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58-780: The orchestra was founded in 1952 as the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester (Berlin Symphony Orchestra) in what was then East Berlin , as a rival ensemble to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra based in West Berlin . The first chief conductor was Hermann Hildebrandt. In 1974, the Berlin Sinfonietta was founded to serve as the sister chamber orchestra of the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester . During its East German years it

116-560: A "hooligan action." (Howley and Yelizarov already had a history. Howely described him as a "big, powerful, bruiser," who hunted wild boar with a machine gun in the woods outside Berlin. "He and I always kept one hand on the trigger.") At that point Ganeval proposed to close the meeting, but Yelizarov would have none of it. For eight minutes he berated an absent Howley, and offered that the Soviet delegation could no longer remain unless Howley return and apologize to all. Yelizarov headed for

174-530: A building on Lake Wannsee , but others objected that they would never get any work done in such a beautiful setting. Howley suggested another site not far distant from the American military headquarters, which was accepted by all on the condition that it was made serviceable. In theory the Kommandatura would decide issues requiring attention and governance, formulate a response, and issue formal orders to

232-578: A city as large as the western part of Berlin. The state of relations continued to devolve from that point on. Until they had devised a new, permanent headquarters, the Kommandatura met in the Soviet sector for several weeks, in rooms of the Soviet Central Kommandantur. Shortly thereafter the new headquarters was ready to be occupied, and on July 25, 1945, the Kommandatura met at Kaiserswerther Str. 16-18 in Berlin-Dahlem for

290-479: A great deal of resentment toward the East Germans. Despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlins. East Berlin has a distinct visual style; this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes, with some still showing signs of wartime damage. The unique look of Socialist Classicism that

348-493: A long process of review (so, for instance, Leninallee reverted to Landsberger Allee in 1991, and Dimitroffstraße reverted to Danziger Straße in 1995). Another symbolic icon of the former East Berlin (and of East Germany as a whole) is the Ampelmännchen (tr. "little traffic light men"), a stylized version of a fedora-wearing man crossing the street, which is found on traffic lights at many pedestrian crosswalks throughout

406-507: A vast majority of issues and questions at their own meetings, and passed on to their commanders only the most vital of items or when a decision could not be reached. Also, on occasion things were kicked up to the Allied Control Council when a consensus could not be reached on something of crucial importance by the Kommandatura, and perhaps kicked back down when the zonal commanders did not want to be bothered by it. In

464-605: A way that was deemed cost-effective. Because of this, a massive amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7.5% tax on income for individuals and companies (in addition to normal income tax or company tax) known as the Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz (SolZG) or "solidarity surcharge", which though only in effect for 1991–1992 (later reintroduced in 1995 at 7.5 and then dropped down to 5.5% in 1998 and continues to be levied to this day) led to

522-517: A wholesale scale, and had taken most of what was left in the city in terms of agriculture and livestock. The U.S. commandant, Major General Floyd L. Parks , tasked his divisional G5 and later deputy, Colonel Frank L. Howley , to prepare a general plan for the basis of an Allied Kommandatura, based on a Russian proposal. Howley had arrived in Berlin July 1, 1945, as leader of the joint U.S.–British Military Government detachment, although

580-517: The Konzerthaus Kammerorchester . Kurt Sanderling was the longest-serving chief conductor of the orchestra, from 1960 to 1977. Subsequent chief conductors have been Günther Herbig , Claus Peter Flor , Michael Schønwandt (1992–1998), Eliahu Inbal (2001–2006), Lothar Zagrosek , and Iván Fischer . In November 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of Christoph Eschenbach as its next chief conductor, effective with

638-580: The Lord Mayor and the Berlin Magistrat . At the July 11, 1945, meeting, the commandants signed the first of their nearly 1,300 such quadripartite orders. This order particularly favoured Soviet wishes as it reinforced all preexisting Russian regulations and ordinances put in place throughout the city before the western allies arrived: The Inter-Allied Kommandatura has today assumed control over

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696-465: The 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. In July 2021, the orchestra announced the extension of Eschenbach's contract through the 2022–2023 season. He stood down as chief conductor at the close of the 2022–2023 season. Principal guest conductors of the orchestra have included Dmitri Kitayenko . With the 2017–2018 season, Juraj Valčuha became principal guest conductor of the orchestra, following his initial guest-conducting appearance with

754-539: The Allied Kommandatura exceeds 1,200 and even includes agreed loans to Catholic , Protestant , and Jewish churches. We have succeeded in reviving the social and political life of the city. We have guided Berlin Germans to a concept of democracy similar to our own. Howley stated further that there was no success in smoothing over the divide between politics and philosophy. They could not even agree on

812-436: The Allied Kommandatura, where the four-power Council of Commandants began governing the city. One major, initial task remained: where to meet. This was left to the Kommandatura deputies to resolve. The Soviets offered one possible location for Kommandatura headquarters, but it was far removed in a distant Berlin suburb. The British offered several damaged buildings and a hotel in their sector. The Americans initially offered

870-435: The American. Adjacent to each commandant was his deputy and political adviser. Groups of experts on diverse topics rounded out much of the remainder of the personnel in the room, along with translators and clerical staff. The myriad committees met in many of the other rooms in the Kommandatura building, and handled routine work, issued orders to the city government, and worked through items not yet agreed upon. All such work

928-519: The GDR's authority to govern East Berlin. For most of its administrative existence, East Berlin was officially known as Berlin, capital of the GDR ( German : Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR ) by the GDR government. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified , East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin. With the London Protocol of 1944 signed on 12 September 1944,

986-646: The Kommandatura headquarters rotated along with the chairmanship. Inside the Kommandatura the four commandants met in the main conference room, and sat at a large rectangular table with the chairman at the head. If the Union Jack was flying outside the building, the British commandant was at the head of the table, with the French commander to his right, and across the table the Russian representative, and next to him

1044-542: The Kommandatura, much good was accomplished despite the interminable wranglings. The official Four Year Report of the military government of the US sector of Berlin stated that We have succeeded in giving Berlin a complete school reform, which is the basis for the end of class distinction in the city. We have created a city constitution and held city-wide elections under four-power supervision. Nazis were removed from all levels of public influence. The number of agreements at

1102-549: The Soviet point of view, not surprisingly so. Issues would be debated for weeks, and even months. One such issue was Kotikov's Fourteen Points regarding the legal and material position of the workers of Berlin. For eight months the Kommandatura debated this topic making no real headway. Without Kommandatura approval, the Soviet Military Administration issued Order No. 20 in their own sector, making all fourteen points law. This did not sit well with

1160-709: The U.S. did not take over their sector officially until July 12, when the Russians finally moved out. By this time the French had also obtained their own sector in the north of Berlin, carved out of the British sector, but were not invited to participate in the initial meetings. In any case, Howley's plan was in preparation for the first high-level post-war meeting between the Allies regarding Berlin, and outlined conditions for quadripartite governance. General Lucius D. Clay , Eisenhower 's deputy, Robert Murphy , Eisenhower's political adviser , and others flew in to Berlin for

1218-673: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into three occupation zones and to establish a special area of Berlin, which was occupied by the three Allied Forces together. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the whole city that was called "Magistrate of Greater Berlin", which existed until 1947. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administered

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1276-627: The Western Allies protested against a specific Soviet action, the Soviets responded that they were simply abiding some statute or regulation that was already in place before the Americans, British, or French arrived. At first all Kommandatura meetings were strictly at the highest level, meaning the sector commandants. Out of necessity other meetings grew up, including meetings of deputies and committees, etc. The deputies were able to decide

1334-557: The authority of the East German government to govern East Berlin. Official Allied protocol recognized only the authority of the Soviet Union in East Berlin in accordance with the occupation status of Berlin as a whole. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U.S. military and civilian personnel wishing to visit East Berlin. In fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against

1392-413: The beginning meetings were informal, and rules of procedure grew as they went along. The chairmanship changed every two weeks, but later it was monthly. The Soviets won a coin toss at the suggestion of General Parks , and they filled the first chair. The Americans and British followed in rotation, along with the French after about three months. Even the position of the flags on the poles out in front of

1450-422: The breakup. There was a rumored currency reform for the western zones of Germany, which actually did happen later. But unbeknownst to the western allies at the time, the Soviets had planned to blockade Berlin in mere days. In the end, the breakup of the Allied Kommandatura had been a planned work in progress for quite some time, according to Howley, as it suited the purposes of the Soviets, period. It followed

1508-758: The city of Berlin. Until specific notice, all existing regulations and ordinances issued by the Commandant of the Soviet Army Garrison and Military Commandant of the City of Berlin, and by the German administration under Allied control, regulating the order and the conduct of the population of Berlin, and also the liability of the population for the violation of such regulations and ordinances, or for unlawful acts against Allied occupation troops, shall remain in force. Howley would write in 1950 that whenever

1566-556: The city together within the Allied Kommandatura , which served as the governing body of the city. However, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a separate city government was established, which continued to call itself the "Magistrate of Greater Berlin". When the German Democratic Republic

1624-429: The control of potato bugs, "because the boys from Moscow insisted on making potato bugs a political issue—which was the first time I ever knew that a slug comprehended the dialectics of materialism according to Marx ," he said. The Soviets instituted a general blockade of Berlin on June 24, 1948. The western Allies responded with an airlift , the first time such a thing was ever devised, especially to provide for

1682-435: The door with Maximov closely in tow, whilst Ganeval reminded them that Howley had been properly excused. The French chairman indicated that it was indeed Yelizarov who was out of order and not Howley. The Russians departed in a maelstrom of confusion, but the record shows Ganeval closed the meeting due to the departure of the Soviet delegation and not Howley's excused absence. There were likely many things that contributed to

1740-599: The existence of East Berlin. Citywide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all-Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring at the time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. East Berlin reached its highest population in 1988 with 1.28 million. The lowest value

1798-618: The first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. The current Intendant (managing director) of the orchestra is Sebastian Nordmann. Nordmann is scheduled to stand down from the post in the summer of 2025. In May 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Tobias Rempe as its next Intendant , effective in 2025. East Berlin East Berlin ( German : Ost-Berlin ; pronounced [ˈɔstbɛʁˌliːn] )

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1856-605: The first time. The building was in constant use as Kommandatura headquarters until March 15, 1991, when the Two Plus Four Agreement went into effect. The building was formerly the administration building for Public Fire Insurance Carriers in Germany ( Verbandes der öffentlichen Feuerversicherungsanstalten ). It was designed by Heinrich Straumer , designer and builder of the Funkturm Berlin , and

1914-480: The following day. Chairman Ganeval gave permission, and Howley left his deputy, Colonel Babcock , in charge, just as he had done in times past when the situation required it. After Howley's departure, reports state that Colonel Yelizarov , Kotikov's deputy filling in for the supposedly ill Soviet commandant, held an excited, whispered exchange with their political commissar, L. M. Maximov . Yelizarov then stood and took offense at Howley's departure, and labeled it

1972-507: The former East. Following a civic debate about whether the Ampelmännchen should be abolished or disseminated more widely (due to concerns of consistency), several crosswalks in some parts of the former West Berlin began to employ the Ampelmännchen . Twenty-five years after the two cities were reunified, the people of East and West Berlin still had noticeable differences between them, and these differences became more apparent among

2030-404: The goal of the war was the unconditional surrender of Germany . To that end, and during the following many months, the leading Allied powers planned and gave form to the task of dividing Germany, and how to govern her after the war. The London Protocol of September 1944, established the division of Germany into zones of occupation , and the city of Berlin into sectors. Additionally, Berlin

2088-407: The meeting, and subsequently deferred to the Soviets on many issues. Their chief representatives were Marshals Zhukov and Sokolovsky , both of whom, according to Howley, had great experience in moving a situation to their advantage. Howley indicated that the signed "Komandatura agreement put the Soviets in the saddle." The next meeting on July 11, 1945, represented the first actual meeting of

2146-479: The meeting. Berlin's fate was sealed, however, prior to the July 7 meeting. Clay and others let Parks know, in no uncertain terms, that Berlin was to be governed unanimously in all instances. Howley's plan was carefully worked out and allowed governance on a divided basis when unanimity could not be obtained, but Clay was following orders from Washington. General Clay and the British, including Gen. Sir Ronald Weeks and Sir William Strang , were caught flat-footed at

2204-464: The older generations. The two groups also had sometimes-derogatory slang terms to refer to each other. A former East Berliner (or East German) was known as an " Ossi " (from the German word for east, Ost ), and a former West Berliner (or West German) was known as a " Wessi " (from the German word for west, West ). Both sides also engaged in stereotyping the other. A stereotypical Ossi had little ambition or poor work ethic and

2262-401: The orchestra in the 2014–2015 season, and his subsequent return guest-conducting engagement 2 years later. Joana Mallwitz first guest-conducted the orchestra during the 2020–2021 season. In August 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of Mallwitz as its next chief conductor and artistic director, effective with the 2023–2024 season, with an initial contract of five seasons. Mallwitz is

2320-403: The order unless all other delegations agreed to the fourteen points unanimously and issued a quadripartite agreement to the effect of the same for the whole of Berlin. Discussions on this and other issues had dragged on for over thirteen hours at that point, and it was nearing midnight. That's when the American commandant, Colonel Howley, asked to be excused, as he had a heavy schedule planned for

2378-418: The others, nor did it abide the spirit of quadripartite and unanimous city governance. During the Kommandatura meeting of June 16, 1948, the current chairman, French commandant General Ganeval , proposed that the Soviets rescind Order No. 20, so that the fourteen points could be individually reviewed and discussed. Up until that time the Soviets insisted on an all or nothing approach. They refused to rescind

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2436-407: The pattern of the breakup of the Allied Control Council , when three months earlier Marshal Sokolovsky staged the walkout then. For the balance of June, the Soviets did participate in limited quadripartite sub-committee meetings, and their clerical staff remained through July. But as of August 1, 1948, they lowered the red flag, removed their files, and the Soviets were gone for good. After that

2494-535: The presence of the East German National People's Army in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany. Treaties instead used terms such as "seat of government". On 3 October 1990, East and West Germany and East and West Berlin were reunited , thus formally ending

2552-591: The standard established in West Berlin. After reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Under the adopted policy of privatization of state-owned firms under the auspices of the Treuhandanstalt , many East German factories were shut down—which also led to mass unemployment—due to gaps in productivity with and investment compared to West German companies, as well as an inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards in

2610-628: The strains on the East German economy from war reparations owed to the Soviet Union, massive destruction of industry, and lack of assistance from the Marshall Plan . In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop the population exodus by separating West Berlin by the Berlin Wall . It was very dangerous for fleeing residents to cross because armed soldiers were trained to shoot illegal emigrants . East Germany

2668-481: The three western sectors operated independently and unilaterally for a time. They resumed official Kommandatura meetings on November 8, 1948, but then only ever on a tripartite basis. The differences in goals and methods of the East and the West, which came face to face in Kommandatura counsels so frequently, and which usually clashed, have their roots elsewhere. But despite the stark philosophical divide that existed at

2726-426: The translators. Notes flowed constantly from the myriad advisers in the room to the commandants. Howley intimated he likely would have never lasted without those notes. As time passed, the quadripartite meetings of the Kommandatura got more and more heated and cantankerous. The western allied representatives were more or less unified in their view of how Berlin was to be governed, which often starkly contrasted with

2784-538: Was a socialist republic . Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities. In the 1970s, the wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell. The Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc recognized East Berlin as the GDR's capital. However, Western Allies (the United States , United Kingdom , and France ) never formally acknowledged

2842-732: Was chronically bitter, while a stereotypical Wessi was arrogant, selfish, impatient and pushy. At the time of German reunification , East Berlin comprised the boroughs of Allied Kommandatura The Allied Kommandatura , or often just Kommandatura , also known as the Alliierte Kommandantur in German, was the governing body for the city of Berlin following Germany 's defeat in World War II . The victorious allied powers established control of post-war Germany and other territories via shared Military Government councils, including for Berlin. The Kommandatura

2900-599: Was cumbersome, but obviously necessary. Each commandant had translators selected for him by the respective Chiefs of Staff to handle the various parts of the discussion. These stood behind each respective commandant. When the American spoke, it was translated into French by the Frenchman's translator, and into Russian from the French by the Soviet commandant's translator. The Russian translator did not understand English, but spoke excellent Russian and French. Each commandant would speak in staccato fashion to make easier work for

2958-562: Was established in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital—a claim that was recognized by all communist countries . Nevertheless, East Berlin's representatives to the Volkskammer were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981. In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked , and East Berliners were not allowed to emigrate. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960, caused by

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3016-474: Was in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was built, with under 1.06 million registered. The figures in the following table, unless otherwise indicated, are from the official central statistical office of East Germany. Since reunification, the German government has spent vast amounts of money on reintegrating the two halves of the city and bringing services and infrastructure in the former East Berlin up to

3074-693: Was often known as the little brother to the Allied Control Council , which had the same function for the whole of Germany, and was subordinate to it. It originally comprised representatives from the United States , the United Kingdom , and the Soviet Union but later included France . The Kommandatura had its home in the Berlin district of Dahlem . President Roosevelt declared at the Casablanca Conference in early 1943 that

3132-491: Was recorded by the state classical recording company Eterna Records . After German reunification in 1989, the orchestra was threatened with dissolution, but subscriber action maintained the ensemble. The orchestra acquired its current name in 2006. (This orchestra is separate from the West-Berlin based Berliner Symphoniker , founded in 1967.) The Konzerthausorchester Berlin currently has, as its sister chamber orchestra,

3190-424: Was sent to the deputies at their respective meetings twice a month in the main conference room. Many such items were scrutinized for presentation at the commandants' meetings. There was so much work to get through, they had to develop a streamlined procedure to reduce everything to the bare essentials, else they "would have been swamped by bitter international wranglings," Howley states. Language translation itself

3248-456: Was the partially recognised capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Soviet occupation sector of Berlin . The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin . From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall . The Western Allied powers did not recognize East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor

3306-442: Was to be governed by an Allied Komendatura (sic). The Soviets fought for and captured Berlin by the beginning of May 1945, and set up camp not only their own sector, but took control over the whole of Greater Berlin . The U.S. and British entered Berlin later, on July 1, and July 24, respectively. By that time the Soviets had plundered and pillaged the western sectors of Berlin. They had removed vital industrial infrastructure on

3364-535: Was used in East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) also contrasts markedly with the urban development styles employed in the former West Berlin. Additionally, the former East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) retains a small number of its GDR-era street and place names commemorating German socialist heroes, such as Karl-Marx-Allee , Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz , and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße . Many such names, however, were deemed inappropriate (for various reasons) and, through decommunization , changed after

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