Berlin History

Chronicle: the city in historical dates

• 1701 The Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg crowns himself King of Prussia , and turns Berlin into his court capital.
• 1732 The old ramparts are taken down and replaced by toll bars.
• 1740-86 Frederic the Great turns Berlin into one Europe ’s major capitals and a centre of the Enlightenment.
• 1810 Foundation of the university. Revival of the sciences, literaure, music and theatre.
• 1848 Failure of the March Revolution. Berlin develops into an industrial city.
• 1871 King William I is crowned Emperor at Versailles . Berlin is now the capital of the new German Empire. Berlin grows into a city with more than a million inhabitants. These years are called the ‘Gründerjahre’, years of economic revival. Social housing for the working classes. Cultural life is boosted.
• 1918 The Emperor is deposed after the November Revolution.
• 1920 A large number of suburbs and towns is incorporated. Greater Berlin has 4 million inhabitants. In spite of the worldwide economic crisis of 1929 (there are 600,000 unemployed Berliners) and political unrest Berlin enjoys the Golden Twenties, a decade of artistic creativity.
• 1933 The national-socialists assume power. The 1936 Summer Olympics are one mighty propaganda spectacle for the nazis.
• 1938 Crystal Night (Kristallnacht, 9-10 November). More than 80 synagogues and countless Jewish shops are destroyed.
• 1945Capitulation (8 May). Berlin is divided into four sectors by the Allies, who govern the city.
• 1948 The Soviets blockade Berlin . A political partition is installed. An airlift keeps West-Berliners alive for more than a year.
• 1953 Popular rising in East-Berlin (17 June).
• 1961 Construction of the Wall on 13 August.
• 1971 A treaty signed by the four occupying powers guarantess the right of way between the Federal Republic and West-Berlin, and facilitates visits to East-Berlin by West-Berliners.
• 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November.
• 1990 The two Germanies are officially reunited on 3 October.
• 1991 Once more Berlin becomes the capital of Germany as well as its political centre.
• 1994 The Allied troops leave Berlin . An historic era has thus ended.
• 1995 The artist Christo wraps up the Reichschancellery in cloth. Millions of spectators flock to the city on the River Spree.
• 1997 First stonelaying of the Federal Chancellor’s official residence.
• 1998 Potsdamer Platz is officially opened as ‘the new centre of Berlin ’.
• 1999 Johannes Rau is elected Chancellor. The Federal Government moves to Berlin .
• 2001 The Jüdisches Museum Berlin opens its doors with a permanent exposition, after the empty
• building had been open to visitors for 18 months.

Official Website: www.berlin.de