History of Berlin - The Divided City

The Divided City

By the end of the Second World War, up to a third of Berlin had been destroyed by concerted Allied air raids and street fighting. The so-called Stunde Null marked a new beginning for the city. Greater Berlin was divided into four sectors by the Allies under the London Protocol of 1944, one each for:

• the United States, consisting of the Boroughs of Neukölln, Kreuzberg, Tempelhof, Schöneberg, Steglitz and Zehlendorf;(See : commandants of Berlin American Zone)
• the United Kingdom, consisting of the Boroughs of Tiergarten, Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf and Spandau; (See :commandants of Berlin British Zone)
• France, consisting of the Boroughs of Wedding and Reinickendorf; (See :commandants of Berlin French Zone)
• the Soviet Union, consisting of the Boroughs of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow, Weißensee, Friedrichshain, Lichtenberg, Treptow, and Köpenick; (See :commandants of Berlin Soviet Zone) .

The Soviet victors of the Battle of Berlin immediately occupied all of Berlin. They handed the American, British and French sectors (later known as West Berlin) to the American and British Forces in July 1945: the French occupied their sector a little later. The Soviets used the period from May 1945 to July 1945 to dismantle industry, transport and other facilities in West Berlin, including removing railway tracks, as reparations for German war damage in the Soviet Union. This practice also continued in East Berlin and the Soviet occupation zone after 1945.

Berlin's unique situation as a city half-controlled by Western forces in the middle of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany made it a natural focal point in the Cold War. Though the city was initially governed by a Four Power Allied Control Council with a leadership that rotated monthly, the Soviets withdrew from the council as East-West relations deteriorated and began governing their sector independently. The council continued to govern West Berlin, with the same rotating leadership policy, though now only involving France, Great Britain, and the United States.

East Germany chose Berlin (in practice, East Berlin) as its capital when the country was formed from the Soviet occupation zone in October 1949; however, this was rejected by the western allies, who continued to regard Berlin as an occupied city that was not legally part of any German state. Although half the size and population of West Berlin (which the East German authorities generally referred to as "Westberlin"), it included most of the historic center.

West Germany, formed on 23 May 1949 from the American, British, and French zones, had its seat of government and de facto capital in Bonn, although Berlin was symbolically named as the de jure West German capital in the West German Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

West Berlin de jure remained under the rule of the Western Allies, but for most practical purposes was treated as a part of West Germany.