Berlin
Today’s city of Berlin encompassed originally two Western slavic villages which were founded there in the 13th century, merged in the 14th century, and then named Berlin by the Hohenzollerns. It was strategically located at the center of the canal system of the Oder and Spree Rivers.
Berlin became the capital city of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701) with the establishment there of the royal court. The start of the eighteenth century witnessed the elevation of Prussia to monarchic status. During the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918) the Kings made Berlin the centerpiece of culture and the arts, as well as of the Army.
Under King Friedrich Wilhelm I (reigned 1713–40), Berlin’s growth was encouraged by his determination to build a great military power. To achieve this goal 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 the city’s first major hospital and medical school, the Charité, now the largest teaching hospital in Europe. In addition, the King heavily subsidized arms manufacturers in the capital, laying the foundations for the mechanics, engineers, technicians, and entrepreneurs who were to turn Berlin into an industrial powerhouse.
As a result of Frederick the Great’s patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment (during his reign as King of Prussia—from 1740 until 1786), Berlin’s cultivation of the arts and learning augmented its renown.
Danielle Mihram, May 2017
Sources
Berlin – ID: 7003712. Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://www.getty.edu/vow/TGNFullDisplay?find=Berlin&place=&nation=&prev_page=1&english=Y&subjectid=7003712
Karin, Friederich. The cultivation of monarchy and the rise of Berlin: Brandenburg-Prussia, 1700. Ashgate, 2010.
Berlin appears in the following letters.
Berlin appears in the following indexes.
Berlin appears in the following events.