Berlin, from the red city to the field of ruins

The Nazis, led by Hitler, hated Berlin, a corrupt city in their eyes. But rather than belittling it, the Führer dreamed of transforming it so that it would shine in his thousand-year Reich. This is the paradox explored in a stimulating book by Stéphane Füzesséry. He begins by recalling the unprecedented growth of the capital of the Reich: sparsely populated in the 19th century, the city had become, on the eve of the Great War, a gigantic city of 878 km² (compared to 86 km² for Paris), populated by 4.4 million inhabitants. This growth required a double adaptation: the city had to acclimatize to its population; and the population had to acclimatize to the city. A delicate mission. No master plan governed urban planning, which led city officials to opt for a controlled dispersion of expansion into suburbs to solve the nagging housing problem. And it was also necessary to domesticate migrants to transform country dwellers into city dwellers: teaching them to cross streets without getting knocked down; to get off a moving tram without falling; to use public transport while respecting minimal rules of civility. Red lights, traffic signs... and police officers took care of this.

Despite tough obstacles, Berlin soon became a beacon. While the masses continued to crowd into grim rented barracks ( Mietskasernen ), they soon benefited from an excellent transport network (first tram, then metro).