The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape

by Brian Ladd

In the seventeenth century, however, the electorate of Brandenburg emerged as one of the most powerful German principalities. It was in this age, which we associate with the principles and practices of absolutism, that princes strove to make their residences into capital cities. Berlin was no exception, despite the devastation it (along with much of Germany) suffered during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48). The elector Friedrich Wilhelm, who came to the throne of Brandenburg in 1640, has been known since his lifetime as the Great Elector. Through diplomacy and military posturing, more than through conquest, he enlarged his territorial holdings while strengthening his control over them. As part of his mercantilist policies of promoting domestic trade and industry, he also sponsored the expansion of Berlin. To the two walled towns of Berlin and Cölln he added a third and a fourth: in 1662, Friedrichswerder, just west of Cölln, and in 1674 a larger planned grid, Dorotheenstadt, centered on a grand western boulevard, Unter den Linden, which led from the castle to the prince’s game park, the Tiergarten. Meanwhile, he settled disputes between Lutherans and Calvinists in 1664 by issuing an edict of religious toleration—a rare practice at the time. This edict proved valuable in attracting skilled merchants, craftsmen, and farmers to populate the expanded Berlin and neighboring villages. Friedrich Wilhelm actively recruited persecuted Protestants, notably French Huguenots, and, with...