Discover the History and Culture of Berlin

Berlin - A Vibrant City Full of History and Culture

Berlin is the largest city in Germany and lies on the Rivers Spree and Havel. It is thought that Berlin started as a small fishermen's settlement but the town was not built until the 13th-century. When Germany was still a group of small independent states, about two hundred years later, the Hohenzollerns established themselves as leaders and rulers of the state of Brandenburg. Shortly after they moved to Berlin and made it their capital.

The first signs of Berlin becoming prosperous was in about 1640 when Frederick William became ruler of Brandenburg. He made big changes to the town including building a canal to join the River Spree with the River Oder so trade with the Baltic Sea was possible. Near the city he settles a number of French Huguenots who had fled from France, where they were being persecuted because of their Protestant religion, as France was a Roman Catholic country. The Huguenots were a clever and hard-working people who started many of the trades that became so important to Germany later. Frederick William's successor became the first king of Prussia which was a much larger German state and the most powerful, of which Berlin then became the capital.

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