Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
event is still celebrated as an official holiday (Reformationstag) in Brandenburg, the Ger-
man federal state that surrounds Berlin, although not in the city state of Berlin itself.
Berlin prospered for the ensuing decades until drawn into the Thirty Years' War
(1618-48), a conflict between Catholics and Protestants that left Europe's soil drenched
with the blood of millions. Elector Georg Wilhelm (r 1620-40) tried to maintain a policy of
neutrality, only to see his territory repeatedly pillaged and plundered by both sides. By the
time the war ended, Berlin lay largely in shambles - broke, ruined and decimated by starva-
tion, murder and disease.
An 8m-long section is all that survives of Berlin's original city wall, built around 1250 from
crude boulders and bricks and standing up to 2m tall. See it on Littenstrasse, near Alex-
anderplatz.
Road to a Kingdom
Stability finally returned during the long reign of Georg Wilhelm's son, Friedrich Wilhelm
(r 1640-88). Also known as the Great Elector, he took several steps that helped chart
Brandenburg's rise to the status of a European powerhouse. His first order of business was
to increase Berlin's safety by turning it into a garrison town encircled by fortifications with
13 bastions. He also levied a new sales tax, using the money to build three new neighbour-
hoods (Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt), a canal linking the Spree and
the Oder Rivers (thereby cementing Berlin's position as a trading hub), as well as the Lust-
garten and Unter den Linden.
But the Great Elector's most lasting legacy was replenishing Berlin's population by en-
couraging the settlement of refugees. In 1671, 50 Jewish families arrived from Vienna, fol-
lowed by thousands of Protestant Huguenots - many of them highly skilled - who had been
expelled from France by Louis XIV in 1685. The Französischer Dom (French Cathedral) on
Gendarmenmarkt serves as a tangible reminder of Huguenot influence. Between 1680 and
1710, Berlin saw its population nearly triple to 56,000, making it one of the largest cities in
the Holy Roman Empire.
The Great Elector's son, Friedrich III, was a man of great ambition, with a penchant for
the arts and sciences. Together with his beloved wife, Sophie-Charlotte, he presided over a
lively and intellectual court, founding the Academy of Arts in 1696 and the Academy of
Sciences in 1700. One year later, he advanced his career by promoting himself to King
Friedrich I (elector 1688-1701, king 1701-13) of Prussia, making Berlin a royal residence
and the capital of the new state of Brandenburg-Prussia.
