1960s Berlin concept art
Berlin (Welthauptstadt Germania) is the capital city of Nazi Germany and presumably one of the largest cities in the Reich, located on the banks of the Spree River. The city of Berlin has existed since the 12th century, having served as the capital city of previous German states such as Brandenburg, the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire, and eventually the Weimar Republic before the arrival of the Nazis in 1933. Since the German victory in the Second World War, Berlin underwent drastic changes in the post-war period, presumably starting in the years between 1948 and 1949 under the Nazi administration, which was attributed to the introduction of a construction material known as Überconcrete, in which enabled the Reich to construct large, towering monolithic buildings over most of Berlin. An example of one of these colossal superstructures is the Volkshalle, which is located right in the very center of Berlin.
Berlin is also home to not just the Nazis, but also the headquarters of the Kreisau Circle, a resistance group which continued its fight against the Germans for 14 years albeit hidden underground for 14 years until the arrival of B.J. Blazkowicz in 1960. It is also home to the infamous Eisenwald Prison, in which according to state propaganda, the prison is almost impossible for inmates to escape, and home to the Berlin Secret Police, which operates from the Secret Police Headquarters.
In Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny, B.J. infiltrates locations within Berlin.
Overview[]
The city of Berlin has existed for centuries, dating back to the 12th century under the control of Brandenburg. In the 16th century, the Thirty Years' War brought destruction to the city, in which Berlin lost half of its population. Berlin eventually became the capital of the newly formed Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. Berlin experienced events during Prussian rule, such as the Seven Years' War which led to its occupation by the Russians and the War of the Fourth Coalition. The Industrial Revolution led to Berlin's booming population and expansion, and by 1871, became capital of the newly-founded German Empire, and eventually, by 1918, the German Reich, or known mostly as the Weimar Republic. Berlin became the center for Hitler's rise to power, such as the burning of the Reichstag which led to the Reichstag Decree, which became a stepping stone for the Nazis rise to power by 1933.
With the rise of Hitler to power in 1933, he envisioned Berlin as a capital of the Reich that had a monumental ensemble, and would embark on monumental construction projects and an entire renewal of the German city. It would eventually come to be known as Germania, and planned to remodel the entire city as a way to express their power and authority through architectural wonders, such as the proposed Volkshalle. Adolf Hitler and presumably, Albert Speer, developed concepts for the reconstruction of the entire city. Construction began somewhere in the year of 1938, when the German authorities demolished several blocks spread across Berlin. Throughout the course of the Second World War, Berlin would suffer from bomb raids by the British RAF.[1]
With the Germans finally achieving victory in the Second World War by the year of 1948, the path towards reconstructing most of Berlin began virtually unopposed, beginning somewhere between 1948 and 1949 (with the construction of Eisenwald Prison). Most of the city had been completely rebuilt in the image of the Nazis in the 14 years that followed before the events of Wolfenstein: The New Order. The introduction of a new building material, known as Überconcrete, began to be used, which virtually enabled the Nazis to construct towering, monolithic buildings which spread all across most of Berlin. One of the most notable and recognizable megastructures of the Reich in Berlin is the Volkshalle, which not only serves as a hall for the administration, but also as venues for concerts.[2] By 1960, Berlin has become completely unrecognizable compared to what it was 20 years prior, having been completely rebuilt in the image of the Nazis. However, with these rapid developments also came with setbacks. Überconcrete, which is a critical building block for most of Berlin, had a tendency to develop mold, with the problem having persisted since the 1950s.[3] Berlin's rapid development also led to the existence of the Berlin Catacombs, which is located under the city.
Berlin became home to a resistance group known as the Kreisau Circle, with the group headquarters being held in the very heart of Berlin in an abandoned sewer which connected to the Berlin Catacombs until 1960.
Locations[]
Eisenwald Prison[]
The primary prison in the city, Eisenwald Prison is home to many captured resistance fighters, and is guarded by melee guards, kampfhunds and panzerhunds.
Kreisau Circle HQ[]
The headquarters of the Kreisau Circle Resistance within Berlin, situated beneath the Monuments of Truth.
Reich Chancellery[]
This is the main Reich command centre. The Furherbunker, where Hitler (presumably) would go if he was attacked by resistance fighters, is located here.
Secret Police Headquarters[]
The headquarters for the secret police in Berlin, used for monitoring citizens and interrogating prisoners.
Volkshalle[]
The Volkshalle ("People's Hall"), also called Grosse Halle ("Great Hall") or Ruhmeshalle ("Hall of Glory"), is a huge domed monumental building in Berlin, planned and designed by Hitler's architect Albert Speer.
The dome of the Volkshalle was to rise from a massive granite podium 315 by 315 metres (1,033 ft × 1,033 ft) and 74 metres (243 ft) high, to a total inclusive height of 290 metres (950 ft). The diameter of the dome was 250 metres (820 ft). It would have been almost as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City at 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall. Inside the Volkshalle, there is a massive apse, covered with gold mosaics and enclosing a giant silver statue of the symbol of Germany, depicted as an eagle beneath which is situated the Führer's tribunal. From the podium there, speakers would be able to address more than 150,000 people, seated in three tiers of seats enclosing a giant circular arena. It would have been located where the current Spreebogen Park, Swiss Embassy, German Chancellery, Paul-Lobe House, German Republic Plaza and the Bundestag Building are currently located. To the north of the Volkshalle was the Grosses Becken ("Large Pool") with water provided by the River Spree, similar to the Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C. in front of the Washington Memorial. The Nördbanhoff would have been at the north end of the Grosses Becken near the current Berlin Central Train Station. In the series, monorails can be seen running along the Charlottenburger Chaussee and the Prachtallee, and it is presumed that monorails connected the major train station terminals, the Tempelhof Airport and other major destinations within the city, like the Reichskanzlei ("Reich Chancellery") near Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Olympic Stadium in the western half of the city north of Charlottenburger Chaussee, and Berlin Stadtbahn near Alexanderplatz ("Alexander Plaza") in the east.
The Volkshalle was to be at the northern end of the Prachtallee ("Avenue of Splendours") which would have been built on the earlier proposed Siegesallee ("Victory Avenue") which was a north-south boulevard originally planned by German Emperor William II in 1895. The Triumpfbogen ("Arch of Triumph"), was to be a huge triumphal arch that was to be 117 meters (383 ft) high and 170 meters (557 ft) wide, or about three times as large as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The arch was to be constructed after the Second World War, and was to honor the Germans who fell during previous wars, located at the southern end of the Prachtallee near Tempelhof Airport near the current Kolonenstrasse-Dudenstrasse. The Prachtallee would have terminated at the proposed Südbahnhof near the current Berlin Südkreuz train station.
Trivia[]
- The real-life Berliner Fernsehturm can be seen in The New Order. However, the Fernsehturm in real-life wasn't completely built until 1969. However, it is an alternate timeline and its already established that due to improvements in technology the Nazis are able to build things much faster than Germans did in real life.
- Much of the city design in-game was based on Speer's real-life plans for post-war Berlin had the Axis powers won in World War II.