Berlin

BERLIN

BERLIN. Berlin rose to prominence through its partnership with the Hohenzollern dynasty to become the center of their Brandenburg-Prussian lands and, later, capital of the Prussian-dominated Second Reich after 1871. The city's development benefited from its situation on the northeast bank of the Spree at the narrowest crossing over the river halfway between the castles of Spandau and Köpenick. Both these castles were eventually incorporated in the city, as was the nearby town of Cölln, on an island in the river that is now the district of Berlin-Mitte.

In the late Middle Ages, Berlin and Cölln felt threatened by mounting disorder in Brandenburg, particularly after the demise of the Ascanian dynasty in 1319. The two towns formed a defensive alliance in 1307 and collaborated with the Hohenzollerns, who became the new rulers of Brandenburg in 1415. Elector Frederick II (ruled 1440–1470) exploited internal divisions between the Berlin council and the guilds to assert his authority in 1442. A revolt known as the Berlin Indignation (1447–1448) failed to stem the growing Hohenzollern presence. The elector built the city palace on confiscated land 1443–1451 as his principal residence.

The Hohenzollerns introduced the Lutheran Reformation in 1539 with the help of the council, but seventy-five years later, most Berliners refused to follow the lead of Elector John Sigismund (ruled 1600–1620) and accept Calvinism (after 1613). The Calvinist minority in Berlin was swelled by the arrival of six thousand Huguenot refugees, welcomed from France by Frederick William, the Great Elector (ruled 1640–1688), after 1677. Jewish refugees also settled after 1670 but enjoyed fewer privileges than the Calvinists who became a thriving commercial community, numbering around a fifth of all Berliners by 1700. From six thousand inhabitants in 1450, Berlin's population had more than doubled by the time the Thirty Years' War came to Brandenburg in 1627. Imperial troops extorted money and supplies until displaced by the Swedes, who demanded the same. The departure of the elector and his family to Königsberg contributed to the economic depression, and the population fell to six thousand by 1648.

Recovery began under the Great Elector, who deliberately promoted Berlin as an economic and political center, particularly through the construction of the Oder-Spree canal in 1662–1669, which improved access to the Baltic. State-sponsored enterprises were established in and around the city, notably the Lagerhaus cloth factory, founded in 1714, which was Germany's largest textile mill, employing 5,000 workers. Other important enterprises included the arms factory in Spandau run by the Splittgerber and Daum consortium (which supplied the Prussian army with small arms), glass and porcelain factories, and the city's first steam engine in 1795; an iron works opened in 1804. The population rose rapidly, already numbering 57,000 by 1710, and reaching 172,000 by 1800, making Berlin one of Germany's largest cities. New suburbs were laid out in Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt, while Berlin and Cölln were formally merged on 18 January 1709. However, Berliners suffered from price rises and economic fluctuations throughout the eighteenth century. Many enterprises depended heavily on state subsidy and a real industrial takeoff did not start until the 1830s. The fortifications were razed in 1734 and replaced by a 14 km–long "tax wall" two years later to enforce collection of the excise imposed on goods entering and leaving the city. Though the remaining military installations were demolished after 1774, Berlin remained a garrison town. Soldiers and their dependants accounted for a fifth of all inhabitants throughout the eighteenth century, compared with under 3 percent in 1871. Wartime mobilization removed both customers and workers from the city's economy, as well as its defenders: Berlin was temporarily occupied by the Austrians and Russians in 1757 and 1760 during the Seven Years' War.

Elector Frederick III (ruled 1688–1713; king in Prussia as Frederick I, 1701–1713) embarked on an ambitious building program to make Berlin appear a worthy royal capital as part of his bid for a crown. The sculptor Andreas Schlüter (1659–1714) oversaw the construction of some of northern Germany's finest baroque buildings, including the Arsenal (1695) and the Charlottenburg palace (1705), while academies of arts (1696) and sciences (1700) were opened. This program faltered once the elector achieved his ambition in 1700 and stopped altogether under his son and successor, Frederick William I (ruled 1713–1740), who diverted money to expanding the army. War prevented the full implementation of Frederick II's (ruled 1740–1786) ambitious plans to remodel the city after 1740, but an opera house was built (1740–1743), along with St. Hedwig's Cathedral, the Royal Library, and Prince Henry's palace, which was converted into the Humboldt University in 1810. Later public buildings, including the Brandenburg Gate (1788–1791), reflected the influence of Greek neoclassicism and contributed to making Berlin one of Germany's most impressive capitals.

See also Brandenburg ; Frederick I (Prussia) ; Frederick II (Prussia) ; Frederick William (Brandenburg) ; Frederick William I (Prussia) ; Hohenzollern Dynasty ; Prussia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Badstübner-Gröger, Sybille. Bibliographie zur Kunstgeschichte von Berlin und Potsdam. Berlin, 1968.

Badstübner-Gröger, Sybille, and Jutta von Simson. Berlin und die Mark Brandenburg: Kunstfahren zwischen Havel, Spree und Oder. Munich, 1991.

Neugebauer, Wolfgang. "Staatsverwaltung, Manufaktur und Garnison. Die polyfunktionale Residenzlandschaft von Berlin-Potsdam-Wusterhausen zur Zeit Friedrich Wilhelms I." Forschungen zur Brandenburg und Preussische Geschichte. New series 7 (1997): 233–257.

Ribbe, Wolfgang, ed. Geschichte Berlins. 2 vols. Munich, 1987.

Schultz, Helga. Berlin 1650–1800: Sozialgeschichte einer Residenz. 2nd ed. Berlin, 1992.

Völkel, Markus. "The Hohenzollern Court 1535–1740." In The Princely Courts of Europe: Ritual, Politics, and Culture under the Ancien Régime 1500–1750, edited by John Adamson, pp. 210–229. London, 1999.

Peter H. Wilson