From the Beginning to the Renaissance

The city of Cölln was first mentioned in documents as part of the twin-cities situated on the Spree island, Berlin-Cölln, in the year of 1237. A further document from the year 1244 then also mentions a city by the name of Berlin, which was located on the northern bank of the Spree, there where the Nikolaikirche stands today. Besides the Nikolaikirche, from the time of around the middle of the 13th century, also stems the Franciscan abbey, from which a ruin is preserved, as well as the former “Heiliggeist-Kapelle“ and the Marienkirche. At the Waisenstraße there are still remnants of the old city-wall from the early 14th century.
In the year of 1307, the two cities, Berlin and Cölln, received a communal town hall for the first time. In the year of 1415, Friedrich I became Elector of the Mark Brandenburg, the first of the Hohenzollern rulers, who in Berlin were supposed to govern first as margraves of Brandenburg, then as Kings of Prussia and finally as the German Kaiser up until the First World-War.
In the “Berliner indignation” of 1448, the Berliners revolted against the construction of the castle that the Elector Friedrich II had commissioned, and its associated splitting of the twin-city. Yet, the uprising failed. The Berliners lost many political and economic liberties. At the same time, however, the significance of the city continued to grow. In 1451, Berlin became the declared royal capital, and the castle was further developed. Around 1700, the Baroque facades of Andreas Schlüters came into being; with the dome by Friedrich August Stüler in 1850, the castle received its final exterior form, prior to it becoming blown up in 1950 by the command of Friedrich August Stüler.
The Thirty Year War between 1618 and 1648 had devastating consequences for Berlin: close to half of the population perished. A third of the buildings were damaged. When in 1640 Friedrich Wilhelm the “Great Prince Elector” took over the duties of government, he thereupon started a policy of tolerance towards immigration and religion. The suburbs of Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt became founded.