Berlin - Timeline

1936 August 1-16 The XI Summer Olympics take place in Berlin from During the Games, all of the anti-Semitic placards and slogans in the city are taken down.

1937 The 700th anniversary of the founding of Berlin is marked for the first time by a huge celebration.

1938 March 12 The annexation of Austria makes Berlin the capital of what is called the “Greater German Reich.”

1939 September 1 The Second World War starts in Berlin when Germany declares war against Poland.

1945 April 21 The Red Army crosses the city boundaries of Berlin for the first time, and the Battle for Berlin begins.

1945 April 30 Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun commit suicide in his bunker under the chancellery building on Friedrichstrasse.

1946-1949 Growing conflicts of interest between the victorious powers with regard to the postwar order in Europe in general and Germany in particular put an end to the Allies’ joint administration of the city. Berlin becomes a Cold War hotspot.

1952 March 29 The English Garden is opened by the British foreign minister Anthony Eden in West Berlin’s Tiergarten park.

1969 February 27 U.S. president Richard Nixon visits West Berlin.

1969 October 2 The world clock at Alexanderplatz goes into operation.

1971 January 31 Ten direct telephones lines are reconnected between West and East Berlin for the first time since 1952.

1976 Work on the largest apartment-construction project in the history of the GDR begins in the spring in Marzahn, an area in East Berlin. By 1990, 62,000 apartments will have been built in pre-fabricated high-rises.

1987 June 12 U.S. president Ronald Reagan gives his famous speech at Brandenburg Gate: “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

1989 November 9 The conflicts over the new travel regulations escalate to the point that the GDR gives way to public pressure and opens the Wall in Berlin and along the German-German border. The Berlin Wall has fallen.

1990 October 3 The unification of Germany enters into force with a state ceremony in Berlin, after which the Berlin House of Representatives and the German Bundestag hold new elections. Brandenburg is reconstituted as a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

1994 Summer American, British, French, and Russian troops bid farewell to the people of Berlin with ceremonies and parades.

2000 November 9 On the eleventh anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall more than 200,000 gather at the Oranienburgstrasse Synagogue and march to the Brandenburg gate in support of "Humanity and Tolerance." Neo-Nazis and violent nationalists avoid the celebration. Several grave desecrations and violent incidents take place in a number of smaller cities.

2002 October 3 The newly restored Brandenburg Gate is the scene of national festivities celebrating the Day of German Unity. During the ceremony, the Gate is unveiled to reveal new splendor after almost two years of restoration work.