska Berlin into the historic Kunsthaus Tacheles and will become the fourth branch of the famous photography museum, after Stockholm, New York and Tallinn.