Which city became the capital of Germany? Berlin from above: the old-new capital of Germany - Gelio (Slava Stepanov) - LiveJournal

Berlin is the most beautiful city in Europe

In recent years, Berlin has attracted the attention of a huge number of tourists from around the world, and this is not at all accidental. The capital of Germany has long held the unofficial title of not only one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but also the scientific and cultural capital of the world.

Etymology of the word

The word “Berlin” itself has been causing controversy among historians and linguists for centuries. The thing is that the capital of Germany was previously a small village inhabited mainly by Slavs. Therefore, most foreign researchers believe that the etymological basis of this word is the Slavic “birl”, that is, swamps, swamps. The residents of Berlin themselves are sure that this name comes from the German “ber” - bear, because once upon a time this region was literally swarming with these predators. Only one thing is certain: the first mention of this city dates back to the mid-13th century in connection with a story in chronicles about a small settlement at the confluence of the Spree and Havel rivers.

Alexanderplatz is the geographical center of the capital of Germany

The geographical center of the city should be recognized as the famous Alexanderplatz square - one of the most beautiful in the world. With this name, the capital of Germany supposedly reminds everyone of the assistance that Russia then provided to Prussia, freeing it from Napoleon’s troops. This square received its name in honor of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, who led the Russian army during the famous foreign campaign.

Berlin TV Tower - a modern symbol of the city

Next to the square is one of the modern symbols of Berlin - the TV tower, which is considered one of the tallest in the world. Every day thousands of tourists climb it to get the opportunity to enjoy an unforgettable spectacle - to look at the city from a bird's eye view.

Along Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate

The main street of the city has been Unter den Linden for centuries. It received its name due to the fact that, by order of the founder of the Prussian kingdom, Friedrich Wilhelm, more than two thousand linden trees were planted here, which gave this highway its unique charm. One end of Unter den Linden abuts the mighty Brandenburg Gate. Built at the end of the 18th century, they have seen many triumphs and defeats. It was through them that brave German soldiers passed and allies entered, striving for the capital of Germany to bow its head before them.

The Reichstag in Berlin is a symbol of Russian courage

Just a few minutes' walk from the Brandenburg Gate there is another memorable building - the German parliament building. The Reichstag in Berlin is a true masterpiece of architecture, but for Russia it is a symbol of the Great Victory. By the way, it is for this reason that the German national flag is currently not flying on the central dome of the Reichstag; the symbols of the state are hung only on the sides of this structure.

The attractive power of the capital. City of Berlin

Germany has been attracting millions of researchers and tourists for many years. It is in the capital that you can get acquainted with the famous German style, admire the magnificent German culture and plunge into the maelstrom of secrets of European history.

Now let's move south to Bavaria. 90 km south of Munich, not far from the border with Austria, is the fabulous village of Oberammergau craftsmen, which has not lost its cultural and historical identity over several centuries. The population of the commune is only 5,000 people, and this figure pales in comparison to the 500 thousand tourists who visit these places throughout the year. The main attraction of the village is the Theater of the Passion of Christ, which attracts a large number of spectators to thematic performances.

In the vicinity of the southern Bavarian city of Fussen, surrounded by pristine nature, is Hohenschwangau Castle, which offers stunning views of the German Alps (it is also called the High Swan Castle of Wittelsbach). Opposite is Neuschwanstein Castle, fascinating with its graceful beauty, as if floating above the mountain ranges. This magnificent structure seems to have come straight out of the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale; it reminds Bavarians of the days of the eccentric King Ludwig II, who ruled the region from 1864 to 1886.

Do you want to see the most ambitious project of the Middle Ages? Then welcome to Cologne. On the banks of the Rhine is the most famous landmark of the city - a true masterpiece of Gothic architecture. The cathedral is one of the largest religious buildings; its construction began in 1248. It has a magnificent interior, equipped with 56 huge columns. Above the main altar is the golden Tomb of the Three Kings. There is also the Chapel of the Three Kings and the treasury with a collection of jewelry. The windows of the southern towers offer beautiful views of the surrounding area.

An attraction that is interesting not only for adults, but also for children, is located in the center of the port city of Hamburg - this is a model railway, the largest in the world, stretching for as much as 12 kilometers. There are 890 trains running along this amazing highway, which come in sections dedicated to different countries. In just a few hours spent here, you can plunge into the fascinating world of miniature cities, villages, bustling harbors and airports.

One of the country's most popular tourist routes is Germany's Romantic Road. The ancient city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber or simply is located on it. Just imagine: the city walls and towers have reached us in their original form since the Thirty Years' War of 1618. Among the most famous buildings of this impeccably preserved medieval city we can name the majestic 13th-century Town Hall, the Church of St. James built in 1466 and the municipal Tavern with its famous clock, the city museum, and a fountain built in 1608.

Due to the weakening of the central government, local lords were responsible for maintaining order and repelling attacks by the Huns and Normans. In the territories under their control, duchies such as Franconia, Saxony, Swabia and Bavaria subsequently arose. Henry I of Saxony, nicknamed the Birdcatcher, managed to restore central government by conquering neighboring German states, but to a small extent. His son Otgon was more “lucky”. In 936 he proclaimed himself the direct heir of Charlemagne and king of all Germany: a superbly organized coronation ceremony took place in Aachen.

The power of German kings and emperors, however, was not inherited. The decision on who would be the next head of state was made by a narrow circle - the electors of the largest German cities, including the prince-archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier. One of the brightest rulers was Emperor Frederick I (1152-1190). At the court of this representative of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, poets, minnesingers and valiant medieval knights were held in high esteem. And although the central government was still weak, the state - it was then called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation - existed until the end of the Middle Ages.

At the end of the 17th century, political leadership in the German lands passed to the rulers of large state entities, among which Prussia stood out noticeably. The model for their kings was France during the time of Louis XIV, with the idea of ​​centralizing and absolutizing power and strengthening the bureaucracy, including the creation of a strong army on a permanent basis. The autocrats of the new generation felt cramped in medieval castles, and they built luxurious palaces for themselves in the Baroque style. The construction of these residences and subsequent maintenance were expensive for ordinary taxpayers. However, from a historical point of view, such sacrifices were not in vain: in our time, these palaces have become the main tourist attractions in Germany, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists.

Oddly enough, the Great French Revolution of 1789 had a significant influence on the future of the state. In 1794, the German lands west of the Rhine came under French control. Soon, the odious emperor Napoleon Bonaparte established sovereignty over all of Germany. On the one hand, it was enslavement, and on the other, it brought positive changes. The French, for example, put their neighbor's political map in order: Bavaria and Baden became kingdoms, thoroughly expanding their possessions, and small church states were abolished. At the same time, no one liked foreign domination, and in the spring of 1813, unrest against the invaders began to break out throughout the country. In October of the same year, at the forefront of this struggle, the troops of Prussia and Austria united to take control of Schleswig-Holstein, but ended up betraying their ally. The defeat of the latter's army in the battle with the Prussians in Bohemia excluded any possibility of Austrian participation in building a future unified German state. Indeed, Prussia led Germany to unification: its king, Wilhelm I, was proclaimed the first all-German emperor (Kaiser).

The attitude towards the unification of the country among the ruling elites of local monarchies was ambiguous, but the common people were gripped by national euphoria. The country's economy was growing rapidly, industry was developing, railway lines were being laid - it all resembled one big construction site! The first results were not long in coming: Germany not only caught up with, but even surpassed the British Empire in coal mining and steel production. At the same time, electrification and the chemical industry developed. Ordinary people also began to live better, since the government, not in words, but in deeds, dealt with the social problems of the unemployed and people with disabilities.

The relative prosperity within the state contrasted with the state of affairs outside its borders. By the beginning of the 20th century, relations between major players in the European arena began to reach a dead end. They spent huge amounts of money on their armed forces, which could indicate only one thing - each power was secretly preparing for war. The formal reason was the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914. Thus began the First World War. Germany, the Habsburg Empire and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. This military-political bloc was opposed by the Entente, which united Russia, Great Britain and France. Germany was preparing a crushing blow to Paris, and when it failed, the country could no longer hope for military success. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the United States of America entered the war. In the summer of 1918, the German military command admitted its defeat, but blamed it on the civilian government that advocated peace.

The First World War also had profound internal political consequences for Berlin. The Kaiser's regime fell and was replaced by the Weimar Republic, which was forced to accept the extremely unfavorable conditions of the Versailles Peace. Germany officially admitted its responsibility for starting the war, ceded the Rhineland, returned Alsace and Lorraine to France, provided Poland with a sea corridor - access to the Baltic and pledged to pay reparations that placed a heavy burden on the country's economy. Not everyone agreed with such a peace; many perceived it as a betrayal of national interests.

Meanwhile, the situation of ordinary people rapidly deteriorated, hyperinflation ruined millions of Germans. Dissatisfaction with the government grew, which was taken advantage of by Adolf Hitler's Nazi party. Hiding behind patriotic slogans, she won an overwhelming majority in the Reichstag in the 1932 elections. President Hindenburg was forced to appoint the leader of this political force as Chancellor. To concentrate even more power in their hands, the Nazis organized the arson of the parliament building on the night of February 27, 1933, blaming the communists for it. There is no direct evidence, but historians do not even doubt that this was their work. In the first years of Nazi rule, the economy began to revive, and the military-industrial complex developed especially rapidly. Hitler also had successes in the foreign policy arena: when he returned the Rhineland in 1936, the Germans began to slowly get rid of the “Versailles complex.” They again began to feel like a full-fledged nation - proud and strong!

Meanwhile, the Fuhrer’s appetites grew, and in general almost all of Western Europe came under Nazi rule. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria (Anschluss), and in November, as a result of the Munich agreement, the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, populated predominantly by Germans. This country itself, with the exception of Slovakia, was transformed into the puppet Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. On September 1, 1939, the Third Reich attacked Poland - thus began the Second World War, the bloodiest in human history. On June 22, 1941, Wehrmacht troops invaded the territory of the Soviet Union: the Great Patriotic War lasted 1,118 days and nights.

However, in this war unleashed by Germany, she was not destined to become a winner. On April 30, 1945, a completely demoralized Hitler committed suicide, and on May 8, 1945, the Nazi regime capitulated to the Allied forces. The red flag of the USSR proudly flew over the defeated Reichstag. The country was in ruins, lost some of its territories to its neighbors and was divided into occupation zones - British, American, French and Soviet. The capital of the Reich, Berlin, was similarly divided. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed in the western occupation zones. In the eastern lands, which were under the control of the USSR, the German Democratic Republic was formed with its capital in East Berlin. West Berlin was not included in any of the newly formed states and was under external control. The relationship between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany remained difficult throughout the entire period of their existence.

With the beginning of perestroika in the Soviet Union in 1985, the influence of the “big brother” on East Germany weakened significantly, while the influence of its western neighbor, on the contrary, increased. Political and public sentiment in both countries favored the prospect of unification, but no one thought it would happen so soon. In 1989, the Berlin Wall, the odious stone border between the divided parts of the city, fell. This event was a turning point that led to the unification of the two parts of Germany in October 1990. However, many historians consider this not a unification, but an annexation - in fact, absorption - of the territory of the GDR by the Federal Republic. According to experts, the difference in living standards between the “old” parts of Germany is still felt, although almost three decades have passed since reunification.

2. Berlin has always been a stronghold of militant, aggressive ruling regimes, which is why it has more than once become a real battlefield. Foreign troops entered Berlin more than once (the French, the British, the Americans, and three times the Russians). Moreover, the city was subjected to severe destruction a couple of times and was almost completely destroyed as a result of the Second World War. Modern Berlin is a city that has been virtually restored since the mid-20th century, in which individual historical buildings and objects have been preserved.

3. Reichstag.

The idea of ​​building a building for meetings of the lower house of parliament of the united German Empire arose in 1871; the Reichstag was built in 1894. The representative body operated in the building until February 1933, when the Reichstag burned down in a fire. According to one version, it was arranged by the Nazis who had recently come to power; in any case, they blamed the arson on the communists (the “Georgi Dimitrov trial”) and used the disaster to strengthen their own regime.

4. Cosmetically restored after the fire, the building was actually abandoned and was not used by the administrative authorities of the Third Reich. However, despite this, the storming of the building in April-May 1945 in Soviet historiography became a real symbol of the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. After the war, bullet marks and graffiti written by Red Army soldiers were preserved on fragments of the building as historical exhibits. In the second half of the 20th century, the building ended up in West Berlin and played a supporting role.

5. Since the country's reunification in 1990, the German Bundestag has been housed in the historic building. The Reichstag received its current appearance and status as one of the main tourist attractions in Berlin in the mid-90s of the last century after a major reconstruction: according to the design of the famous British architect Norman Foster, a glass dome with a diameter of 40 meters and a height of 23.5 meters was erected over the building. The dome serves as an observation deck (tourists can enter the Reichstag by appointment), and a cone-shaped system of 360 mirrors provides natural light to the meeting room of the German parliament.

6. One of the main symbols of Berlin is the Brandenburg Gate. A six-meter-high quadriga cart crowned them in 1795. Initially, the chariot was driven by the goddess of the world, Eirene, and the author of the sculpture, Johann Gottfried Schadow, intended the figure to be naked, but Emperor Frederick William II ordered the goddess to be “dressed” in a cape. Napoleon, who captured Berlin in 1806, ordered the sculpture to be dismantled and taken to Paris, thereby humiliating the spirit of the Berliners. Only in 1814 did the quadriga triumphantly return to its place, the goddess of peace turned into the goddess of victory Victoria, and her rod was complemented by Prussian symbols - an eagle and an iron cross. During the Second World War, the quadriga was completely destroyed; it was restored using plaster casts only in 1957.

7. Berlin was once surrounded by a wall with a dozen gates; they have not survived. Brandenburg Gate - built on the site of the medieval ones in 1791 in the image of the main entrance to the Athenian Acropolis. The height of the gate is 25 meters, width 65, depth - 11 meters. The central of the five openings was open only to the monarch and his family. The Brandenburg Gate was badly damaged during the Second World War and was later restored. During the Cold War, they became a symbol of the division of Germany, and the Berlin Wall ran through them. Since 1990, on the contrary, it has been a symbol of the reunification of the nation. True, during the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the stormy joy of the Germans, the gate was again badly damaged and again underwent repairs.

8. Potsdamer Platz.

Before the outbreak of World War II, Potsdamer Platz, with its intersection of five highways, was one of the busiest places in Berlin. Severely damaged during the war. The Berlin Wall passed through the square; a fragment of it remains here today. Modern Potsdamer Platz is a major business and entertainment center in Berlin.

9. Adjacent to Potsdamer Platz is Leipzig Square, it was founded in the 1730s, due to its octagonal shape it was called Oktogon, Leipzig Square was named in 1814 in honor of the Battle of the Nations. Destroyed during the Second World War. It is actively being restored as a business and trade center after the reunification of Germany.

10. Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz.

A complex of seven buildings (residential apartments, offices, entertainment and shopping centers) under a common dome, which symbolizes the Japanese Mount Fuji. The Sony Center has one of the world's largest IMAX cinemas with a screen area of ​​500 square meters

11. View of Leipzig Platz from Potsdamer Platz. On Potsdamer Platz at the top of the Kohlhoff Tower there is a Panoramapunkt observation deck, which is served by the fastest elevator in Europe: it “takes off” to the 24th floor (100 meters) in just 20 seconds.

12. BahnTower is a high-rise building on Potsdamer Platz, the headquarters of the Deutsche Bahn railway holding company. The building is adjacent to the Sony Center complex on the east side. The height of the “glass” 26-story building is 103 meters.

13. The information and exhibition center “Topography of Terror” is dedicated to the history of the crimes of Nazism and the memory of its victims. Located in the so-called “Gestapo quarter” - on the site of the destroyed buildings of the Reichsführer SS security service and the headquarters of the state secret police of the Third Reich. In addition, the Topography of Terror complex includes a fragment of the Berlin Wall.

14. Built in 1935, the headquarters of the Reich Air Ministry became the largest administrative complex in Germany at that time. In a building that is a unique case! - practically undamaged during the bombing and storming of Berlin, the office of Hermann Goering was located. The complex is currently occupied by the German Ministry of Finance.

15. Mitte (German: "middle") is a historical district and administrative district in the center of Berlin. Most of the city's attractions, as well as government authorities and foreign embassies, are located here.

16. The undisputed key symbol of the city is the Berlin TV Tower in the Alexanderplatz area. Erected on the territory of East Berlin in 1965-69 as visible proof of the effectiveness of the socialist system. With a height of 368 meters, it is the tallest building in Germany. There is a curious story associated with the tower, one of the kind of urban legends: supposedly in sunny weather an image of a cross appears on the “ball”; because of this optical illusion, the tower was nicknamed “The Pope’s Revenge”. According to the same legend, the state security agencies of the GDR conducted a special investigation, the result of which was the “catch phrase”: “This is not a cross, but a plus for socialism!”

17. Germany's largest Protestant church, Berlin Cathedral was built between 1894 and 1905. The height is 98 meters (initially, before reconstruction, the building with a dome that was damaged during the war was 16 meters higher). The cathedral serves as the family tomb of the royal Hohenzollern dynasty.

18. Old National Gallery. Founded in 1861, the exhibition houses works of fine art from the 19th century. The gallery is located on Museum Island in Berlin. Along with four other exhibitions (Bode Museum, Pergamon Museum, etc.) it forms the largest museum complex in Europe, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

19. From above, the Germans’ rational approach to living space is much more visible: almost every house has attics under its roof.

20. Karl-Liebknecht Strasse, one of the busiest streets in the eastern part of Berlin. Until 1945 it was named after Kaiser Wilhelm. In the foreground and center is the spire of St. Mary's Church.

21. S-Bahn line - S-Bahn, overground metro.

22. Church of St. Mary (Marienkirche). The first mentions date back to the 13th century, reconstructed in the middle of the 17th century. After the war it was restored in 1970. The oldest evangelical church operating in Berlin. Under the bell tower there is a famous fresco depicting the popular medieval allegorical story “The Dance of Death”.

23. Leading to Museum Island is the Friedrich Bridge over the Spree. Built in 1703, it was subsequently rebuilt several times. In 1945 it was blown up by German troops. Restored in wood in 1950, in concrete in 1981. In 2012, after another reconstruction, the width of the bridge reached its original 27 meters. By the way, there are about 1,700 bridges in Berlin, which is four times more than in Venice.

24. Panorama of the central part of Berlin. To the left of the TV tower in the background is the tallest building in the city, the Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz hotel (149.5 meters with antennas). People regularly fall from the 38th floor of this building with wild screams, and they pay money for it: this is a rope jumping attraction (better known in our country as “bungee”).

25. Neptune is one of the oldest fountains in Berlin. Built in 1891, reopened after restoration in 1969. The diameter of the pool is 18 meters, the height to the trident figure of the sea god Neptune in the center is 10 meters.

26. In the foreground of the photo is the Red Town Hall. It was built in 1861-69 from red brick, which is why it got its name. The building, destroyed during the war, was restored in 1951-58. Height 74 meters. The building houses the seat of the government of the united state of Berlin and the ruling burgomaster (mayor) of Berlin. Behind the Red Town Hall in the photo is one of the oldest in Berlin, the Church of St. Nicholas. Built in the 13th century. After the Second World War, only a skeleton remained of the church, restored in the early 1980s. Now it serves as a museum and concert hall, the acoustics of which are highly praised by experts.

27. Breitscheidplatz square in the center of western Berlin, a favorite meeting and communication place for young people from all over the world. Laid down in 1889. Previously it bore the names of pioneer printer Johannes Guttenberg and Empress Augusta Victoria. In 1947 it was named in memory of the politician Rudolf Breitscheid who died in a concentration camp. The square was heavily damaged during the war; the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church are preserved here. It became notorious in December 2016: a Tunisian carried out a terrorist attack on the square, drove a truck into the Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring more than fifty.

28. Standard development in East Berlin.

29. The complex of residential high-rise buildings "Leipzig Street" is a socialist counterbalance to the capitalist high-rise building of the publishing house Axel Springer. The number of apartments in these houses according to the project is about 2000. During construction in 1969 in East Berlin, historical buildings that had survived the war were demolished on this site.

30. Berlin in some places is very similar to ordinary residential areas of Russian cities.

31. Schönhauser Allee is the largest shopping street and main transport axis in the northern part of Berlin.

32. In the foreground is a complex of Bundesrat buildings in the Leipzig Platz area. The parliament in Germany is unicameral (Bundestag). And the Bundesrat plays the role of a kind of Federation Council: it includes representatives of all federal states of Germany. In the background is the Berlin Mall (LP12 Mall) - one of the largest shopping complexes in the country.

33. Colorful Berlin.

34. The Holocaust Memorial is in the foreground on the left. Opened in 2005 between the Brandenburg Gate and elements of the Nazi leadership bunker. The monument to Jewish victims of Nazism consists of more than 2,700 identical gray stone slabs on a huge field that make a strong impression on visitors.

35. In the foreground and center is Anhalter Bahnhof, once a major passenger railway station, an important junction on the route from Germany to Austria-Hungary and Italy. The post-war ruins of the station were demolished in August 1960. Nowadays, in the area of ​​the surviving fragment of the building there is a stopping point for the Berlin S-Bahn. In the center of the photo is the Tempodrom concert hall. The roof is stylized as a huge circus tent. Which is what he originally was. His inspiration and sponsor was a simple nurse from West Berlin: having received an unexpected large inheritance, she spent it on premises for public events, mainly for representatives of the underground. The current Tempodrome is a permanent structure, built on the site of the former Anhalt station.

36. The building of the Berlin office of the consulting and audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers.

37. Potsdamer Platz and Sony Center. In the background is Berlin's largest city park, the Tiergarten.

38. Residence of the German Chancellor (Bundeskanzleramt). Construction took 4 years, the complex was commissioned on May 2, 2001. It is located in close proximity to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.

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Berlin

The federal state of Berlin, with a population of about 3.5 million people, is located on an area of ​​approximately 891 km2: 45 km from east to west and 38 km from north to south.

Today Berlin is not only the capital of Germany, it is the largest city with a developed industry, represented by such industries as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, clothing, optical and chemical products, furniture, food and paper industries. In addition, Berlin combines cities, villages, communes intersected by rivers (4 major rivers and shipping canals), forests (about 17% of the area) and lakes (6 most famous lakes).

The history of Berlin is not entirely ordinary. It was the so-called “paired” city of Berlin-Cologne, which began its history with the cooperation of those who received in 1235. the status of cities of ordinary fishing villages - Cologne (island of the Spree River) and Berlin (opposite the eastern bank). Neighboring settlements formed a common administration on the bridge connecting them (today the Rathausbrücke). The advantageous geographical location of the dual city of Berlin-Cologne became the key to rapid economic success. Thus, the first official historical mentions of Cologne appear in 1237, Berlin - 1244. In 1307 Berlin-Cologne, having united into one city, achieved great importance in the Märck city union, a little later becoming a member of the Hansa.

The entire history of Berlin is full of various political and economic events. So, in 1451, after popular unrest, Prince Frederick II made the city his residence. Under the next ruler of Berlin, Governor Johann Cicero (1455-1499), the city became the capital of Kurbrandenburg. XV century and the reign of the Hohenzollern dynasty was also a favorable period for the development of Berlin, which became their capital.

The period 1640-1688, despite previous disasters (fires, plague and war), was marked as a time of rapid prosperity for Berlin, which was the merit of Friedrich Wilhelm, nicknamed the “soldier king”. The city not only became a fortress, the first grandiose buildings were erected in it, like the “Unter den Linden” that has survived to this day.

Since 1696 Not only were the Academies of Arts, Sciences and the University built in Berlin, but the city also experienced rapid industrialization. This determined the assignment of Berlin to the title of the cultural and economic center of Prussia. Frederick the Great supported the architectural modernization of the city, bringing in the architect Knobelsdorff for this purpose. In addition, science, research, art and culture are actively developing, which contributes to the prosperity of Prussia and makes Berlin the center of the Enlightenment. The city is building castles, public buildings, and private mansions. The greatest minds of the time flocked to Berlin. So, in 1697 the city had 220 thousand inhabitants, and after just a century the population increased 4 times!

In the 18th century After the construction of the wall, three more villages find themselves inside, joining Berlin and Cologne, forming a new city. Berlin's position as the capital and residence did not change in 1701, when Prince Frederick III self-proclaimed himself King of Prussia - Frederick the First. In 1806-1808 Berlin survived the conquest of Napoleon's army, and in the following decades the renewal of cultural life was embodied in the construction of the magnificent classical buildings of Schinkel, as well as the magnificent Lehne parks. The city is even called “Athens on the Spree”.

Events related to the Industrial Revolution and the conclusion of the Customs Union in 1834. significantly increased the importance of Berlin for Germany. The city, which already has 400 thousand inhabitants, has built the largest number of barracks to accommodate the arriving workers. 1871 - the year of the founding of the German Empire, whose king was Wilhelm I (1861-1888), and the capital was Berlin, where 800 thousand people already lived. During the reign of Wilhelm II (1888-1918) - the last German emperor - the Reich reached its power, which became possible thanks to the economic, financial and military power of the city. Berlin is growing at an incredible pace, and by 1900. the number of inhabitants was already more than 1.5 million people.

After the First World War (1914-1918), a deep crisis arose in Berlin, as well as throughout the country, caused by a heavy defeat in the war, the abdication and emigration of the emperor. Soon the First Republic was proclaimed, and the harsh suppression of the Spartacist uprising marked the beginning of the emergence of a new Berlin in the 20s, which included nearby communes: Neukölln, Charlottenburg, Schöneberg, Spandau, Schöneberg, etc.

Despite the decline of the economy and revolutionary worries, in the 20s cultural life continued its development, marking the beginning of a time of rapid renewal. The mood of freedom is conducive to creativity, intellectual and artistic life is in full swing. New theater productions, successful film premieres, and an incomparable variety nightlife turned Berlin into the center of the Golden Twenties. Now Berlin is the world capital of entertainment, bohemia and the avant-garde, and no other city can surpass it in this. Of course, Berlin becomes the habitat of the most famous cultural and scientific figures. Artists (O. Dix, V. Kandinsky), writers (B. Brecht, S. Zweig, T. Mann), scientists (R. Vikhrov, R. Koch, E. Behring, M. Planck, K. .Bosch, A.Einstein).

In 1933, with the coming to power of Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the subsequent establishment of the Nazi regime, a dark streak began in the life of the city. By the beginning of World War II, in 1939, 4.5 million people lived in Berlin. Since 1941 Until May 1945, air attacks began on Berlin, the center of the fascist state. During this time, 75 thousand tons of bombs were dropped on the city, the population decreased by half, and a third of residential buildings and historical buildings were destroyed. The artificial mountains Klammottenberg and Trümmerberg were subsequently built from the rubble formed from the debris.

The capital, which lay in ruins, was divided into zones by 4 victorious countries (Soviet Union-east, USA-southwest, Great Britain-west, France-northwest). After blocking by the Soviet Union since 1948. Berlin experienced a blockade of the three western sectors for almost a year. In 1949 Berlin is divided into two parts, the eastern of which becomes the territory of the new state of the GDR.

Over the course of 8 years (1953-1961), as a result of the constant outflow of GDR citizens, there were 200 thousand more residents in the Federal Republic of Germany. The GDR is not interested in this situation, and on August 13, 1961. A double wall is erected surrounding West Berlin. Now that relatives and friends living on opposite sides of the wall can no longer meet, the waiting room at the Bahnhof Friedrichstraβe station, nicknamed the “palace of tears,” has become a cult place.

In June 1963, after a speech by US President John F. Kennedy at the Schöneberg City Hall in Berlin, an agreement on the access system was signed. And in November 1989 There was a peaceful revolution in the GDR, and the Berlin Wall was suddenly destroyed. The destruction of the artificially created barrier became the reason for reunification in October 1990. Germany, and, accordingly, Berlin, which again became the capital.

We visited Berlin, found surviving relics of Nazi architecture there and studied the Fuhrer’s fantastic plans to transform this city into the capital of the whole world.

“Not one of our largest cities has such monuments that would dominate the entire city and which could be considered as a symbol of the entire era. The cities of antiquity are completely different. There, every city had some special monument, which was a monument to its pride.”

This quote can briefly summarize Adolf Hitler's views on architecture. When the National Socialists came to power, they discovered that German cities were severely lacking in “monuments of their pride.” Instead, architects, emboldened by the liberal times of the Weimar Republic, are building modernist buildings in the Bauhaus style. The latter were immediately declared “cultural Bolshevism”, alien to the national spirit of the German people. The picture shows a school in the mid-1920s in the city of Dessau.

Instead of this “soulless” international (and, it is worth noting, ultra-modern for that time) architecture of the 1920s, the aesthetic ideal, which primarily expressed the tastes of Hitler himself, was declared to be a return to the ancient classics, which were creatively reworked in the minimalist spirit of the harsh Teutonic traditions. Grandiose dimensions, chopped rectangular shapes, endless colonnades and arches - even the Roman emperors, according to the Fuhrer's idea, had to bow to the power of the Third Reich, expressed in architecture. The photo shows the main rostrum on the territory of the NSDAP congresses in Nuremberg.

What explains the enormous size of the Reichsport Complex and the city airport? To serve Berlin, albeit the capital of the Millennial Reich, as the Fuhrer hoped, they are still excessive, even taking into account the painful gigantomania characteristic of all dictators. Hitler had big plans for Berlin, which he considered a provincial city, which in its modern form would forever remain in the shadow of Paris or Vienna. The Fuhrer wanted to transform Berlin into the main city of no more or less than the entire planet.

“Berlin will become the capital of the world, comparable only to ancient Egypt, Babylon or Rome. What is London, what is Paris!- said Hitler. Moreover, in the process, the city was supposed to receive a new name. The author of the project “Capital of the World Germany” (Welthauptstadt Germania) was the favorite architect of the Fuhrer, Albert Speer.

In accordance with this plan, a large-scale reconstruction of the central part of the city was envisaged with massive demolition of existing buildings, regardless of its historical value. In its place, it was planned to create two central highways (“axes”), which would later be built up with public and administrative buildings, their size corresponding to the new status of the former Berlin. The capital of the world, Germany, would receive those very monuments that “dominated the entire city and which could be considered as a symbol of the entire era,” as the Fuhrer dreamed.

The main axis would run in a north-south direction and would be limited by two giant train stations. At the same time, railway traffic from the central part of the city was completely withdrawn. On the model on the right in the foreground is Südbahnhof, South Station. From here, a wide and completely pedestrian avenue, which was planned to be used for parades and demonstrations, goes north, through the Arc de Triomphe to a massive building with a huge dome in the upper left corner - the Hall of the People, the main representative building of all of Germany.

Berlin South Station.

Interior of the main hall.

On this computer model, red is the so-called locomotive. Breitspurbahn, another of Hitler's favorite projects, a railway network with an ultra-wide three-meter (!) gauge.

The Arc de Triomphe was also planned to be the largest in the world, 120 meters high. Its first sketches were drawn by Hitler personally back in the 1920s, impressed by a similar structure in Paris. It was assumed that the names of all Germans who died in the World War would be engraved on the arch. According to Nazi ideas about the structure of the universe, the First World War never ended, but resumed with a break in 1939.

The Nazi architects had some unusual problems with the Arc de Triomphe. The construction was planned to be so massive that the architects had doubts whether the Berlin soil would withstand it in this area, where it was particularly unstable and had a high groundwater level. To resolve the issue, one of the most interesting architectural structures of the Third Reich was erected on the site of the future arch.

This is the so-called Schwerbelastungskörper, which translated from German means “Object for creating a heavy load.” The reinforced concrete cylinder, 14 meters high, 21 meters in diameter and weighing 12.5 thousand tons, was built in 1942 on an 18-meter foundation. The construction, which cost 400,000 Reichsmarks, was supposed to answer the question of how much the future Arc de Triomphe would sink into the ground and, accordingly, whether its construction in this place was possible in principle.

After the war, they did not dare to blow it up, fearing for the safety of nearby residential buildings, and in 1995 they declared it a historical monument. A special viewing platform was even built near the Schwerbelastungskörper, from which visitors can not only examine the unique engineering structure, but also enjoy the panoramic views of Berlin.

Somewhere here, on the site of these houses, the Südbahnhof, Berlin's South railway station, was supposed to be located.

And there, to the central part of the city, a wide north-south “axis” avenue with representative buildings of the Capital of the World was supposed to go.

From the Arc de Triomphe the “axis” was extended to the main square of the new imperial capital, located in the Reichstag area. However, the Reichstag was only one (and the smallest) building on it, and even then it was planned to be preserved only at the personal insistence of Hitler, who had nostalgic feelings for it. It was planned to make the so-called absolute dominant of the area. The “Hall of the People”, designed by Albert Speer on the model of the Roman Pantheon, is a huge structure 290 meters high.

A dome with a diameter of 250 meters, incomparable to anything on the planet, was supposed to cover the hall where the Fuhrer of the German nation would have the opportunity to speak in front of 180,000 spectators. According to experts, the breathing of so many people would lead to condensation under the cloud dome and precipitation. A building with its own natural climate - what could better symbolize the scale of the Nazis' plans.

The top of the dome of the “Hall of the People” was planned to be crowned with the traditional “Reichsadler”, an eagle holding a swastika in its talons. At Hitler's personal request, Speer was forced to replace the swastika with a globe.

In addition to the “Hall of the People” and the Reichstag, it was planned to surround the main square of the Reich along the perimeter with the most important administrative buildings: the Reich Chancellery, the Wehrmacht High Command and Hitler’s personal residential residence. This is, for example, what the Führerpalast, the main palace of Germany, the Fuhrer’s lair with a total area (rooms and gardens) of 2 million square meters, should have looked like. m (!). Hitler, by the way, wished that there were no windows on the facades of the building. At all.

Behind the main square, the north-south axis continued with a pool more than a kilometer long, in which, according to the plan, the “Hall of the People” was supposed to be reflected in all its cyclopean grandeur. Along the basin were several more of Germany's most important buildings. Headquarters of the Kriegsmarine, the country's navy.

New City Hall of the capital of the world.

All this urban development of gargantuan proportions ended with another station, Nordbahnhof, Northern.

The second “axis” of the new Nazi Berlin ran perpendicularly, in the east-west direction. Its formation, unlike the north-south avenue, has already begun. To achieve this, the Charlottenburg Highway, which ran from the main street of old Berlin, Unter den Linden, and the Brandenburg Gate west to the Olympic Stadium, was expanded. The lanterns for illuminating the highway were designed personally by Albert Speer. They have partially survived to this day and today are the only work of the main Nazi architect preserved in Berlin, who was also convicted by the Nuremberg Tribunal as a war criminal.

Along this “axis” on the western outskirts of the city, it was planned to build a new campus of the BSU, the Berlin State University, with a main auditorium whose exterior and dimensions would resemble the Greek Parthenon.

Nearby, Speer designed the Reich Military Technical School, which was even partially built before the start of World War II.

After the end of hostilities, during the clearing of the Berlin ruins, the half-finished frame of the huge building was covered with 75 million cubic meters of construction waste and soil, and trees were planted on top.

The resulting 80-meter artificial hill was called Teufelsberg, the Devil's Mountain. At its top, the American National Security Agency built a radar station for the ECHELON intelligence network. Now it is abandoned, but the ruins of one of the imperial palaces of the Third Reich are still buried under it.

In addition, in close proximity to the east-west “axis”, the Messe Berlin exhibition complex was built in 1937 according to the design of the architect Richard Ermisch.

Its main Northern Pavilion, along with the Olympiastadion and Tempelhof Airport, remains to this day one of the largest surviving examples of the aesthetics of National Socialism in Berlin, moreover, perfectly reflecting all its specifics: minimalist neoclassicism, functionalist at its core, right angles, dark gray-brown cladding. Severe architecture that leaves no room for sentimentality.

That's why the building is regularly used by filmmakers in need of a charismatic Nazi character. For example, in the film Operation Valkyrie (2008), dedicated to the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, this Berlin exhibition pavilion plays the role of SS headquarters.

Filmmakers actually have little choice. Despite the fantastic scope of the plans, in practice, during the 12 years in power, the Nazis managed to build relatively little. Everything is explained simply. Having unleashed the Second World War in 1939, Germany actually became its hostage, including in the matter of construction. The “Capital of the World Germany” project, which Hitler intended to complete by 1950, required unprecedented resources: financial, human and material, which the Reich was forced to direct not to the architectural projects of its Fuhrer, but to the needs of the front. All of occupied Europe, including (and mostly) Eastern Europe, was supposed to work for New Berlin, but, as you know, things on the Eastern Front for the Nazis turned out more and more unsuccessfully.

In addition, many of the buildings built by the Nazis in Berlin, primarily those that were part of the so-called. Government quarter along the street. Wilhelmstrasse, were dilapidated during the storming of the city in 1945 and dismantled by the GDR authorities in the 1950-1960s. This fate, for example, befell the Reich Chancellery complex. It is interesting that the Old, Bismarckian, Reich Chancellery was located in the former palace of Anthony Radziwill, an 18th-century building that once belonged to a representative of the famous magnate family, a native of the territory of modern Belarus. Here, in the Berlin Radziwill Palace, in the late 1930s there was the official residential residence of Adolf Hitler, which, however, he used extremely rarely, preferring a Bavarian villa in Bertechsgaden or the Wolf's Lair headquarters in East Prussia.

Dissatisfied with the size and insufficiently imperial appearance of this palace, Hitler in 1938 ordered the same Albert Speer to quickly erect a new building for the Reich Chancellery next door. Speer successfully coped with a difficult task - a large complex, the main task of which was to reflect the specifics of Nazi ideology in its appearance, was ready in about a year.

The main façade of the new Reich Chancellery is 450 meters long.

Hitler's personal office.

T.n. "Marble Gallery", a corridor more than 200 meters long, through which all the Fuhrer's guests, especially foreign ones, had to pass, and along the way be impressed by the imperial luxury of the Third Reich.

The Reich Chancellery building was significantly damaged during the assault on Berlin by Soviet troops. After the war, the GDR government decided not to restore it and demolish it. The characteristic red-burgundy marble that lined the Marble Gallery was used in the construction of the Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park and the Mohrenstraße metro station. Here is this station and this marble, which has seen a lot in its lifetime.

The territory of the former Reich Chancellery was empty for a long time, until in the 1980s it was built up by the GDR government with panel houses for its own elite. Now the only thing that reminds us of the place where decisions that changed the fate of entire nations were once made is the layout of the streets.

Among all these rather nondescript “panels”, this place is not very obvious at first glance among tourists. It was here, in an ordinary-looking parking lot, that 70 years ago there was the garden of the Reich Chancellery, and below it the Führerbunker, where Hitler spent his last days.

It was here, at this very point, that the corpses of him and Eva Braun were burned on the evening of April 30, 1945. Here the Fuhrer of the German nation met his inglorious death 8 days before the surrender of Germany.

The Reich Chancellery has not survived, but still some administrative buildings from the Nazi era in Berlin remain. We are talking, first of all, about the Reich Air Ministry, the headquarters of Hermann Goering, built in 1936 according to the design of Templehof author Ernst Sagebiel. The building, which was part of the Government Quarter, became a model for the construction of government institutions of the Reich.

It was here that the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in 1949, and now the Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany is located.

The complex on Leipziger Strasse has been perfectly preserved to this day and, thanks to this, is also widely used in films about World War II Berlin. Images from the same “Operation Valkyrie”.

The former Reichsbank of 1940 on the embankment of the Spree canal (right), occupied after the war by the Central Committee of the SED (East German equivalent of the CPSU) and now by the German Foreign Office.

An entire ensemble of buildings from the time of the Third Reich has been preserved on Fehrbelliner Platz. The very similar aesthetics of all these administrative buildings catches your eye.

The transport authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of the famous Reich Autobahn at Kleist Park.

One of the few implemented elements related to the World Capital Germany project was the complex of foreign embassies near the Tiergarten park. Some of them, mostly belonging to former allies of the Third Reich, are still used for their intended purpose. Only the corresponding symbols that existed before the war on the facades of buildings were destroyed. Italy.

Embassy of Japan.

Spain.

Yugoslavia.

In addition to civilian buildings, the most interesting architectural relics from the time of the Third Reich are several surviving bomb shelters, built already in the 1940s after the start of active bombing of Berlin by Allied aircraft. One of these objects is located next to the above-mentioned Kleist Park on Pallasstrasse. The four-story reinforced concrete bunker, built in 1945 by prisoners of war, was located next to the now defunct Berlin Sports Palace, a building where the Nazis regularly held meetings, where, in particular, Goebbels gave his famous speech about total war in 1943.

The Sports Palace was demolished in 1973 and a residential building was built in its place. At the same time, the massive bunker, which also interfered with this construction, was left in its place. The architects came up with an elegant solution by simply covering the bomb shelter with a high-rise building. The complex turned out to be very original.

Another similar structure can be found on Reinhardtstrasse. The building, now known simply as "The Bunker", was built in 1943 as an air raid shelter for 2,500 German Railways employees. After the war it was used as a textile factory workshop, and in the 1990s it was reconstructed as a hardcore techno club.

These are almost all the most significant and interesting buildings and structures that remind modern Berliners and guests of the city of its Nazi past. Attitudes towards them are gradually changing, and now many of these examples of unique architecture are perceived as full-fledged city attractions. Special guidebooks describing them are published, and excursions are offered around the relics of Nazi Berlin. Meanwhile, after the end of World War II, in the eastern part of the city, one totalitarian architecture is replaced by another, socialist one, which in many ways aesthetically looks like a natural successor and heir to the Nazi one.