This is a brief summary of the history of Berlin in order to understand better what we saw on our visit.

1871 Berlin became the capital of a unified Germany

1914 WWI ended with Germany's defeat. With the Treaty of Versailles, Germany became a democracy but heavy reparations were imposed. The German economy went bust. Hitler stepped in, promising prosperity. He was appointed Chancellor in 1933. Berlin was his and the Nazi's headquarters.

1945 WWII ended with Germany's defeat. Berlin was in ruins from bombings. The city was divided into 4 sectors with the East controlled by the Soviets and the West by France, Britain and the US.

1948 Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift. The Soviets tried to starve the residents of the Western half by blockading all roads in and out. But this was foiled by the Berlin airlift. For 10 months, the Allies flew in supplies from Frankfurt 24 hours a day and dropped them.

1949 Border between East and West Germany closed. But people still moved through Berlin to find the prosperity they saw in the west.

1961 Berlin Wall was erected completely encircling West Berlin.

1989 Berlin Wall came down. The East was a decrepit wasteland and the West a paragon of commerce and materialism. Reunification began.

To return to the description of our time in Berlin, go to Berlin Newsletter.

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