Berlin, a city founded early in the thirteenth century as the twin-city Berlin/Cölln remained in obscurity amongst the cities of Europe, and within the German speaking world itself until the early part of the eighteenth century. At this time, the Prussian Government became a monarchy, and the newly crowned King of Prussia picked Berlin as the new capital and seat of the royal court. As the seat of the royal court, combined with the easy accessibility to navigable waterways and the canal system, Berlin grew rapidly, as the monarchy built self-glorifying buildings and planned suburbs and the population exploded to almost 6 times its size at the beginning of the eighteenth century. However, by the close of the eighteenth Berlin was still far from one of the great cities of Europe or even the German speaking world.1

The beginning of the 19th century brought about a multitude...