sons. The counts von Berlichingen-Rossach, of Helmstadt near Heidelberg, one of the two surviving branches of the family, are his descendants. The other branch, that of the Freiherrn von Berlichingen-Jagsthausen, is descended from Goetz’s brother Hans. “Goetz von Berlichingen” is the title of Goethe’s play, which, published in 1773, marked an epoch in the history of German drama (see Goethe).
See R. Pallmann, Der historische Goetz von Berlichingen (Berlin, 1894); F. W. G. Graf von Berlichingen-Rossach, Geschichte des Ritters Goetz von Berlichingen und seiner Familie (Leipzig, 1861). Goetz’s Autobiography, valuable as a record of his times, was first published by Pistorius at Nuremberg (1731), and again at Halle (1886).
BERLIN, ISAIAH (1725–1799), an eminent rabbi of Breslau; he was the author of acute notes on the Talmud which had their influence in advancing the critical study of that work.
BERLIN, the largest city of the German empire, the capital of the kingdom of Prussia. It is the principal residence of the German emperor and king of Prussia, the seat of the imperial parliament (Reichstag) and the Prussian diet (Landtag) and of the state offices of the empire, except of the supreme court of justice (Reichsgericht), which is fixed at Leipzig. It lies in a flat, sandy plain, 110 ft. above sea-level, on both banks of the navigable Spree, which intersects it from S.E. to N.W. The highest elevation in the immediate neighbourhood is the Kreuzberg (200 ft.), a hill in the southern suburb of Schöneberg, which commands a fine view of the city. The situation of Berlin, midway between the Elbe and the Oder, with which rivers it is connected by a web of waterways, at the crossing of the main roads from Silesia and Poland to the North Sea ports and from Saxony, Bohemia and Thuringia to the Baltic, made it in medieval days a place of considerable commercial importance. In modern times the great network of railways, of which it is the centre and which mainly follow the lines of the old roads, further established its position. Almost equidistant from the remotest frontiers of Prussia, from north to south, and from east to west, 180 m. from Hamburg and 84 from Stettin, its situation, so far from being prejudicial to its growth and prosperity, as was formerly often asserted, has been, in fact, the principal determining factor in its rapid rise to the position of the greatest industrial and commercial city on the continent of Europe. In point of wealth and population it ranks immediately after London and Paris.
The boundaries of the city have not been essentially extended since 1860, and though large and important suburbs have crept up and practically merged with it, its administrative area remains unchanged. It occupies about 29 sq. m., and has a length from E. to W. of 6 and a breadth from N. to S. of 512 m., contains nearly 1000 streets, has 87 squares and open spaces, 73 bridges and a population (1905) of 2,033,900 (including a garrison of about 22,000). If, however, the outer police district, known as “Greater Berlin,” embracing an area of about 10 m. radius from the centre, be included, the population amounts to about 314 millions.
Berlin is essentially a modern city, the quaint two-storied houses, which formerly characterized it, having given place to palatial business blocks, which somewhat dwarf the streets and squares, which once had an air of stately spaciousness. The bustle of the modern commercial city has superseded the austere dignity of the old Prussian capital. Thus the stranger entering it for the first time will find little to remind him of its past history. The oldest part of Berlin, the city and Alt-Kölln, built along the arms of the Spree, is, together with that portion of the town lying immediately west, the centre of business activity. The west end and the south-west are the residential quarters, the north-west is largely occupied by academic, scientific and military institutions, the north is the seat of machinery works, the north-east of the woollen manufactures, the east and south-east of the dyeing, furniture and metal industries, while in the south are great barracks and railway works.
In 1870 Berlin was practically bounded on the south by the Landwehr Canal, but it has since extended far beyond, and the Tempelhofer Feld, where military reviews are held, then practically in the country, is now surrounded by a dense belt of houses. The Landwehr Canal, leaving the Spree near the Schlesische Tor (gate), and rejoining it at Charlottenburg, after a course of 6 m., adds not a little to the charm of the southern and western districts, being flanked by fine boulevards and crossed by many handsome bridges. The object of this canal was to relieve the congestion of the water traffic in the heart of Berlin. It was superseded, however, in its turn by a new broad and deep canal opened in 1906, lying from 3 to 4 m. farther south. This, the Teltow Canal, leaves the Spree above Berlin at Köpenick, and running south of Rixdorf, Südende and Gross-Lichterfelde, enters the Havel at Teltow. This important engineering work was planned not only to afford a more convenient waterway between the upper Spree and the Havel (and thus to the Elbe), but was to remove from the city to its banks and vicinity those factories of which the noxious gases and other poisonous emanations were regarded as dangerous to the health of the community. A dislocation of the manufacturing factors has therefore been in progress, which with the creation of a “trans Tiberim” (as in ancient Rome) is, in many respects, altering the character and aspect of the metropolis.
The effect upon Berlin of the successful issue of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 was electrical. The old Prussian capital girded itself at once to fulfil its new rôle. The concentration upon the city of a large garrison flushed with victory, and eager to emulate the vanquished foe in works of peace, and vie with them in luxury, was an incentive to Berliners to put forth all their energy. Besides the military, a tremendous immigration of civilian officials took place as the result of the new conditions, and, as accommodation was not readily available, rents rose to an enormous figure. Doubts were often expressed whether the capital would be able to bear the burden of empire, so enormous was the influx of new citizens. It is due to the magnificent services of the municipal council that the city was enabled to assimilate the hosts of newcomers, and it is to its indefatigable exertions that Berlin has in point of organization become the model city of Europe. In no other has public money been expended with such enlightened discretion, and in no other has the municipal system kept pace with such rapid growth and displayed greater resource in emergencies. In 1870 the sanitary conditions of Berlin were the worst of any city of Europe. It needed a Virchow to open the eyes of the municipality to the terrible waste of life such a state of things entailed. But open sewers, public pumps, cobble-paved roads, open market-places and overcrowded subterranean dwellings are now abolished. The city is excellently drained, well-paved, well-lighted and furnished with an abundant supply of filtered water, while the cellar dwellings have given place to light and airy tenements, and Berlin justly claims to rank among the cleanest and healthiest capitals in Europe. The year 1878 marks a fresh starting-point in the development of the city. In that year Berlin was the meeting-place of the congress which bears its name. The recognition of Germany as a leading factor in the world’s counsels had been given, and the people of Berlin could indulge in the task of embellishing the capital in a manner befitting its position. From this time forward, state, municipal and private enterprise have worked hand in hand to make the capital cosmopolitan. The position it has at length attained is due not alone to the enterprise of its citizens and the municipality. The brilliancy of the court and the triumph of the sense of unity in the German nation over the particularism of the smaller German states have conduced more than all else to bring about this result. It has become the chief pleasure town of Germany; and though the standard of morality, owing to the enormous influx of people bent on amusement, has become lower, yet there is so much healthy, strenuous activity in intellectual life and commercial rivalry as to entitle it, despite many moral deficiencies, to be regarded as the centre of life and learning in Germany. Dr A. Shadwell (Industrial Efficiency, London, 1906) describes it as representing “the most complete application of science, order and method of public life,” adding
