Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1945 BERLIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 21 April 1945, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1945 BERLIN

THE city of Berlin, now in imminent danger of being crushed between the Russian hammer and the BritishAmerican anvil, is the parvenu among European capitals. History knows nothing of it before the twelfth century, when a tribe of Wends settled on a desolate island in the River Spree, and eked out a wretched existence by fishing and hunting. The village grew slowly; even in the seventeenth century, although it had become the capital of the growing province of Brandenburg, the population did not exceed 8000. By 1815 its inhabitants numbered 200,000; it had become a substantial city, but it was much inferior in size and importance to the other great capitals of Europe, and even to many of the older towns of Western and Southern Germany. The real greatness of Berlin dates from 1871, when it became the capital of the newly-born German Empire; favoured by the sell-aggrandising policy of the Hohenzollerns, it grew ITom strength to strength, until in 1939 its population exceeded 4,000,000, and it ranked after London, New York and Toltio as the fourth largest city in the world.

Berlin’s modernity is not without its advantages. The development of the city over the last century has not been hampered by a sentimental regard for tradition, or the material obstruction of ancient streets and buildings. Pre-war Berlin was one of the most imposing capitals in Europe. On the island which formed the nucleus of the old city were the Cathedral, the new Pergamum Museum, and the National Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I, created German Emperor in 1871. Westward from 1 the island stretched the Avenue Unter den Linden, a mile long and 200 feet wide, famous for its splendid rows of lime trees, and dignified by such noble buildings as the Imperial Palaces, the Town Hall, the Opera House, Royal Library and University. The Siegesallee (Avenue of Victory) was adorned with a magnificent group of thirty-two statues, representing the rulers of Brandenburg and Prussia during five centuries. Nor did the reputation of the city depend solely on its architectural magnificence. Its administration was singularly efficient and smooth-running, and was constantly quoted as a model of municipal government all over Europe. A prime factor in the development of Berlin was its convenience as a communications centre. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 brought the eastern frontier of the Reich much nearer to the capital than the western one, but in nineteenth century Germany Berlin stood in a position that was almost exactly central. Fourteen main railway lines eventually converged upon the city, and as the canal system was extended the Spree was linked directly with the Oder and the Elbe, and thence with the North Sea, the Rhineland, and the Danube. Nine t air lines ran daily from the Templehof Aerodrome to all parts of Europe, and the Hitler autobahnen also radiated from the capital. All this was part of a plan, initiated by the Hohenzollerns and continued by the Nazis, to concentrate the whole power of Germany in one city. It was enhanced by strenuous efforts to build up industrial activity in and near the capital. Although natural facilities were lacking, a great belt of chemical and electrical works was established to supplement the older iron, cloth, machinery and brewing industries. For peace purposes this' concentration had some advantages; it also proved an asset in the early stages of the war, when an invasion of Germany seemed but an insubstantial dream. In the last three years, however, Allied aircraft—and more recently Allied armies—have made the German capital their chief goal, and the advantages have not been so evident. Berlin is, more than London, Paris or Moscow, the sensitive nerve centre of the State; the devastating effects of bombing have shaken the whole system, and entry into the city, which should not be long delayed, will make corporate action by the Wehrmacht impossible. With so much at stake, one might expect the enemy to hold the capital to the last maq. But in the estimation of many Germans Berlin does not rank nearly so high as that. The majority of them outside Prussia view it with indifference, many with active hostility. To them it is the symbol of Hohenzollern and Nazi arrogance, which has foisted on the more sober part of the nation a creed which is not relished. They have not the sentimental attachment to Berlin which they have for their more historic cities like Frankfurt

and Cologne, Dresden and Munich. Berlin has not figured much in German history, and where it has its appearances have mostly been inglorious. It was captured by the Austrians in 1757, and ransomed by the payment of £27,000 and 24 pairs of gloves for the Empress; by the Russians in 1760, and redeemed at the more flattering sum of 1,500,000 thalers; by Napoleon in 1806, and eventually salvaged by the successes oi' other nations in different parts of Europe. This is not much on which to build a legend of invincibility; in any case no legend is strong enough now to prevent Allied occupation of the burnt-out shell which the bombers have lelt. The battle for Berlin is on.