Berlin

the capital of Germany, 1871–1945. Largest German city in the eastern part of the country, on the navigable Spree River at its confluence with the Havel River (Elbe basin) and on canals which link Berlin to the Baltic and North seas.

The historical core of the city was formed within an ancient sandy, former glacial valley covered by pine forests; the Spree, with its tributary, the Dahme, flows through the valley. Growing gradually, the area rose up to the morainal Barnim elevations in the north (50–60 m above sea level) and the Teltow elevations in the south (45–50 m). The highest point of Berlin is the Müggelberge (115 m). The Havel lake region (the Havel, Tegeler See, Wannsee, and other lakes) is on the western outskirts of Berlin; the Dahme lake region (Grosser Müggelsee, Langer See, Seddinsee, and others) is on the eastern outskirts. The major lakes became the basic source of the city’s water supply. Vast tracts of forest (Köpenick, Grunewald, Spandau, and others) and numerous parks made up a green zone which, along with the lakes, became the favorite recreation area for Berliners.

The climate is moderate and humid (the mean annual temperature is 8.4° C; January, 0° to -0.6° C; July, 18° C). Average annual precipitation is 587 mm; it falls primarily in the warm season. After Berlin became the country’s capital, its population grew rapidly—primarily because of an influx from outside, but also because of the expansion of the capital area (in 1915 about 66 sq km; in 1920, 878.1 sq km; in 1947, 890 sq km).

In 1920, with the annexation of eight cities, 59 settled points of the village type, and 26 estates, Greater Berlin (officially, Gross-Berlin) was formed. It was divided into 20 sections including nine central sections—Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Schöneberg, Kreuzberg, Tiergarten, Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf, and Wedding—and 11 outlying ones—Treptow, Pankow, Weissensee, Lichtenberg, Köpenick, Neukölln, Tempelhof, Steglitz, Zehlendorf, Spandau, and Reinickendorf.

The following data characterize the changing population of Berlin: 401,000 in 1843; 914,000 in 1871; 1.7 million in 1890; 2.7 million in 1900; 4.2 million in 1927; and 4.3 million in 1939. The number of inhabitants of Berlin decreased sharply toward the end of World War II to about 2.5 million (1945). In prewar times, three-fourths of the population was distributed among the city’s central sections, including the core of Berlin, the old city, and the adjoining urban belt (within the boundaries of the Ringbahn city railroad ring); large industrial sections grew up on the periphery of this densely settled core (for example, in Treptow, Köpenick, Lichtenberg, Reinickendorf, Spandau, and Neukölln). Outlying regions—the so-called outer belt—were less settled by far: agricultural lands (25 percent of the area of Berlin) and forest lands (17 percent), parks (4 percent), and lakes (along with rivers and reservoirs, 6 percent) predominated here. On the whole, only one-third of the area of Berlin was built up (including streets and squares).

Historical information. Berlin was formed from two settlements which arose in the early 13th century (on the site of former Slavic settlements) and merged into one city in 1307. In 1486, Berlin became the capital of Brandenburg (subsequently Prussia). In 1848–49, Berlin was one of the main centers of the revolution in Germany (the armed uprising of Mar. 18, 1848, and others). After Germany was unified under the supremacy of Prussia, Berlin became the capital of the German empire and its greatest industrial city. (The development of machine building and of the electrical industry was particularly striking.)

Several international conferences and congresses were held in Berlin—for example, the Berlin Congress of 1878 and the Berlin Conference of 1884–85.

At the end of the 19th century, Berlin began to become one of the most important centers of the German workers’ movement. In the course of the November Revolution of 1918 in Berlin, a republic was proclaimed on November 9, and Berlin became its capital. A constituent congress of the Communist Party of Germany was held in Berlin from Dec. 30,1918, until Jan. 1, 1919. In the years that followed, Berlin was the arena for mass revolutionary actions of the German proletariat on more than one occasion: the January Uprising of 1919, the struggle against the Kapp putsch in March 1920, the general strike in August 1923, and the barricade fighting in May 1929.

From 1933 to 1945, Berlin was the capital of Hitler’s Third Reich. Despite the extreme terrorism of the Hitlerites, groups of German antifascists, operating underground, waged a heroic struggle in Berlin. During World War II (1939–45) the city was extensively damaged (especially during 1943–45). In the concluding stage of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (1941–45), Berlin was the arena of fierce battles between Soviet troops and the German fascist armies. On Apr. 30, 1945, Soviet troops raised the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag; on May 2 they held the entire city. On May 8, 1945, representatives of the German fascist high command signed the act of unconditional surrender in Berlin.

In accordance with the protocol of Sept. 12, 1944, of the agreement of the European Advisory Commission with respect to the occupation zones of Germany and the administration of Greater Berlin and with the agreement on a control mechanism in Germany concluded by the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, and France on May 1, 1945, Berlin—as the capital of Germany and the seat of the supreme organs of the Allied military administration (Control Council)—was set apart as a special region within the Soviet occupation zone and was subjected to joint occupation by the forces of the four great powers, the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, and France. A special administrative system in the form of a four-sided Allied Kommandatura was established for Berlin. For the purposes of the occupation, Berlin was divided into four sectors—the Soviet, American, British, and French sectors.

From July 17 through Aug. 2, 1945, a conference of the heads of state of the USSR, the USA, and Great Britain was held in Potsdam, near Berlin. It established the political and economic principles of the Allies’ joint policy with respect to defeated Germany and provided the necessary measures to ensure that Germany would never again threaten its neighbors or the maintenance of peace throughout the world.

The constituent congress of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) was held in Berlin on Apr. 21–22, 1946. In East Berlin (the Soviet sector), as throughout East Germany, profound revolutionary transformations were implemented. The old state apparatus was liquidated and in its place genuinely democratic organs of self-government were created.

The Western powers, which abused the right of participation in the occupation and administration of the German capital which had been granted to them, obstructed the realization of the Potsdam Resolutions of 1945 in their sectors; then, in violation of the four-sided agreements, they separated the western part of Berlin from its natural surroundings. On June 23, 1948, the separate currency reform implemented in West Germany was extended to West Berlin. On Dec. 5, 1948, separate elections to the city parliament were held in West Berlin. On Oct. 1, 1950, a special West Berlin constitution came into force. The four-sided status of Berlin was completely liquidated. The city was split into two parts: the eastern part, democratic Berlin, and the western part, West Berlin. On Nov. 30, 1948, in response to the splitting actions of the Western occupying authorities and the reactionary forces of West Berlin, a democratic magistracy was formed in the Soviet sector of Berlin as a result of the will of the working people. On Oct. 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed here with Berlin as its capital. In line with the decisions of the four powers allied during World War II that Berlin was the main city of East Germany, it became the capital of the GDR under the first constitution of the GDR, which came into force on Oct. 7, 1949.

the capital of the German Democratic Republic; the main political, economic, scientific, and cultural center of the GDR. Located on the Spree River. Area, 403 sq km. Population, 1,083,900(1968).

Government. Berlin is a city under the republic’s jurisdiction; it has the status of a district of the GDR. The organ of government is the city assembly of deputies (Stadtverordnetenversammlung), which is elected for a period of four years by citizens at least 18 years of age. The city assembly of deputies elects the executive organ, the magistracy, which is headed by the Oberburgermeister. Administratively, the city is subdivided into urban sections (Stadtbezirke): Mitte (the historic center of the city), Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Treptow, Köpenick, Lichtenberg, Weissensee, and Pankow. In each section, the population elects an assembly of deputies (Stadtbezirkversammlung), the executive organ of which is the council headed by the Burgermeister.

Historical information. After the formation of the GDR, the central organs of the republic were constituted in Berlin. As early as May 1949, the Third German People’s Congress was held here; it confirmed the constitution of the republic and elected the German People’s Council, which on Oct. 7,1949, was transformed, in accordance with the resolution of its presidium and the bloc of the democratic parties of East Germany, into the provisional People’s Chamber of the GDR. The working class of Berlin played a large role in the popular movement which enveloped East Germany in 1949 for the creation of a genuinely democratic German government and for the proclamation of the GDR. After the formation of the GDR, the ceremonial act transferring all administrative functions previously exercised by the Soviet military administration to the government of the GDR took place in Berlin on Oct. 10, 1949.

After Berlin was proclaimed the capital of the GDR, the organs of popular power did much work for the restoration and reconstruction of the city, which had suffered greatly from military action. On Nov. 25, 1951, the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SUPG) published the National Program for the Restoration of Berlin. Restoration and construction in Berlin were carried out on the basis of a general plan worked out by the Berlin magistracy—not only by the residents of Berlin but by the entire population of the republic.

The central organs of the GDR are concentrated in its capital: the People’s Chamber, the State Council, the Council of Ministers, the National Council of the National Front of Democratic Germany, the National Defense Council, the ministries and secretariats of state, and the Supreme Court. The leading organs of all the political parties of the GDR are located in Berlin; their congresses and conferences are held here. The presidium of the national council of the National Front, the guiding organs of the Association of Free German Trade Unions, the Union of Free German Youth, and of other democratic and mass organizations are located in Berlin. Berlin is the seat of diplomatic and commercial representation of the foreign states with which the GDR maintains relations at various levels.

A host of important international congresses, conferences, and gatherings have been held in Berlin—for example, the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951; the conference on the German question of the ministers of foreign affairs of the four powers in 1954; the gathering of youth from the GDR and Federal Republic of Germany in 1964; and the conferences and meetings of Comecon, the World Federation of Trade Unions, the World Peace Council, and others. Berlin is the seat of the permanent secretariat of the International Democratic Federation of Women. Since 1957, the Berlin festivals of the arts, at which well-known performers and creative groups from Europe and the whole world assemble annually, have been held here.

On a number of occasions, the organs of popular power of the GDR have advanced proposals for the normalization of relations with the senate of West Berlin and the conclusion of agreements on various questions between West Berlin and the GDR. However, all these proposals were rejected by the West Berlin side. On Aug. 13, 1961, the government of the GDR adopted measures strengthening security and control over the borders with West Berlin; these measures bar access to the capital of the GDR by hostile and subversive elements. The government of the GDR consistently advocates the normalization of relations with West Berlin on the basis of the universally recognized standards and principles of international law. After the conclusion of a quadripartite agreement on West Berlin the GDR and West Berlin signed a series of agreements that regulate border problems and the procedure of visiting the GDR by West Berliners.