The document summarizes the history of Berlin from its origins as a small town established on the Spree River in 1244 to its growth as the capital of Germany. It discusses Berlin's division after World War 2 into East and West Berlin under the control of the Soviet Union and Western Allies respectively, and its eventual reunification in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Major events covered include the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty that expanded Berlin's population and influence, its position as the capital of Prussia and later a unified German Empire, and its role in the center of the Cold War divide between East and West Germany until reunification.

2. Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate

3. Reichstag, Federal Chancellery,
and the Victory Column

4. Unter den Linden and Museum Island

5. Ku’damm and City-West

6. Friedrichstraße and
Gendarmenmarkt

7. Charlottenburg Palace and
Park

8. the Fernsehturm and Alexanderplatz

9. Oranienburger Strasse

10. Potsdamer Platz

11. Olympia Stadium

12. Berlin: A Brief History
• The “Swamp”
• Spree River
• Population: 3,500,000
• One of Germany’s 16 states and capital
• 1/3 of urban land is given over to parks, forest,
lakes and other natural environment

13. The Early Years: Brandenburg and Berlin
• First, before Berlin, there was Brandenburg,
the seat of government of this region, which
became part of the Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation during the 10th century.
• Finally there was Berlin, established on the
opposite bank of the Spree River, and
mentioned seven years later, in 1244.

14. The Holy Roman Empire

15. Union of Brandenburg and Berlin
• By 1389, however, the
towns of Brandenburg
and Berlin had formed a
union, joined the
Hanseatic League, and
achieved some
prosperity as a trading
and fishing town.

16. The First Hohenzollerns
• In 1411, the emperor
awarded Brandenburg
to Count Friedrich von
Hohenzollern, who
decided to continue
residing in the much
more civilized
Nuremberg. However,
his son Friedrich II,
established his court in
Berlin

17. The First Hohenzollerns
• The Berliners were less
than amused, and fearing
that this would end some
of the city’s liberties, they
violently opposed the
building of a castle in the
town. It took two years
and the assistance of 600
soldiers before the
building could actually
make progress.

18. The First Hohenzollerns
• The building became
the Stadtschloss or
town castle, which
remained the primary
residence of the
Hohenzollerns until the
forced abdication of
Wilhelm II in 1918.

19. The Thirty Years War, 1618-1648
• Brandenburg suffered
tremendously during the
Thirty Years’ War, with
many battles fought on its
territory and huge areas
scorched repeatedly. By
the end of the war, Berlin
was an insignificant town
of around 6,000
inhabitants.

20. The Rise of Berlin after 1648
• Berlin’s fortunes changed
during the rule of
Friedrich Wilhelm, the
Great Elector (1640-
1688). He expanded
Berlin’s population
dramatically by
welcoming religious
refugees, including
French Huguenots, Dutch
Protestants, and rich
Viennese Jewish families.

21. The First Berlin Wall
• In the early 18th century, King Friedrich Wilhelm I
had a wall built around the city of Berlin. This
may seem odd, as by this time the use of cannon
made city walls a useless defense measure.
However, the purpose of this Berlin wall was to
prevent young male Berliners from fleeing the
city to avoid military conscription. Ironically, the
more famous Berlin wall of 1961 was also built to
prevent Berliners fleeing to a softer and better
life in the West

22. The Rise of Berlin after 1648
• To the king’s disgust, his
own art-loving son tried
to flee for that very
purpose. The king was
planning to execute him
but was persuaded
otherwise by his court.
The prince, later referred
to as Frederick the Great,
was sent to jail while his
accompanist faced the
firing squad.

23. Frederick the Great , 1740- 1768
• In contrast to his father,
Frederick the Great was a
cultured, educated man
who made Berlin a center
of enlightened thought.
And he did not shy away
from battle. During his
rule, Prussia became the
fifth power in Europe –
the only German state
that could rival Austria.

24. The Prussian Era, until 1871
• During the Napoleonic
wars, Prussia was
initially defeated and
suffered the ignominy
of occupation. Limits
were set on the size of
the standing army and
major art treasures
were transported to
Paris.

25. The Prussian Era
• However, Prussia played a
major role in the defeat
of the French at the
Battle of the Nations in
Leipzig in 1813. Prussian
Field Marshall Blucher
pursued Napoleon across
the Rhine and
contributed again at the
Battle of Waterloo in
1815 to his final defeat.

26. The Prussian Era
• The Congress of Vienna,
which arranged the peace
settlement following the
wars, made Prussia the
clear winner. It greatly
expanded in size, gaining
the rich and strategic
Rhineland among others.
Only Austria would have
more prestige among the
Germans.

27. The Prussian Era
• The glory of Prussia was
portrayed in the
growing importance of
Berlin. Around 1800,
Berlin, with 200,000
inhabitants, became the
third-largest city in
Europe (after London
and Paris)

28. The German Empire
In 1871, Berlin became
the capital of a united
German Empire, and in
contrast to the Holy
Roman Empire of the
German Nation, this
was a true empire with
Berlin the undisputed
capital.

29. The German Empire
• Berlin expanded rapidly
and became the world’s
largest tenement city.
Growth continued until
interrupted by the First
World War (1914-18). In
1918, at the end of the
war, the Emperor was
forced to abdicate and a
republic was
proclaimed.

30. The Weimar Republic:
The Heady 1920s and 1930s
• In the heady 1920s,
after the disasters of
the war, its violent
aftermath, and the
runaway inflation of
1923, Berlin became
the life of Europe with
nightlife and revues on
a par with Paris.

31. Attempts at Transformation after 1933
• During the 1930s, the
Nazi Party took power
and instantly started to
transform Berlin to
portray its power.
Despite the general
intolerance of the Nazis,
Berlin’s famous and at
times seedy nightlife
survived well into the
Second World War.

32. World War II
• Hitler launched his plans
for German expansion
from Berlin until it
culminated in the attack
on Poland, which started
World War II in
September 1939. For a
few more years, Berlin
would be the center of
the world, the city to be
in, until the first allied air
raids started.

33. World War II
• By the end of the war,
75% of central Berlin
was destroyed. It was
called the eyeless city,
as there seemed to be
no windowpane intact
by the time the
Russians took Berlin in
April 1945.

34. The Division of Berlin
For Berlin, the war did not
stop in 1945. The three
sectors of Berlin occupied
by the American, British,
and French forces
became West Berlin, a
capitalist island
surrounded by the sea of
Communist - dominated
East Germany. Berlin
would be at the heart of
the Cold War.

35. The Division of Berlin

36. The Berlin Airlift, 1948
• In 1948, the Russians
tried to force the
surrender of West Berlin
by closing the land routes
from the West – for a
year the West, led by the
United States, supplied
Berlin through three air
corridors. At the height of
the crisis, an airplane
would take off and land at
West Berlin’s two airports
every minute.

37. The Berlin Wall Goes Up, 1961
• In 1961, the East
Germans started to
build a wall around
West Berlin to finally
close off the border
through which
countless East German
citizens were seeping to
find a better life in the
West.

38. Cold War Divisions
:"There are some who say that Communism is the wave of the future.
Let them come to Berlin."
--President John F. Kennedy, Berlin, Germany, June 26, 1963
• In 1963, American President
John F Kennedy assured the
people of West Berlin that
the world would not
surrender the city to
Communism in his famous
proclamation: "Ich bin ein
Berliner!" (The fact that a
small grammatical error had
him in fact saying “I am a
jam donut” was never
stressed by Berliners.)

39. Cold War Divisions, until 1989
• For the next quarter-
century, Berlin would be
at uneasy peace with its
neighbor. The West
poured massive
subsidies into West
Berlin to make it a
beacon of capitalist
prosperity in a sea of
impoverished
Communism.

40. Reunification, 1989
• On November 9, 1989,
after weeks of pressure
and warnings of
impending crisis, the
East German people
finally had enough,
bridged the border,
scaled the wall, and
entered the West.

41. Reunification
• On October 3, 1990,
East and West Germany
were finally united
again, almost half a
century after the end of
World War II

42. Reunification
• Soon after, the German
Parliament decided
with a narrow majority
to move the capital
from sleepy Bonn back
to Berlin. In 1999, the
German Parliament and
several other
departments of state
finally started to
operate from Berlin.

43. Berlin Streets

44. Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate

45. Reichstag, Federal Chancellery,
and the Victory Column

46. Unter den Linden and Museum Island

47. Ku’damm and City-West

48. Friedrichstraße and
Gendarmenmarkt

49. Charlottenburg Palace and
Park

50. the Fernsehturm and Alexanderplatz

51. Oranienburger Strasse

52. Potsdamer Platz

53. Olympia Stadium

55. Museum Island, Berlin