Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Berlin has long been in the cross-hairs of history: it staged a revolution, was
headquartered by fascists, bombed to bits, ripped in half and finally reunited -
and that was just in the 20th century! Yet, Berlin is very much an accidental
capital whose medieval birth was a mere blip on the map of history. It contin-
ued to exist in relative obscurity until becoming the royal capital of Prussia
some 400 years later, but it wasn't until the 20th century that it significantly im-
pacted on European - and indeed world - history.
Berlin's medieval birthplace, around the Nikolaikirche, was devastated during WWII bomb-
ing raids. Today's 'Nikolaiviertel' is actually a replica of the quarter, dreamed up by the East
German government in celebration of the city's 750th anniversary in 1987.
Medieval Berlin
The recent discovery of an oak beam suggests that Berlin may have roots going back to 1183
but, for now, history records that the city was officially founded in 1237 by itinerant mer-
chants as twin trading posts called Berlin and Cölln. The modest settlements flanked the
Spree River in an area just southwest of today's Alexanderplatz. It was a profitable spot along
a natural east-west trade route, about halfway between the fortified towns of Köpenick to the
southeast and Spandau to the northwest whose origins can be traced to the 8th century. The
tiny settlements grew in leaps and bounds and, in 1307, merged into a single town for power
and protection. As the centre of the March (duchy) of Brandenburg, it continued to assert its
political and economic independence and even became a player in the Hanseatic League in
1360.
Such confidence did not sit well with Sigismund, king of the Germans, who, in 1411, put
one of his cronies, Friedrich von Hohenzollern, in charge of Brandenburg, thereby ushering
in five centuries of uninterrupted rule by the House of Hohenzollern.
Reformation & the Thirty Years' War
The Reformation, kick-started in 1517 by Martin Luther in nearby Wittenberg, was slow to
arrive in Berlin. Eventually, though, the wave of reform reached Brandenburg, leaving Elect-
or Joachim II (r 1535-71) no choice but to subscribe to Protestantism. On 1 November 1539
the court celebrated the first Lutheran-style service in the Nikolaikirche in Spandau. The
