Old maps

The evolution of Berlin from a small Branderburgian town to the capital of Prussia and one of the main centers of the Enlightenment

First documented in the 13th century and situated at the crossing of two important historic trade routes, Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945). Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. Currently, Berlin is the second most populous city (3.7 million residents) proper in the Western Europe behind London and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union.

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