Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

David Clay Large, Professor of History at Montana State University, is a specialist in modern German history. He is the author of Where Ghosts Walked, Germans to the Front, Between Two Fires, and Berlin. He lives in Bozeman, Montana, and San Francisco, California.

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Berlin

Basic Books

Chapter One

BERLIN
UNDER
BISMARCK

The city wall of Berlin is falling victim
to the metropolitan spirit.
?Robert Springer,
Berlin Wird Weltstadt (1868)

When Germany became unified in 1871 following the defeat ofFrance by a Prussian-led coalition of German states, Berlin was transformedfrom a provincial royal seat into the capital of one of the mostpowerful nations in Europe. Like the new German nation itself, however, the capitalat that point was a work in progress, a far cry from the vibrant cosmopolitanmetropolis it would eventually become. As Lord Frederick Hamilton, a youngdiplomat in Britain's Berlin Embassy, snootily observed: "The Berlin of the `seventies'was still in a state of transition. The well-built, prim, dull, and somewhatprovincial Residenz was endeavoring with feverish energy to transform itself into aworld city, a Weltstadt." Even some Berliners were doubtful that their rough-edgedcity had leaped into the ranks of the great European capitals. "Oh Berlin, how faryou are from being a true capital," opined the novelist Theodor Fontane. "Youhave become a capital overnight through political fortuitousness, not through yourown devices."

    In the course of trying to reinvent itself for its new role, Berlin changed sorapidly that it became difficult to define the essence of the place. Within twentyyears, old timers were complaining that they couldn't recognize their town. Yet itwas during the great flux following German unification that the leitmotivs thatwould dominate Berlin's history for the next hundred and thirty years were firmlylaid down. Berlin's frantic attempt to catch up with its older and more polished Europeanrivals; its provocation of resentment and envy on the part of Germans fromother parts of the country, especially the south and west; its tension-filled relationshipwith the rulers who governed Prussia and the Reich; its complicated mixture ofnovelty-worship and nostalgia for a lost, quieter era?all these trends were evidentin the nineteen-year period during which Count Otto yon Bismarck ran the newlyunified German Reich from Europe's newest capital.

Berlin en Fête

Germany celebrated its emergence as a unified nation with the largest military paradeever seen in Berlin, a city which over the years had witnessed more than itsshare of martial displays. On June 16, 1871, a brilliantly clear Sunday, 40,000 soldiersparaded from the Tempelhof Field via the Halle and Brandenburg Gates tothe Royal Palace on Unter den Linden. All wore iron crosses on their tunics andmany had victory wreaths slung over their shoulders. A contingent of noncommissionedofficers bore eighty-one captured French battle flags, some of them in tatters."The troops looked superb," enthused Baroness von Spitzemberg, the wife ofWürttemberg's representative in Berlin, "so manly, suntanned, bearded, their traditionalPrussian stiffness loosened by the atmosphere of the parade; they were alovely sight for a patriotic heart."

    At the head of the long column rode eighty-seven-year-old Field MarshalFriedrich von Wrangel, a hero of past Prussian victories who had been resurrectedfrom retirement to lead the parade. He was followed by General Albrecht von Roonand Helmuth von Moltke, the latter carrying the field marshal's baton he had justbeen awarded for his recent victories over France. According to one witness, thegrim-faced field marshal looked as though he were planning a new campaign ratherthan accepting tribute for a war just won. Next to Moltke rode the true genius behindthe wars of German unification, Bismarck, who in reward for his services hadbeen made a prince, a title he claimed to disdain. Behind Bismarck and the generalscame Germany's new kaiser, William I, his erect posture belying his seventy-fouryears. "The wonderful old man must have larger-than-life strength to endurethe external rigors and inner turmoil so calmly," exulted an awed observer.

    The conditions that day were indeed difficult: it was so hot and humid that severalriders suffered heatstrokes and fell from their horses. But the heat apparentlydid not bother the kaiser's grandson, twelve-year-old Wilhelm, who, despite a witheredleft arm, stayed on his mount throughout the ordeal. Haughtily, he refused toacknowledge a well-wisher in the crowd who addressed him as "Wilhelmkin." "Hewill never forget this day," said Wilhelm I of the boy who would later rule Germanyas Kaiser Wilhelm II.

    In accordance with the epochal significance of the occasion, Berlin was deckedout as never before in its history. "The via triumphalis was about three miles long,through streets as wide and in some cases thrice as wide as Broadway," wrote theAmerican minister George Bancroft. All along the route stood captured French cannonand flagstaffs festooned with oak leaves and evergreens. At important way stationsrose enormous allegorical figures made of wood, linen, and straw. A twenty-meter-highstatue of Berolina, patron goddess of Berlin, graced the Halle Gate,while two huge female figures, representing the newly acquired cities of Strasbourgand Metz, presided over the Potsdamer Platz. In the Lustgarten next to the RoyalPalace loomed an even larger statue: Mutter Germania, flanked by her youngestdaughters, Alsace and Lorraine. A velarium suspended over Unter den Linden depictedthe great military victories that had finally brought Germany its unity.

    Upon reaching their destination at the Pariser Platz, next to the BrandenburgGate, the kaiser and his retinue stood under a canopy while dignitaries from the cityof Berlin paid their respects and a maiden in white recited an interminable poem.Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of Crown PrinceFriedrich Wilhelm of Germany, had deep reservations about this new Reich born ofblood and iron, but even she could not contain her admiration for the victory parade,declaring it "the greatest fête Berlin, and I may say Germany, has ever seen."

    Such pomp did not come cheaply. The celebration cost more than 450,000 talers,which had to be raised through a surcharge on all income taxes levied in Berlin.Few Berliners complained, however, for the festivities offered ample opportunity torecoup the tax. Restaurants and taverns added extra tables and dispensed a "CommemorationBeer," which, though the same as the regular beer, cost a few penniesmore because of its historical significance. Street vendors hawked a "War and VictoryChronicle 1870-71," along with guides to Berlin's nightlife, tickets to tours ofthe city, coats of arms of famous generals, regimental flags, and fragrant laurelwreaths.

    Vantage points from which to watch the proceedings in comfort were in great demand.Merchants with houses or shops along the route rented out viewing space forbreathtaking sums. One enterprising store owner on Unter den Linden installedten "comfortable chairs" in his window "with an unobstructed view of the PariserPlatz." Thousands brought camp-stools to the street or perched atop trees, lampposts,and monuments. "No roof was too high, no stool too low that was not occupiedby people," wrote the Vossische Zeitung. "There was not even any empty spaceatop the dizzying heights of the Brandenburg Gate.... The men and women upthere sought to outdo each other with daring poses, all of them showing a...