BERLIN TRAVEL GUIDE

Berlin Travel Guide
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1685: Edict of
Potsdam
Berlin’s history as a cultural
capital began in 1685, when
the far-sighted Great Elector
announced in the Edict of
Potsdam that around 20,000
Huguenots would be taken
in by Berlin. Many were
excellent craftsmen and
scientists, who, having fled
Catholic France because of
their Protestant beliefs,
brought a new age of cultural
ascendancy to the provincial town.
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1744: Frederick the Great
Although “Old Fritz”, as Frederick the Great was
nicknamed, preferred the isolation of Sanssouci to the
bustle of Berlin, in 1740 he began to transform the city
into a new metropolis. In particular, the “Forum
Fridericianum” in Unter den Linden brought new
splendours to the town, and masterpieces such as the
national opera house helped transform Berlin into one
of the most important European cities.
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1928: Golden Twenties
Between 1919 and 1933, Berlin flourished culturally
and became an important metropolis. Film, theatre,
cabaret shows and thousands of restaurants and bars
transformed the town into an international centre of
entertainment. In the realms of fine art and architecture,
too, Berlin set new standards.
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1945: Surrender
Signed in Berlin-Karlshorst on 8 May 1945,
Germany’s unconditional surrender marked more than
the end of World War II. The previous Jewish population
of 161,000 had virtually disappeared and Berliners called
their city “the empire’s fields of rubble”.
1953: Workers’
Uprising in East
Germany
On 17 June 1953,
construction workers in
Frankfurter Allee
demonstrated against an
increase in the average rate of production. Soviet tanks
suppressed the rebellion while, in West Berlin, the
uprising was interpreted as a demonstration for German
unification.
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1961: Building of the Wall
The building of the Berlin Wall, which commenced
during the night of 12 August 1961, was, after the
surrender of 1945, the second most traumatic event for
many Berliners. Many families were torn apart by the
concrete wall and more than 100 people were to be killed
over the following 30 years at the border dividing East
and West.
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1963: “I am a Berliner”
No other politician was as enthusiastically received
in Berlin as the US President John F. Kennedy. On 17
July 1963, in front of Rathaus Schöneberg, he declared
to the cheering crowd: “I am a Berliner”. Berliners had
forgiven the US for staying silent when the Wall was
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built. Kennedy confirmed once more that the Western
Allies would stand by Berlin and support the town, just
as they had done during the blockade of 1948–9, when
the US and Britain air-lifted food to the “island” of West
Berlin.
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1968: The late Sixties
During the late 1960s, West Berlin students
transformed Germany. Rudi Dutschke and others
propounded political change, free love and a reappraisal
of Germany’s Nazi past. The movement came to an
untimely end when Dutschke was assassinated in April
1968.
1989: Fall of the Wall
The fall of the Berlin
Wall in November 1989
heralded a new dawn. For
the first time in 30 years,
Berliners from both halves of
the divided city were able to
visit each other. The town
celebrated all along Ku’damm and in front of the
Brandenburg Gate. When the Wall was built, Willy
Brandt, then governing mayor of West Berlin, had
promised: “Berlin will survive!” He was right.
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1991: Berlin becomes
the capital of
Germany
In 1991, Berlin was officially
declared the capital of the
reunified Federal Republic of
Germany. Allied Forces left
the city during 1994, but it
was only when the
Bundestag, the German parliament, moved here from
Bonn on 19 April 1999 that Berlin became the “real”
capital. Today, all the main ministries, the Bundesrat
(upper house), and the Chancellor’s and the President’s
offices are based in Berlin.
Hidden Treasures
Neuer See
Shimmering in a
mysterious emerald green,
the largest lake in Tiergarten
is perfect for rowing.
Afterwards you can recover
in the Café am Neuen See.
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➤ S-Bahn station Tiergarten • Map M5
2 Löwenbrücke
The Lion Bridge, which
leads across a small stream
near Neuer See, is
“suspended” from the
sculptures of four lions. This
idyllic spot is a favourite
meeting point for gays in
Berlin.
➤ Großer Weg • Map M5
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