History of Berlin
Germany - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Frankfurt - Munich - Stuttgart - Hamburg - Berlin
INTRODUCTION:
In the 13th Century, the name Berlin appeared for the first time in an official document as a trading village. Berlin's importance was felt due to its location at the junction of the Spree and Havel rivers. After the thirty years war in the 17th Century, Frederick William promoted the policy of immigration and religious toleration to encourage more settlements in Berlin. Consequently, in 1700 Berlin had about 20% of the French population settled here which produced a mingling of the French culture and traditions.
Berlin became the capital of Prussia under the rule of Frederick I . It became the centre of the Enlightenment under Frederick II. The city's population and economy received a tremendous boom during the 19th Century Industrial Revolution. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, Berlin became the capital of the German Empire with Bismarck as its first Chancellor.
After the end of the First World War, the Weimer Republic came to power and passed the famous Greater Berlin Act uniting the suburban cities, villages and estates to expand Berlin and make it a separate administrative region. The disastrous period of Berlin began with the rise of Hitler to power in 1933. During the Second World War the allied forces comprising of Britain, France and Soviet Union along with the United States literally destroyed the city. The post war period saw the division of Berlin into Communist East Berlin and the non-Communist West Berlin. East Berlin remained the capital of East Germany while Bonn was made the capital of West Germany. In the Cold War period, the communist block decided to restrict the access of Germans on either side by constructing The Great Berlin Wall. After the fall of the East German Government in 1989, the authorities decided to pull down the Berlin Wall and Germany was reunited in 1990. Berlin once again was made the capital of Germany. Since 1999, the German Parliament has started functioning in Berlin.
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