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News • Berlin • Germany • 2012-08-31

Berlin’s 775th Anniversary Historical City Festival

In the beginning, there was a little trader’s settlement in the valley of the Spree River, and even today a document from the year 1237 provides information about it. So the origins of Berlin can be precisely dated to 775 years ago, and there will be a big celebration for the anniversary. The main focus of the festivities will concentrate above all on two aspects of the colorful history of Berlin: the Middle Ages and the great variety of the inhabitants of the city.

Artisan markets, traveling artists, and robber barons – the city will use the occasion of the anniversary to bring medieval Berlin back to life again. An historical city festival on October 28 will remind participants of the humble beginnings of the metropolis that is now home to millions. The former border of the city will be turned into a spectacular scene with fire, light, and music. As dusk begins to fall, the Compagnie Carabosse, which is famous for its fire spectacles, will illuminate the original Berlin between the Nikolaiviertel and the Marienkirche with flaming sculptures, burning lanterns, and more than eight hundred fire pots.

Archaeological Strolls through the Middle of Berlin

As early as August, it will be possible to take a stroll into the past. In the course of underground construction work in the city, numerous pieces of archaeological evidence from the earliest days of Berlin came to light. During the anniversary celebrations, they may be viewed at eight historical locations before they for the most part disappear once again beneath new squares and buildings. These include the Dominican Monastery on the Spreeinsel island and the Church of St. Mary not far from the Alexanderplatz. And the “Extended Museum Night” on August 25 will also take up the topic of the city’s anniversary.

Of Huguenots, Russians, and Other Berliners

Berlin possesses an unbelievable magnetism. And the city attracts more than just tourists. For nearly eight hundred years, people from the most varied of regions have settled here. If in the Middle Ages, it was merchants from the Rhineland, then later on it was Huguenots, Polish migrant workers, and many others who contributed to transforming the village with some two thousand souls into a colorful, diverse metropolis numbering in the millions. They will be the subject of an outdoor exhibition entitled “City of Variety”, which will be inaugurated at Berlin’s Schlossplatz on August 24. At the site of the future Humboldt Forum, a gigantic map of the city that can be walked through will show the history and tell the stories of the immigrants. In the Stadtmuseum [the Municipal Museum], the exhibition “Berlinmacher” [“The Berlin Makers” will be dedicated to that “daring breed” (Goethe) who make this particular city so unmistakable.

And there is another special feature of this jubilee: this is the first unified city anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1987, there were still two separate celebrations for the 750th anniversary: one in East Berlin and another in West Berlin.

For more information, please see www.berlin.de/775

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