Unfinished Metropolis
100 Years of Urban Planning for Greater Berlin

Five spatial factors in particular have shaped the development of the metropolis of Berlin: the Variety of Centres, the Housing Question, the Transport Issues, the Environmental Issues and the distribution of major infrastructure, industrial and military projects. These five factors not only allow us to understand the development and uniqueness of (Greater) Berlin, their meaningful combination also allows us to manage the metropolis in a sustainable manner. Berlin is of course dependent on Brandenburg and Brandenburg is dependent on Berlin.

In the exhibition, all these themes are unfolded through exemplary locations, projects and plans that have shaped and changed the metropolis of Berlin. They are often of international significance – as a model or as a horror scenario. But Berlin is not alone. Other European metropolises are also struggling to shape their stormy growth in a sustainable way – especially Moscow, Vienna, Paris and London. Like these metropolises, Berlin is not only a big city but also the capital.

Exhibition

Foyer

© bpk, no. 30034621

1920: A Crisis Year
The Creation of Greater Berlin

The Greater Berlin Act was passed by the Prussian Parliament on 27 April 1920 and came into effect on 1 October 1920. The passing of the act came just a month after the Kapp Putsch at a time when both Berlin’s and Germany’s future was uncertain. It coincided with the severe crisis that followed the First World War and the end of the Spanish Flu pandemic.

START IN THE FOYER

Room 1

© Berlin Mitte Archive, no. AK-6952

On Track
Rail Transport Issues

The greater Berlin area came about as a result of the railway. High-speed rail transport made it possible to build the suburbs. The formation of Greater Berlin led to fundamental reform of the public transport system. A single, unified municipal transport company was created in 1928: Berliner Verkehrs-AG (BVG).

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Room 2

Photo: Heinrich Hoffmann; akg / Imagno, no. 1047784

On The Road
Road Transport Issues

Greater Berlin started out as a rail-oriented city, but it became more and more car-centric over time. The first car-focused plans were considered during the Greater Berlin Competition in 1910 and began taking shape during the Weimar Republic.

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Room 3

© Schusev State Museum of Architecture, Moskau

The Centre of Everywhere
The Issue of the City’s Many Centres

The city’s system of centres altered fundamentally after the creation of Greater Berlin. The emerging centre of the New West around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church became more important, along with the undisputed main city centre between Alexander­platz and the Reichstag.

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Room 4

Photo: Horst Siegmann; LAB, F. Rep. 290, no. 149030

Is it Really Social?
The Housing Question

Greater Berlin has always experimented with different forms of housing and urban development policy. It was centre stage in the struggle against the largest tenement city in the world. Sub-standard housing conditions and housing shortages have also been part of the history of Greater Berlin from the outset.

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Room 5

Photo: Lothar Willmann; State Archive of the German Democratic Republic, no. 52228

Parks, Squares and Sycamore Trees
Environmental Issues

How can a city that is constantly growing remain healthy? The answer is simple: street trees and lots of lots of greenery! The Permanent Forest Agreement of 1915 was the first important step taken in efforts to protect green spaces. It reserved extensive areas of forest for local recreation.

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Room 6a

© Paul Busch: Contemporary Property Policy in Berlin (Berlin, 1929), enclosure

Power and Powerlessness
A Series of Major Plans

Major plans have paved the way of Greater ­Berlin. It all began with the Greater Berlin Competition of 1908 – 1910. This was followed by efforts to create a general settlement plan for Berlin and a devel­opment plan for Brandenburg-Mitte during the ­Weimar Republic. Work on the general devel­opment plan continued under the direction of Albert Speer. Plans developed by the planning collective working with Hans Scharoun came immediately after the war and then came the grand plans for the divided city.

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Room 6b

© SOOKI and Matthias Koeppel Galerie SMK

Infrastructure, Industry and the Military
A Selection of Major Projects

Big plans signify desired goals, but it is large projects that directly shape the urban space of major cities. Large projects in Berlin initially focused on industrial facilities, ports, military training areas, centres of science and hospital facilities, and ­later also included enormous power plants, airports, exhibition grounds and a film city just beyond the borders of Berlin.

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Room 7

© Käthe Kollwitz Museum, Cologne, chalk and brush lithography (transfer), Kn 122 I

In and out of favour
Planning Culture

Urban development in Berlin has always been the subject of intense debate. Participants have in­cluded not just planning professionals, politicians and the administration, but also representatives of civil society and commerce. The debates have been about targets, instruments, institutions and funding.

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Room 8

© Philipp Meuser, 2020

An Unloved Capital?
A Window into Germany

In 1920, Berlin had been Germany’s capital for less than half a century. Unlike London and Paris, Berlin was a far cry from being the undisputed centre of a large European country. The city was more like Rome and Moscow, a young capital with a mixed reputation.

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Room 9

© IRS (Erkner) / Scientific Collection, D1_12_2-003

A Kindred Place
The Cities and Countryside of Brandenburg

Berlin is more than just the city. After the Thirty Years War, Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector, expanded his new residence in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. There were already palaces in ­Oranienburg and Potsdam, and Charlottenburg Palace was soon added to their number. However, the Prussian kings mainly focused on developing Potsdam and they formed a unique complex of palaces and parks in the city southwest of Berlin.

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Room 10

We Are Not Alone!
Perspectives from Europe

Around 1900, attempts began in Europe to reorganise large and rapidly expanding urban areas, politically, administratively and in terms of planning. This was an extremely difficult process, and not just in Berlin, where efforts were hindered by conflicting interests and so rarely successful. 

FURTHER ON IN ROOM 10