History of Berlin Trivia Quiz

Answer: Albert the Bear

Albert the Bear was the Margrave of Brandenburg when he founded Berlin 1163. Albert was the son of the Duke of Saxony and was a major figure in Northern Europe during his lifetime. He expanded his kingdom to cover the area Berlin now occupies. It is believed that the name Berlin may be derived from the German word for bear and the bear is one of the symbols of the city.

Sometimes (possibly even most of the time) Berlin's founding year is listed as 1237. This is because of a historical error. The earliest recorded use of the name Berlin goes back to 1244 and mentions that Berlin was founded alongside Kolln (which is now part of Berlin) which was first mentioned in 1237. The 1237 year was mistaken as the founding year and Berlin was a well known location for merchants to set up shops for years prior to 1237.

Answer: Political powers were consolidated among the elites

The 1448 Berlin Indignation was an uprising amongst the lower class of Berlin in protest against the Frederick II Irontooth's proposal for a new royal palace in the city. Berlin's population boomed in the years prior and poverty was high. The lower class opposed the construction because there were so many people in need and they feared an increased royal influence in city affairs.

As a result of the rebellion, the lower classes lost much of what little political power and influence they had. In addition, the capital of Brandenburg was moved to Berlin and royal influence was at an all time high.

The economy shifted from trade to production focused on royal needs which created more poverty as merchants were limited in their business activities and no longer enjoyed foreign buyers.

Answer: Forced conversion

This was only one of a series of anti-Semitic events that plagued Europe during the 16th century. Over one hundred Jewish people were convicted of religious crimes such as desecrating a holy place - typically without evidence - and Jews were scapegoats for anything that went awry in Berlin. Wealthy Jewish people had their property taken away and were often deported from the city limits while poorer Jews were sometimes burned and executed as punishment.

Answer: Bubonic Plague

Bubonic Plague rampaged Europe throughout the century. Berlin lost about 6,000 people to the disease which was about half of the city's population at the time. Despite the devastating statistic, Berlin fair better than other cities in Europe during the same plague. Venice lost over 50,000 people and Milan nearly 20,000.

Answer: Protestants

King Friedrich Wilhelm hoped to turn Berlin into one of Europe's leading cities. Berlin already had a policy of religious tolerance and the king further encouraged Protestants to move into the city, particularly from Catholic-dominated countries like France and Switzerland which were going through the Reformation.

Friedrich Wilhelm and his successors built up Berlin by founding schools, hospitals, military armories and improving the city walls. By 1755, the population doubled from its total in 1710. The Enlightenment brought a variety of thinkers to the city who felt at home and could openly express new, radical thoughts.

Answer: Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is one of many gates that can be found in what was the formerly walled city of Berlin. It was commissioned by Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia to symbolize peace in Europe after the Batavian Revolution, which overthrew the Dutch Republic, ended. Construction began in 1788 and ended in 1791 when the gate was commemorated.

The Brandenburg Gate is not only one of the most iconic landmarks in Berlin but also one of its most important as many historical events unfolded in front of it.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte led his French troops to victory in the Battle of Jena which quickly led to his invasion of Berlin soon after. Once in Berlin, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree which declared a blockade of Britain and founded the Continental System as a way of enforcing that blockade.

Napoleon's victory was an embarrassment for Prussia which had long been the dominant military force in Central Europe. However, Prussia and Berlin's heyday had been in decline since Frederick the Great died in 1786 and the city was not the once vibrant and dominant place it had once been.

Answer: Barricade fights

The so called Barricade fights took place on March 18, 1848. Large crowds demonstrated against King Frederick William IV and presented him with a list of grievances. Although the king agreed to them, the people did not trust him and the social upheaval continued. Police fired two shots during a demonstration and chaos erupted.

The crowds built makeshift barricades for protection from the police and the ensuing chaos claimed the lives of hundreds. Although King Frederick William IV eventually gave into most of the demands, he crucially raised the income level for eligible voters which disenfranchised nearly all of the population, especially the lower and middle classes who were protesting in the first place.

Answer: Sanitation

Berlin suffered from a sanitation problem for decades during this time period. The city lacked a (then) modern sewer system and had virtually no public places of accommodations like bathrooms. Raw sewage flowed through the streets, even in wealthy neighborhoods, and Berlin was considered the dirtiest city in Europe. Kaiser Wilhelm and Chancellor Bismarck were embarrassed that their new capital - then the most powerful in Europe - was in such a sorry state.

They brought in scientists and engineers from other countries to modernize the city.

This brought a boom of intellectuals and labor organizations into the city. While Berlin's culture flourished, labor movements were suppressed.

Answer: Supporting an overthrow of the government

Germany and Berlin experienced tumultuous times in the immediate aftermath of World War I. During the war, Berlin experienced severe food shortages which led to strict rationing including the infamous "turnip winter" when the potato supply was nonexistent and replaced with a ration of bad quality turnips. Women worked in dangerous factories for little pay and were often exposed to chemicals and workplace hazards. After the war, many of the men who had served and returned home were no longer fully able bodied. All of these issues led to the formation of the Communist Party of German and subsequent rebellion ensued called the Spartacist Uprising.

Rosa Luxemburg, who was a prominent opponent of Germany's entry into World War I, helped cofound the Spartacus League which desired to overthrow the Weimer Republic. Although she supported a rebellion against the government, she opposed the Spartacist Uprising because she thought it was ill thought out and she also opposed some of the more left-wing groups who took part in it. Nonetheless, she was executed for supporting the overthrow of the government when she was capture by right-wing Freikorps mercenary groups employed by the government (many of the Freikorps members were drafted into service and would later just as strongly oppose the government themselves). She was executed by being beaten with a rifle and then shot in the head. Her body was dumped into the local canal and later discovered four months later.

Luxemburg has since become an icon for left-wing Communist and Socialist groups in Europe for her martyrdom. This is despite her connections to these groups being somewhat dubious as she had written extensively about why she opposed such groups. She was critical of the Bolsheviks and blamed their problems in Russia at the time for why the Spartacus League was unable to get the working classed on board for its cause.

Answer: Germany

The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin, Nazi Germany. There were calls to boycott the games or relocate them because of Nazi policies involving Jews and other people. However, Hitler managed to convince the major world powers that the Games would not be political and Nazi policies discriminating against certain people would not be enforced. Despite this pledge, Hitler used the Games to show off his country and his power in the hopes of outshining the 1932 Games in Los Angeles. The Games were still boycotted by some individual non-Germans in protest and others were removed from their teams to appease Hitler.

One of the most infamous moments from the Games came when American track star Jesse Owens won four gold medals and became the most successful athlete at the Games. Owens, who was black, was said to have "crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan Supremacy". However, Owens was infamously not invited to the White House as is tradition after the Games.

Overall, Germany topped the medal chart winning the most gold medals with 33 and most medals overall with 89. Hitler, despite the Games not going perfectly as planned, considered them a success.

Answer: To demoralize Hitler

At the start of the war, the Allied strategy was to avoid bombing areas with civilians and focus on targeting military bases etc. This strategy was gradually abandoned over time and area bombing became the predominant strategy in regards to attacks on Berlin.

However, the first place targeted by the Allies was the Tempelhof Airport. The British bombed the airport in the Summer of 1940. Hitler viewed Tempelhof Airport as the gateway to Berlin and the entrance point for foreign visitors to view his capital.

While it is not known what kind of psychological damage the bombing had on Hitler, it did cause Hitler to switch his targets from British military bases to large cities such as London.

Answer: Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev

The Race to Berlin took place in April 1945 when it was widely known that Germany was about to lose the war. Stalin pitted two of his generals, Zhukov and Konev, in a race against each other to see who could arrive first in Berlin. This assured a swift destruction of Berlin and Soviet/Allied victory. Zhukov entered Berlin from the north while Konev entered from the South.

The Battle of Berlin ensued and the Soviets claimed victor. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 and the city surrendered two days later on May 2.

Answer: False

Reagan's "Berlin Wall Speech" (where he declared "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall") took place at the Brandenburg Gate. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech took place at the Rathus Schoneberg, Berlin's city hall. Both of these speeches are amongst the most iconic in U.S. history and both challenged the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Answer: "Woodpeckers" who chipped away at the Berlin Wall

Mauerspechte (woodpeckers in English) were people who began chipping away the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Many of the woodpeckers kept pieces of the Wall as historical souvenirs. This left holes in the Berlin Wall through which people crossed over to the other side.

Passage through the Berlin Wall became possible when the Wall officially "opened" on December 22, 1989 -- Helmut Kohl and Hans Modrow, leaders of West and East Germany respectively, met at the Brandenburg Gate. The Fall of the Berlin Wall led to a reunited Germany, the fall of Iron Curtain, the fall of communism in Europe and a decline in Soviet influence.

The official demolition of the wall began in June 1990, although portions of it still remain as a symbol of the past.