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88-794: Spandau ( German: [ˈʃpandaʊ̯] ) is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs ( Bezirke ) of Berlin , situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel . It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land area. Modern industries in Spandau include metalworking, and chemical and electrical factories. BMW Motorrad 's Spandau factory made all BMW's motorcycles from 1969 until final assembly plants were added in Rayong , Thailand, in 2000, and Manaus , Brazil, in 2016. Rathaus Spandau , Spandau's seat of government,

176-583: A certain grade of autonomy—though in no way comparable to the German Landkreise districts or independent cities , nor even to the local government of a common municipality as a legal entity, as according to the Berlin Constitution the legal status of the city as a German state itself is that of a unified municipality ( Einheitsgemeinde ). The power of the borough governments is limited and their performance of assigned tasks

264-481: A complete lack of condiments and fresh fruit. Many migrants had flocked into Berlin to work in industry and the government ministries, which made for overcrowded housing. Reduced coal supplies left everyone in the cold. Daily life involved long working hours, poor health, and little or no recreation, as well as increasing anxiety for the safety of loved ones in the Army and in prisoner of war camps. The men who returned from

352-555: A district board ( Bezirksamt ) led by a district mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister ), elected by the assembly representatives. The district board is in charge of most administrative matters affecting its residents, but its decisions can be revoked by the Berlin Senate . The district mayors form a council of mayors ( Rat der Bürgermeister ) led by the city's governing mayor, which advises the Berlin Senate. Each borough

440-544: A mayor appointed by the city council. It comprised 144 members elected in 48 wards by universal manhood suffrage. It handled the water supply and sanitation, streets, hospitals and charitable operations and schools. In 1870, the sanitary conditions in Berlin were among the worst in Europe. August Bebel recalled conditions before a modern sewer system was built in the late 1870s: The primitive conditions were intolerable for

528-639: A number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD, the Burgundians followed. A large part of the Germanic tribes left the region around 500 AD. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. Today their traces can mainly be found at plateaus or next to waters. Their main settlements were today's Spandau and Köpenick . No Slavic traces could be found in

616-591: A row from 1979 to 1992, and winner of the German cup twelve times and won the European Cup in 1982, 1985, 1986 and 1989. He is currently the president of the association (as of 2020). The team's home games do not take place in the district, but in the Sportzentrum Schöneberg . For 2027, the team plans to move to the then newly constructed arena in Spandau. In 1939, LSV Spandau won the title of

704-600: A showcase for Nazi Germany (though the Games had been given to Germany before 1933). In order to not alienate the foreign visitors, the "forbidden for Jews" signs were temporarily removed. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which numbered 160,000 before the Nazis came to power. After the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned. Around 1939, there were still 75,000 Jews living in Berlin. The majority of German Jews in Berlin were taken to

792-493: A world national capital, and the Imperial government brought in its scientists, engineers and urban planners to not only solve the deficiencies but to forge the world's model city. A British expert in 1906 concluded that Berlin represented "the most complete application of science, order and method of public life," adding "it is a marvel of civic administration, the most modern and most perfectly organized city that there is." In

880-426: Is Neukölln (154,127 inhabitants in 2009), the least populated is Malchow (450 inhabitants in 2008). Note that the coats of arms shown for localities in the tables below are historical and no longer in official use, having lost their validity upon incorporation into Greater Berlin or new districts. History of Berlin#West and East Germany (1945–1990) The history of Berlin starts with its foundation in

968-465: Is directly elected by the borough's population and therefore acts as a borough parliament , though it is officially part of the executive . It elects the members of the borough council, checks its daily administration, and is able to make applications and recommendations. The twelve borough mayors regularly meet in the Council of Mayors ( Rat der Bürgermeister ), led by the city's Governing Mayor ;

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1056-408: Is divided into twelve boroughs ( Bezirke ), reduced from twenty-three boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. An administrative reform in 2001 merged all but three of the existing boroughs into the current 12 boroughs, as listed below. The three boroughs that were not affected were Spandau , Reinickendorf and Neukölln , as the population of each was already exceeding 200,000. All

1144-501: Is made up of several officially recognized subdistricts or neighborhoods ( Ortsteile in German, sometimes called quarters in English). The number of neighborhoods that form a borough varies considerably, ranging from two ( Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg ) to fifteen ( Treptow-Köpenick ). These neighborhoods typically have a historical identity as former independent cities, villages, or rural municipalities that were united in 1920 as part of

1232-482: Is not clear which settlement is older and when they got German town rights . Berlin is mentioned as a town for the first time in 1251 and Cölln in 1261. The year 1237 was later taken as the year of founding as the first recorded mention of Cölln is from that year. The first mention of Berlin dates to 1244 The two settlements formally merged into the town of Berlin-Cölln in 1432. Albert the Bear also bequeathed to Berlin

1320-510: Is subject to regulatory supervision by the Senate. Nevertheless, the twelve self-governing boroughs have constitutional status and are themselves subdivided into two administrative bodies: each is governed by the borough assembly ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung , BVV) and a full-time borough council ( Bezirksamt ), consisting of five councilors ( Bezirksstadträte ) and headed by a borough mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister ). The BVV assembly

1408-551: Is the district council ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung ). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: The district mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister ) is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Carola Brückner of

1496-539: The Berlin Airlift . Since 1995 the airfield has been the Gatow Museum of Military History . Outside Berlin, Spandau borders the districts ( Kreis ) of Oberhavel to the north, and Havelland to the west, and the city of Potsdam , Brandenburg , to the southwest. Within Berlin, it borders the boroughs of Steglitz-Zehlendorf to the south, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf to the east, and Reinickendorf to

1584-606: The Communist Party of Germany ( Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands , KPD). In January 1919 it tried to seize power in the Spartacist revolt . The coup failed and at the end of the month right-wing Freikorps forces killed the Communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht . In March 1920 Wolfgang Kapp , founder of the right-wing German Fatherland Party ( Deutsche Vaterlands-Partei ), tried to bring down

1672-587: The German Army . In 1920, Spandau (whose name had been changed from Spandow in 1878) was incorporated into Greater Berlin as a borough. During World War II , Spandau was the location of a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , mostly for Polish and Hungarian women. After World War II, it was part of the British sector of West Berlin . Spandau Prison , which had been rebuilt in 1876,

1760-654: The Greater Berlin Act , forming the basis for the present-day city and state. The neighborhoods do not have their own governmental bodies but are recognized by the city and the boroughs for planning and statistical purposes. Berliners often identify more with the neighborhood where they live than with the borough that governs them. The neighborhoods are further subdivided into statistical tracts, which are mainly used for planning and statistical purposes. The statistical tracts correspond roughly but not exactly with neighborhoods recognized by residents. When Greater Berlin

1848-489: The Greater Berlin Act of 1920 . The districts are financially dependent on state donations, as they neither possess any taxation power nor own any property. This is contrast to municipalities and counties in other German states, which are territorial corporations ( Gebietskörperschaften ) with autonomous functions and property. Each district is administered by a representatives' assembly ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung ), directly elected by proportional representation, and

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1936-461: The Lower Rhine in the earliest days of the city makes this likely. A derivation from Slavic kol'no , related to a word meaning "stake, pale, post", cannot be completely excluded. Contrary to folk etymology, the name is not related to bears (German sg. Bär ), even though the city was allegedly founded by Albert the Bear , the first Margrave of Brandenburg. A relationship between Albert and

2024-615: The Margraviate of Brandenburg , which he ruled until 1440. Subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and finally as German emperors. When Berlin became the residence of the Hohenzollerns, it had to give up its Hanseatic League free city status. Its main economical activity changed from trade to the production of luxurious goods for

2112-514: The Nazi Party won its first seats in the city parliament. Nazi Propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels became Gauleiter (party district leader) of Berlin in 1926. On July 20, 1932, the Prussian government under Otto Braun in Berlin was dismissed by presidential decree. The republic was nearing its breakdown, under attack by extreme forces from the right and the left. On January 30, 1933, Hitler

2200-644: The Thirty Years' War , Spandau was surrendered to the Swedes . In 1806, after the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt , French troops under Napoleon took possession of the city and stayed there until 1807. In 1812, Napoleon returned, and the Citadel was besieged the following year by Prussian and Russian troops. From 1849 the poet and revolutionary Gottfried Kinkel was an inmate of Spandau town prison, until he

2288-522: The "Royal Capital and Residence of Berlin". As Prussia grew, so too did Berlin, and the kings made it the centerpiece of culture and the arts, as well as the Army. Under King Friedrich Wilhelm I (reigned 1713–40), Berlin's growth was encouraged by his determination to build a great military power. More men were needed, so he promoted immigration of Protestants from across Germany as well as France and Switzerland. He introduced universal primary education so that his soldiers could read and write. In 1720 he built

2376-600: The 12th century. It became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1237, and later of Brandenburg-Prussia , and the Kingdom of Prussia . Prussia grew about rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries and formed the basis of the German Empire in 1871. The empire would survive until 1918 when it was defeated in World War I . After 1900 Berlin became a major world city, known for its leadership roles in science,

2464-509: The Bear") took possession of the region. 1197 marked the first mention as Spandowe in a deed of Otto II, Margrave of Brandenburg – thus forty years earlier than the Cölln part of medieval Berlin. Spandau was given city rights in 1232. During Ascanian rule the construction of Spandau Citadel began, which was completed between 1559 and 1594 by Joachim II of Brandenburg . In 1558 the village of Gatow became part of Spandau. In 1634, during

2552-707: The Berlin Wall fell, and the city was reunified. This marked the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era in Berlin's history. After reunification, Berlin underwent a process of rapid transformation, as the city worked to rebuild and modernize its infrastructure and economy. Many new businesses and cultural institutions were established, and the city became a center of creativity and innovation. By 2000, Berlin comprised twenty-three boroughs, as three new boroughs had been created in East Berlin . Today Berlin

2640-605: The Berlin population. A third of them were poor immigrants from Eastern Europe, who lived mainly in the Scheunenviertel near Alexanderplatz . The Jews were persecuted from the beginning of the Nazi regime. In March, all Jewish doctors had to leave the Charité hospital. In the first week of April, Nazi officials ordered the German population not to buy from Jewish shops. The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin and used as

2728-511: The British blockade of Germany cut off supplies of essential raw materials and foodstuffs, while the conscription of so many farmers (and horses) reduced the food supply. Likewise, the drafting of miners reduced the main energy source, coal. The textile factories produced Army uniforms, and warm clothing for civilians ran short. The device of using replacement materials, such as paper and cardboard for cloth and leather proved unsatisfactory. Soap

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2816-699: The English New Romantic band Spandau Ballet again re-purposed the term for its name. The history of Spandau begins in the 7th century or 8th century, when the Slav Heveller first settled in the area and later built a fortress there. It was conquered in 928 by the German King Henry I , but returned to Slavic rule after the rebellion of 983. In 1156, the Ascanian Earl Albrecht von Ballenstedt ("Albrecht

2904-733: The Grunewald railway station in early 1943 and shipped in stock cars to death camps such as the Auschwitz , where most were murdered in the Holocaust . Only some 1200 Jews survived in Berlin by hiding. Approximately 800 Jews survived in Berlin's Jewish Hospital. Causes for their survival include bureaucratic infighting, hospital director Dr. Walter Lustig's relationship with Adolf Eichmann, the Nazis' bizarre system for classifying persons of partly Jewish ancestry, German leader Adolf Hitler's ambivalence about how to handle Jews of German descent, and

2992-554: The Lassallean ADAV finally gained strength; it joined together with the Social Democratic Worker's Party (SDAP) in 1874. Henceforth the city's labor movement supported radical socialism and gained preeminence within the German labor movement. Germany had universal manhood suffrage after 1871, but the government was controlled by hostile forces, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried to undermine or destroy

3080-661: The Protestant churches. Adult attendance at Sunday church services in the early 20th century was 6% in Berlin, compared to 22% in London and 37% in New York. The phase of German Romanticism after Jena Romanticism is often called Berlin Romanticism (see also Heidelberg Romanticism ). Notable representatives of the movement include Friedrich Schleiermacher , Wilhelm von Humboldt and Alexander von Humboldt . After

3168-516: The Protestants among them largely abandoned the religious practices of their old villages. The labor unions promoted anticlericalism, and denounced the Protestant churches as aloof from the needs of the working class. However, the Catholic workers remained somewhat closer to their traditional churches, which featured liturgies that were more appealing to workers than wordy intellectual sermons at

3256-477: The SPD was elected mayor on 4 November 2021. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows: The Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 have traditionally been an immensely powerful water polo team. They have been the most successful ball sports team in Europe with 85 national and international titles. Hagen Stamm , longtime captain of the team, was German champion fourteen times in

3344-638: The South-West. In terms of high culture, museums were being built and enlarged, and Berlin was on the verge of becoming a major musical city. Berlin dominated the German theater scene, with the government-supported Opernhaus and Schauspielhaus, as well as numerous private playhouses included the Lessing and the Deutsches theatres. They featured the modern plays of Ernst von Wildenbruch , Hermann Sudermann , and Gerhart Hauptmann . who managed to work around

3432-733: The United States, Britain, and France, and the Eastern sector controlled by the Soviet Union. In 1961, the SED built the Berlin Wall to divide the city, effectively separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. Three new boroughs were created in East Berlin: Marzahn was split off from Lichtenberg in 1979, Hohenschönhausen from Weissensee in 1985, and Hellersdorf from Marzahn in 1986. In 1989,

3520-490: The ascent of a whole people to the heights." At the same time, there was a level of anxiety; most commentators predicted the short victorious war – but that hope was dashed in a matter of weeks, as the invasion of Belgium bogged down and the French Army held in front of Paris. The Western Front became a killing machine, as neither army moved more than a ten thousand yards at a time. There had been no preparations before

3608-601: The center of European power politics. The imperial government and the military establishment expanded dramatically, bringing together the landed junker nobility, the rich bankers and industrialists, and the most talented scientists and scholars. In 1884 came the parliament building, the Reichstag . Municipal government was handled in two parts. The ministry of police reported to the Prussian government and took control of crime, markets, and fire fighting. The civil government had

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3696-517: The city center of Berlin. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. At the end of the 12th century German merchants founded the first settlements in today's city center, called Berlin around modern Nikolaiviertel and Cölln , on the island in the Spree now known as the Spreeinsel or Museum Island . It

3784-551: The city instead built giant concrete towers as bases for anti-aircraft guns. Today only a few structures remain from the Nazi era, such as the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (National Ministry of Aviation), Tempelhof International Airport , and Olympiastadion . Hitler's Reich Chancellery was demolished by Soviet occupation authorities. Initially Berlin was at the extreme range of British bombers and attacks had to be made in clear skies during summer, increasing

3872-596: The city's first major hospital and medical school, the Charité , now the largest teaching hospital in Europe. The city was now mainly a garrison and an armoury, for the crown heavily subsidised arms manufacturers in the capital, laying the foundations for the mechanics, engineers, technicians, and entrepreneurs who were to turn Berlin into an industrial powerhouse. The old defensive walls and moats were now useless, so they were torn down. A new customs wall (the Zoll- und Akzisemauer )

3960-469: The city; Berlin's population doubled overnight from about 2 to nearly 4 million inhabitants. In 1922: The foreign minister Walther Rathenau was assassinated in Berlin, and half a million people attended his funeral. The economic situation was bad. Germany owed reparation money after the Treaty of Versailles . The sums were reduced and paid using loans from New York banks. In response to French occupation,

4048-527: The coat-of-arms (showing a bear) has not been reliably proven. The oldest human traces, mainly arrowheads, in the area of later Berlin are dating to the 9th millennium BC. During Neolithic times a large number of villages existed in the area. During the Bronze Age it belonged to the Lusatian culture . For the time around 500 BC the presence of Germanic tribes can be evidenced for the first time in form of

4136-422: The coats of arms of Berliner boroughs (the current as of the ones in the period 1990 to 2001) have some common points: The shield has a Spanish form and the coronet is represented by a mural crown : 3 towers in red bricks with the coat of arms of Berlin in the middle. Most of the coats of arms of current boroughs have changed some elements in their field : Some of them have created a "fusion" of themes of

4224-561: The council answers to and advises the Senate. The localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher , were taken over by the borough mayors. People who live in the former West Berlin tend to vote for the CDU and the SPD, While voters in the former East Berlin tend to vote for Linke and the AfD. As of 2012,

4312-472: The court. In 1701, Elector Frederick III (1688–1701) crowned himself as Frederick I (1701–1713), King in Prussia . He was mostly interested in decorum : he ordered the building of the castle Charlottenburg in the west of the city. He made Berlin the capital of the new kingdom of Prussia. On 1 January 1710, the cities of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt were united as

4400-471: The emblem of the bear, which has appeared on its coat of arms ever since. Between 1373 and 1415, it was part of the Bohemian Crown Lands . By the year 1400 Berlin and Cölln had 8,000 inhabitants. A great town center fire in 1380 damaged most written records of those early years, as did the great devastation of the Thirty Years' War 1618–1648. In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of

4488-399: The fact that the Nazis needed a place to treat Jews. Thirty kilometers (19 mi) northwest of Berlin, near Oranienburg , was Sachsenhausen concentration camp , where mainly political opponents, Jews, Poles, Russian prisoners of war, etc. were incarcerated. Tens of thousands died there. In Berlin, Sachsenhausen had 17 subcamps for men and women, including teenagers, near industries, where

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4576-538: The first German basketball championship , which was won by a clear 47:16 victory over Bad Kreuznach . After 1945, the association was dissolved. Spandau is twinned with: Boroughs of Berlin Since 2001, Berlin has been made up of twelve districts, each with its own administrative body. However because Berlin is a single municipality ( Einheitsgemeinde ), its districts have limited power, acting only as agencies of Berlin's state and city governments as laid out in

4664-465: The first time hired women for clerical positions. Factories hired them for unskilled labor – by December 1917, half the workers in chemicals, metals, and machine tools were women. Laws protecting women in the workplace were relaxed, and factories set up canteens to provide food for their workers, lest their productivity fall off. The food situation in 1918 was better, because the harvest was better, but serious shortages continued, with high prices, and

4752-616: The front were those who had been permanently crippled; wounded soldiers who recovered were sent back to the trenches. At the end of World War I , monarchy and aristocracy were overthrown and Germany became a republic, known as the Weimar Republic . Berlin remained the capital but faced a series of threats from the far left and far right. In late 1918 politicians inspired by the Communist Revolution in Russia founded

4840-424: The government reacted by printing so much money that inflation was enormous. Especially pensioners lost their savings; everyone else lost their debts. At the worst point of the inflation, one dollar was worth about 4.2 trillion marks. From 1924 onwards the situation became better because of newly arranged agreements with the allied forces, American help, and a sounder fiscal policy. The heyday of Berlin began. It became

4928-526: The government. The Berlin garrison chose his side, and the government buildings were occupied (the government had already left Berlin). A general strike stopped the putsch being successful. On October 1, 1920: The Greater Berlin Act created "Greater Berlin" ( Groß-Berlin ) by incorporating several neighboring towns and villages like Charlottenburg , Köpenick or Spandau from the Province of Brandenburg into

5016-605: The highly efficient, well-trained civil service. The bureaucracy and military expanded even faster when Berlin became the capital of unified Germany in 1871. the population grew rapidly, from 172,000 in 1800, to 826,000 in 1870. In 1861, outlying industrial suburbs such as Wedding , Moabit , and several others were incorporated into the city. By 1900 about 85% of the people were classified as Protestants, 10% as Roman Catholics and 5% as Jews. Berlin's middle and upper classes were generally devout Protestants. The working classes increasingly became secularized. When workers moved to Berlin

5104-425: The humanities, music, museums, higher education, government, diplomacy and military affairs. It also had a role in manufacturing and finance. During World War II, bombing, artillery, and ferocious street-by-street fighting destroyed large parts of Berlin. Berlin was subsequently divided among the four major Allied powers and for over four decades it encapsulated the Cold War confrontation between West and East. With

5192-423: The inner city. By war's end up to a third of Berlin had been destroyed by concerted Allied air raids, Soviet artillery, and street fighting. The so-called Stunde Null —zero hour—marked a new beginning for the city. Greater Berlin was divided into four sectors by the Allies under the London Protocol of 1944 , as follows: The Soviet victors of the Battle of Berlin immediately occupied all of Berlin. They handed

5280-422: The largest industrial city on the continent. People like the architect Walter Gropius , physicist Albert Einstein , painter George Grosz and writers Arnold Zweig , Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Tucholsky made Berlin one of the major cultural centers of Europe. Brecht spent productive years in Weimar-era Berlin (1930–1933) working with his ‘collective’ on the Lehrstücke. Nightlife bloomed in 1920s Berlin. In 1922

5368-414: The late 1930s Hitler and his architect Albert Speer made plans for the new Berlin—a world city or Welthauptstadt Germania . All the projects were to be of gigantic size. Adjacent to the Reichstag, Speer planned to construct the Volkshalle (The People's Hall), 250 m high, with an enormous copper dome. It would be large enough to hold 170,000 people. From the People's Hall, a southbound avenue

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5456-470: The meantime, Berlin had become an industrial city with 800,000 inhabitants. Improvements to the infrastructure were needed; in 1896 the construction of the subway ( U-Bahn ) began and was completed in 1902. The neighborhoods around the city center (including Kreuzberg , Prenzlauer Berg , Friedrichshain and Wedding ) were filled with tenement blocks. The surroundings saw extensive development of industrial areas East of Berlin and wealthy residential areas in

5544-403: The merged Bezirke (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Lichtenberg, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg); others have modified their themes taken from one of the two (or more) former merged boroughs (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Mitte and Treptow-Köpenick). Only the unchanged boroughs of Neukölln, Reinickendorf and Spandau have not changed their field. The coat of arms of Pankow

5632-473: The name with a definite article ("der Berlin"), it appears to have referred originally to a specific piece of land. Similar to other Slavic-derived German toponyms ending in -in , the name is consistently stressed on this suffix. The name of the city's other historic kernel, Kölln , is likely derived from Cologne , called Köln in German, whose name ultimately stems from the Latin colonia "colony, new planned settlement". The prominent role of merchants from

5720-412: The northeast. Its land area of 91.91 km (35.49 sq mi) is the fourth-largest of the twelve boroughs. Spandau Borough is divided into nine quarters ( Ortsteile ) : As of 2010, Spandau had a population of 223,962, the smallest of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. 62,000 of those were migrants or other non-ethnic Germans, comprising 27% of Spandau's population. The governing body of Spandau

5808-429: The population reached 100,000, including 26,000 soldiers. Stagnation followed under the rule of Frederick William II , 1786–97. He had no use for the Enlightenment, but did develop innovative techniques of censorship and repression of political enemies. Prussian mercantilist policies supported manufacturing enterprises and Berlin had numerous small workshops. Lacking waterpower, Berlin entrepreneurs were early pioneers in

5896-442: The prisoners had to work. The prisoners were of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian. There was also a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. In

5984-400: The puritanical censorship imposed by the Berlin police. Berlin, with its large numbers of industrial workers by 1871 became the headquarters for most of the national labor organizations, and the favorite meeting place for labor intellectuals. Inside the city, the unions had a turbulent history. The conservative aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 drained their strength, and internal bickering

6072-453: The quick victory of an alliance of German states over France in the 1870 war , the German Empire was established in 1871. Bismarck had fought and succeeded in leaving out Austria, Prussia's long standing competitor, and Prussia became the largest and by far most influential state in the new German Empire, and in turn Germany became the most powerful nation in Europe. Wilhelm I became emperor ("Kaiser"). Bismarck became Chancellor and made Berlin

6160-399: The railway system that connected Berlin to its neighboring cities and villages was electrified and transformed into the S-Bahn, and a year later Tempelhof airport was opened. Berlin was the second biggest inland harbor in the country. All this infrastructure was needed to transport and feed the over 4 million Berliners. Before the 1929 crash, 450,000 people were unemployed. In the same year,

6248-473: The reunification of Germany in 1990, Berlin was restored as the capital and as a major world city. The name Berlin is of Slavic origin, formed from a root *berl-/*brl- , enlarged by a suffix -in which is still common in modern Slavic languages. The meaning of the root is somewhat obscure, lacking clear cognates in other languages, but usually interpreted as "bog, swamp", due to similar and obviously Slavic toponyms in Eastern Germany. As early sources mention

6336-549: The risk to the attackers. Better bombers came into service in 1942 but most of the British bombing effort that year was spent in support of the Battle of the Atlantic against German submarines. The Battle of Berlin itself has been well chronicled. Destruction of buildings and infrastructure was nearly total in parts of the inner city business and residential sectors. The outlying sections suffered relatively little damage. This averages to one fifth of all buildings, and 50% in

6424-473: The twelve boroughs are made up of a total of 97 officially recognized neighborhoods or localities ( Ortsteile ). Almost all of these are further subdivided into several other zones (defined in German as Ortslagen, Teile, Stadtviertel, Orte etc.). The largest Ortsteil is Köpenick (34.9 km or 13.5 sq mi), the smallest one is Hansaviertel (53 ha or 130 acres). The most populated

6512-537: The union movement. The " spirit of 1914 " was the enthusiastic support of many of the educated middle- and upper-class elements of the population for the war when it first broke out in 1914. In the Reichstag, the vote for war credits was unanimous, with all the Social Democrats joining in. One professor testified to a "great single feeling of moral elevation of soaring of religious sentiment, in short,

6600-406: The use of steam engines after 1815. Textiles, clothing, farm equipment, railway gear, chemicals and machinery were especially important; electrical machinery became important after 1880. Berlin's central position after 1850 in the fast-growing German railway network facilitated the supply of raw materials and distribution of manufactures. As the administrative role of the Prussian state grew, so did

6688-477: The war, and no stockpiles of essential goods. Industry was in chaos, unemployment soared while it took months to reconvert to munitions productions. In 1916, the Hindenburg Program called for the mobilization of all economic resources to produce artillery, shells, and machine guns. Church bells and copper roofs were ripped out and melted down. Conditions on the homefront worsened month by month, for

6776-665: Was 51% in 1916, and none at all by late 1917. The rations for cheese, butter, rice, cereals, eggs and lard were less than 20% of peacetime levels. In 1917 the harvest was poor, and the potato supply ran short, and Germans substituted almost inedible turnips; the "turnip winter" of 1917–18 was remembered with bitter distaste for generations. German women were not employed in the Army, but large numbers took paid employment in industry and factories, and even larger numbers engaged in volunteer services. Housewives were taught how to cook without milk, eggs or fat; agencies helped widows find work. Banks, insurance companies and government offices for

6864-492: Was alleged to have set afire the Reichstag building (a fire which was later believed to have been set by the Nazis themselves); the fire gave Hitler the opportunity to set aside the constitution. Tens of thousands of political opponents fled into exile or were imprisoned. All civic organizations, except the churches, came under Nazi control. Around 1933, some 160,000 Jews were living in Berlin: one third of all German Jews, 4% of

6952-591: Was appointed Chancellor of Germany . By 1931, the Great Depression had severely damaged the city's economy. Politics were in chaos, as militias controlled by the Nazis and the Communists fought for control of the streets. President Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor in January 1933, and the Nazis quickly moved to take complete control of the entire nation. On February 27, 1933, a left-wing radical

7040-829: Was built further out, punctuated by 14 ornate gates. Inside the gates were parade grounds for Friedrich Wilhelm's soldiers: the Karree at the Brandenburg gate (now Pariserplatz), the Oktagon at the Potsdam gate (now Leipzigerplatz), the Wilhelmplatz on Wilhelmstrasse (abolished in the 1980s) and several others. In 1740, Frederick the Great (Frederick II) began his 46-year reign. He was an enlightened monarch, who patronized Enlightenment thinkers like Moses Mendelssohn . By 1755

7128-570: Was built in 1913. Other landmarks include the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel , the 1848 St. Marien am Behnitz Catholic church designed by August Soller , and Spandau arsenal . That arsenal's Spandau machine gun inspired the slang Spandau Ballet to describe dying soldiers on barbed wire during the First World War , and later was applied to the appearance of Nazi war criminals at Spandau Prison . In 1979,

7216-504: Was characteristic of the 1850s and 1860s. Many locals were under the control of reformist, bourgeois leaders who competed with each other and had a negative view of Marxism and socialist internationalism. They concentrated on wages, hours and control of the workplace, and gave little support to national organizations such as the Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiterverein (ADAV) founded in 1863. By the 1870s, however,

7304-456: Was created with a new design in 2008, having been the only district without an emblem for 7 years. The borough government is part of the two-tier administration of the Berlin city-state , whereby the Senate and its affiliated agencies, institutions, and municipal enterprises form the first tier of the so-called Hauptverwaltung (central administration). In the second tier, the boroughs enjoy

7392-469: Was established in 1920, the city was organized into twenty boroughs, most of which were named after their largest component neighborhood, often a former city or municipality; others, such as Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg , were named for geographic features. Minor changes to borough boundaries were made in 1938. After World War II, Berlin was divided into four sectors, with the Western sectors controlled by

7480-414: Was freed by his friend Carl Schurz in the night of 6 November 1850. Before World War I , Spandau was a seat of large government cannon foundries , factories for making gunpowder and other munitions of war, making it a centre of the arms industry in the German Empire . It was also a garrison town with numerous barracks , home of the 5th Guard Infantry Brigade and the 5th Guard Foot Regiment of

7568-473: Was in short supply, as was hot water. Morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink but using the slogan of "sharing scarcity" the Berlin bureaucracy ran an efficient rationing system nevertheless. The food supply increasingly focused on potatoes and bread as it was harder and harder to buy meat. Rationing was installed, and soup kitchens were opened. The meat ration in late 1916 was only 31% of peacetime, and it fell to 12% in late 1918. The fish ration

7656-504: Was planned, the Avenue of Victory, 23 m wide and 5.6 kilometers (3.5 mi) long. At the other end there would have been the new railway station, and next to it Tempelhof Airport . Halfway down the avenue there would have been a huge arch 117 m high, commemorating those fallen during the world wars. With the completion of these projects (planned for 1950), Berlin was to be renamed "Germania." The war postponed all construction, as

7744-584: Was used to house Nazi war criminals given custodial sentences at the Nuremberg Trials . After the death of Spandau Prison's last inmate, Rudolf Hess , in 1987, it was completely demolished by the Allied powers and later replaced by a shopping mall . Gatow airfield , in the south of the district, was used by the Royal Air Force during the post-war Allied occupation, most notably during

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