Berlin

===20th to 21st centuries===
{{Further|1920s Berlin|West Berlin|East Berlin}}

In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the [[German Expressionism|German Expressionist]] movement.<ref name="HollandGawthrop2001">{{cite book|author1=Jack Holland|author2=John Gawthrop|title=The Rough Guide to Berlin|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoberl00holl|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-85828-682-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoberl00holl/page/361 361]}}</ref> In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the [[First World War]] in 1918, a [[Weimar Republic|republic]] was proclaimed by [[Philipp Scheidemann]] at the [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag building]]. In 1920, the [[Greater Berlin Act]] incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased the area of Berlin from {{cvt|66|to|883|km2}}. The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the [[Weimar culture|Weimar era]], Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the [[Roaring Twenties]]. The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts, the humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. [[Albert Einstein]] rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-celebrity-scientist-albert-einstein-used-fame-denounce-american-racism-180962356/|last=Francis|first=Matthew|title=How Albert Einstein Used His Fame to Denounce American Racism|date=3 March 2017|publisher=Smithsonian Magazine|access-date=5 September 2023|archive-date=11 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211150143/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-celebrity-scientist-albert-einstein-used-fame-denounce-american-racism-180962356/|url-status=live}}</ref> being awarded the [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] in 1921.<ref name="Nobel">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/ |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 |publisher=Nobel Prize |access-date=5 September 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703190346/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1933, [[Adolf Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Party]] [[Nazis came to power|came to power]]. Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in [[Vienna]], and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had a monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through [[Nazi architecture|architecture]]. Adolf Hitler and [[Albert Speer]] developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into [[Germania (city)|World Capital Germania]]; these were never implemented.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donath |first1=Matthias |title=Architecture in Berlin 1933–1945: A Guide Through Nazi Berlin |date=2006 |publisher=Lukas Verlag |location=Germany |isbn=9783936872934 |page=7}}</ref>

NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in the country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After [[Kristallnacht]] in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]]. Starting in early 1943, many were deported to [[Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany|ghettos]] like [[Łódź Ghetto|Łódź]], and to [[concentration camp|concentration]] and [[extermination camp]]s such as [[Auschwitz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005450|title=The Jewish Community of Berlin|publisher=Holocaust Encyclopedia|access-date=10 November 2018|archive-date=8 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708152027/https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005450|url-status=live}}</ref>

Berlin hosted the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] for which the [[Olympiastadion (Berlin)|Olympic stadium]] was built.<ref>[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1936/1936v1sum.pdf 1936 Summer Olympics official report.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625173406/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1936/1936v1sum.pdf |date=25 June 2008 }} Volume 1. pp. 141–9, 154–62. Accessed 17 October 2010.</ref>

[[File:Potsdamer Platz 1945.jpg|thumb|left|Berlin in ruins after World War II ([[Potsdamer Platz]], 1945)]]
During [[World War II]], Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camps, 17 subcamps of the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]] for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=1268–1291|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> a camp for [[Sinti]] and Romani people (see ''[[Romani Holocaust]]''),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=416|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma in Berlin-Marzahn|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=31 March 2024|language=de|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331102414/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=416|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Stalag III-D]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] for Allied POWs of various nationalities.

During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during {{Dash year|1943|1945}} Allied air raids and the 1945 [[Battle of Berlin]]. The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed.<ref>{{citation| author1= Micheal Clodfelter| title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000| edition=2nd| publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2002 | isbn=9780786412044 }}</ref> After the [[end of World War II in Europe]] in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to [[Allied-occupied Germany]] the sectors of the [[Allies of World War II]] (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed [[West Berlin]], while the [[Soviet Union]] formed [[East Berlin]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bpb.de/geschichte/nationalsozialismus/dossier-nationalsozialismus/39619/das-geteilte-berlin?p=all |title=Berlin – auf dem Weg zur geteilten Stadt |trans-title=Berlin – on the way to a divided city |date=27 April 2005 | author1=Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benz |language=de |publisher= Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |access-date=10 November 2018 |archive-date=10 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110120432/https://www.bpb.de/geschichte/nationalsozialismus/dossier-nationalsozialismus/39619/das-geteilte-berlin?p=all |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:US Army tanks face off against Soviet tanks, Berlin 1961.jpg|thumb|US and Soviet tanks face each other. Taken in 1961 at Checkpoint Charlie.]]
[[File:Berlinermauer.jpg|thumb|The [[Berlin Wall]] (painted on the western side) was a barrier that divided the city from 1961 to 1989.]]

All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the [[Soviet Union]] imposed the [[Berlin Blockade]] on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The [[Berlin airlift]], conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.western-allies-berlin.com/historic-events/detail/airlift-blockade|title=Berlin Airlift / Blockade|publisher=Western Allies Berlin|access-date=18 August 2008|archive-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318232831/https://www.western-allies-berlin.com/historic-events/detail/airlift-blockade|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in [[West Germany]] and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the [[Marxist–Leninist]] [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]] was proclaimed in [[East Germany]]. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British and French airlines.

[[File:Thefalloftheberlinwall1989.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Berlin Wall#The Fall|fall of the Berlin Wall]] on 9 November 1989. On [[German Unity Day|3 October 1990]], the [[German reunification]] process was formally finished.]]

The founding of the two German states increased [[Cold War]] tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in [[Bonn]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.berlin.de/berlin-im-ueberblick/geschichte/1945.en.html |title=Berlin after 1945 |publisher=BerlinOnline Stadtportal GmbH & Co. KG. |access-date=8 April 2009 |archive-date=12 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412221115/https://www.berlin.de/berlin-im-ueberblick/geschichte/1945.en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1961, East Germany began to build the [[Berlin Wall]] around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at [[Checkpoint Charlie]]. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. [[John F. Kennedy]] gave his "''[[Ich bin ein Berliner]]''" speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the [[Schöneberg]] city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining the US support for West Berlin.<ref>[[Andreas Daum]], ''Kennedy in Berlin''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-521-85824-3}}, pp. 125‒56, 223‒26.</ref> Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a [[Four Power Agreement on Berlin|Four-Power agreement]] guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga5-710903.htm |title=Ostpolitik: The Quadripartite Agreement of September 3, 1971 |publisher=U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany |year=1996 |access-date=18 August 2008 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225042306/https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga5-710903.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|Berlin Wall fell]] on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the [[East Side Gallery]] preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were [[German reunification|reunified]] as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant [https://berlinbnb.co/2023/12/16/berlin-wall-urban-development/ urban development] and still impacts urban planning decisions.

<ref>''Berlin ‒ Washington, 1800‒2000: Capital Cities, Cultural Representation, and National Identities'', ed. Andreas Daum and Christof Mauch. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 23‒27.</ref> Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim.<ref>{{cite web |title=AGI |url=https://americangerman.institute/by-author/walter-momper/ |website=AGI |access-date=21 August 2023 |archive-date=21 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821065849/https://americangerman.institute/by-author/walter-momper/ |url-status=live }}</ref> City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and [[Eberhard Diepgen]] (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/01/world/berlin-mayoral-contest-has-many-uncertainties.html |title=Berlin Mayoral Contest Has Many Uncertainties |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 December 1990 |access-date=17 June 2019 |archive-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617212414/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/01/world/berlin-mayoral-contest-has-many-uncertainties.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a [[German reunification#Unified Berlin|reunified Berlin]]<ref name="ReUnificationParade">{{cite news | last=Kinzer | first=Stephan | title=Allied Soldiers March to Say Farewell to Berlin | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/world/allied-soldiers-march-to-say-farewell-to-berlin.html | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | location=New York City | date=19 June 1994 | access-date=20 November 2015 | archive-date=21 November 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121133602/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/world/allied-soldiers-march-to-say-farewell-to-berlin.html | url-status=live }}</ref> (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the [[Bundestag]] (German Parliament) [[Decision on the Capital of Germany|voted to move the seat]] of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of [[Gerhard Schröder]].<ref>{{cite web |title=When Did Germany's Capital Move to Berlin? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/germany-capital-from-bonn-to-berlin-1434930 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810225020/https://www.thoughtco.com/germany-capital-from-bonn-to-berlin-1434930 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = Berliner Stadtschloss, September 2022-L1000099.jpg
| width1            = 195
| caption1          = The rebuilt [[Berlin Palace]] in 2022
| width2            = 220
| width3            = 215
| direction         = 
| total_width       = 
| alt1              = 
}}

[[Berlin's 2001 administrative reform]] merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bezirke or Boroughs, Berlin, Germany, 2001 – Digital Maps and Geospatial Data {{!}} Princeton University |url=https://maps.princeton.edu/catalog/tufts-berlin-bezirke-boroughs01 |website=maps.princeton.edu |access-date=21 August 2023 |archive-date=21 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821070030/https://maps.princeton.edu/catalog/tufts-berlin-bezirke-boroughs01 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, the [[2006 FIFA World Cup Final|FIFA World Cup Final]] was held in Berlin.<ref>{{cite news |title=Zidane off as Italy win World Cup |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991652.stm |date=9 July 2006 |access-date=8 August 2023 |archive-date=6 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906192236/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991652.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006.

In a [[2016 Berlin truck attack|2016 terrorist attack]] linked to [[ISIL]], a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church]], leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/nach-anschlag-in-berlin-is-reklamiert-attentat-fuer-sich-14585337.html |title=IS reklamiert Attacke auf Weihnachtsmarkt für sich |trans-title=IS recalls attack on Christmas market for itself |date=20 December 2016 |access-date=10 November 2018 |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]] |language=de |archive-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321175944/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/nach-anschlag-in-berlin-is-reklamiert-attentat-fuer-sich-14585337.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC.Dies">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59048891|title=Berlin attack: First aider dies 5 years after Christmas market murders|work=BBC|date=26 October 2021|access-date=26 October 2021|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026190214/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59048891|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of [[Far-right politics in Germany (1945-present)|far-right politics in Germany]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Protests against far-right politics draw thousands – DW – 10/13/2018 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-protests-against-far-right-politics-draw-thousands/a-45873439 |work=dw.com |language=en |access-date=8 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230628/https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-protests-against-far-right-politics-draw-thousands/a-45873439 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Berlin Brandenburg Airport]] (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at the end of October, and flights to and from [[Tegel Airport]] ending in November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/berlin-tegel-airport-germany-closing-history-brandenburg-b672759.html|title=Berlin's Tegel airport: A love letter as it prepares to close|last1=Gardner|first1=Nicky|last2=Kries|first2=Susanne|work=[[The Independent]]|date=8 November 2020|access-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205135633/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/berlin-tegel-airport-germany-closing-history-brandenburg-b672759.html|archive-date=5 February 2021|language=de}}</ref> Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], plans were announced to temporarily close BER's Terminal 5, the former [[Schönefeld Airport]], beginning in March 2021 for up to one year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/flugverkehr-wegen-corona-eingebrochen-berschliesst-terminal-in-schoenefeld-am-23-februar/26864858.html|title=BER schließt Terminal in Schönefeld am 23. Februar|trans-title=BER closes the terminal in Schönefeld on February 23|work=[[Der Tagesspiegel]]|date=29 January 2021|access-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205134830/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/flugverkehr-wegen-corona-eingebrochen-berschliesst-terminal-in-schoenefeld-am-23-februar/26864858.html|archive-date=5 February 2021|language=de|last1=Jacobs|first1=Stefan}}</ref> The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020, with the Museumsinsel U-Bahn station expected to open around March 2021, which would complete all new works on the U5.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2020/08/berlin-bvg-u5-lueckenschluss-verlaengerung-start.html|title=BVG will verlängerte U5 am 4. Dezember eröffnen|trans-title=BVG wants to open the extended U5 on December 4th|work=[[Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg|rbb24]]|date=24 August 2020|access-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205133537/https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2020/08/berlin-bvg-u5-lueckenschluss-verlaengerung-start.html|archive-date=5 February 2021|language=de}}</ref>

A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the [[Humboldt Forum]] museum, housed in the reconstructed [[Berlin Palace]], which had been announced in June, was postponed until March 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/museen-in-der-corona-pandemie-humboldt-forum-will-zunaechst-nur-digital-eroeffnen/26666500.html|title=Humboldt Forum will zunächst nur digital eröffnen|trans-title=Humboldt Forum will initially only open digitally|work=[[Der Tagesspiegel]]|date=27 November 2020|access-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205133156/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/museen-in-der-corona-pandemie-humboldt-forum-will-zunaechst-nur-digital-eroeffnen/26666500.html|archive-date=5 February 2021|language=de}}</ref> On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project.<ref>{{cite news |title=Completed Humboldt Forum opens in Berlin – DW – 09/16/2022 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/completed-humboldt-forum-opens-in-berlin/a-63146991 |work=dw.com |language=en |access-date=8 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230632/https://www.dw.com/en/completed-humboldt-forum-opens-in-berlin/a-63146991 |url-status=live }}</ref>