History: Architectural Pomp, Trauma & Resurgence, Berlin, 1800 to 2000

This day school studies the cityscape and architecture of Berlin, now a bustling and attractive city for foreign visitors as the enlightened capital of a successful, cultured and democratic country. We will take a close look at the cityscape and architecture of today’s Berlin and see how it reveals the evidence of its dramatic and traumatic past.

This is the city that was at the centre of world events for over 200 years, witnessing triumphs and trauma beyond those associated with any other European capital. Developed initially as the capital of Prussia, it became the proud capital of a united Germany in 1871 and prospered right up to the First World War. Berlin was little damaged in that war, but the defeat of Germany led to the formation of a Republic for 14 years, famed for the Bauhaus, modernist architectures and social housing programmes. Adolf Hitler returned Berlin to its militaristic origins and to new bombastic architectures. Much of the old city was destroyed in World War II, and the ensuing Cold War divided Berlin into two antagonistic and embittered cities, West Berlin reborn in Western Style, East Berlin in Russian Communist style. Since the fall of the Wall in 1989, the united city has flourished, embracing grand city plans and modern, hi-tech architecture.