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BERLIN.
History.
Friedrichs - Werder (on the left bank of the Spree, between the Arse¬
nal and the Spittel-Markt), and Neu-Kollu (the Wall-Strasse and its
neighbourhood). These form the heart of the city and were origin¬
ally enclosed by fortifications. Round them in the 17th and 18th
cent, rose an inner zone of new quarters, bounded until 1868 by a
customs-wall 9 M. in length (almost corresponding with the present
'Stadtring' of the electric tramway, p. 14): the Dorotheenstadt
(stretching from the Spree to the Behren-Strasse), Friedrichstadt
(to the S. of the Behren-Strasse), Luisenstadt (to the E. of the
Linden-Strasse), etc. To these a large number of suburbs now in¬
corporated in the town were added during the 19th century.
The government of the city is shared by the Royal Police De¬
partment, the Civic Magistracy, and the Town Council, under a
Chief Burgomaster and a Burgomaster. The magistracy consists of
34members, of whom 18 are salaried. There are 144 town councillors.
The municipal revenues for 1908 were estimated at 8 millions ster¬
ling. — Berlin is divided into six electoral districts for the Reichstag
(Imperial Diet), and four for the Landtag (Prussian Chamber of De¬
puties) , in the latter of which it is represented by nine deputies.
History. Berlin first appears in history in the early part of
the 13th cent., when it was already a double town of some import¬
ance (Berlin and Kolln). In all probability the original Wendish
settlements had been taken possession of by German colonists at
the end of the preceding century. The name also is doubtless of
Wendish origin, and its connection with the bear (Bar) which
appears in the city arms is merely an etymological fancy of later
date. The name of Kolln is mentioned for the first time in a doc¬
ument of 1237, that of Berlin in 1244, after which the town soon
began to be regarded as one of the most considerable in the Mark,
ranking with Brandenburg (p. 205), the residence of the Margraves.
The two towns were united in 1307, and by their prudent policy
during the troublous times of the 14th cent, raised themselves to
a position of great importance. Berlin-Kolln even became head of
a confederation of towns of the Mark, which it represented in
dealings with the Hanseatic League. Such a position, however,
almost amounting to the independence of a free imperial town, could
not be maintained against the might of the Hohenzollern family,
who became masters of the Mark in 1415. In consequence of its
unsuccessful opposition to Frederick '■with the Iron Tooth' (1440-
70), the second Elector, the town was deprived of its privileges
(1442, 1448), and a fortified castle was erected to keep it in check.
Electm- John Cicero (1486-99) made Berlin-Kolln his permanent
abode, and since that period the fortunes of the town have been
interwoven with those of the Hohenzollern family and their other
dominions. In 1539 the townspeople and Joachim II. (1535 - 71)