His son, Frederick the Great, turned his at tention to the erection of new buildings in Pots dam, his favorite residence. After the Seven Years' War, in which Berlin had been burned twice, the King began, at great personal expense, the construction of houses for those who en joyed his favor. External architectural beauty was aimed at, rather than convenience. Among the public structures erected by Frederick the Great may be mentioned the two domes of the German and the French church, the King's Colonade and the Royal Library. In 1763 he established the Royal Porcelain Manufactory.
The famous Brandenburg Gate, a triumphal arch in classic style, was erected in 1793, during the reign of Frederick William II. It was orna mented by the sculptor Schadow with a bronze statue of Victory driving a four-horse chariot. When Berlin was taken by the French in 1807 this was taken to Paris, but was recovered in 1814 after Paris had been taken by the Allies. Under Frederick William III the present Royal Theatre and the Old Museum were built, and under Frederick William IV the statue of Fred erick the Great. The wonderful progress made by Berlin during the reign of William I gave the city quite a different appearance in a short time. Buildings of a monumental character, both public and private, sprang up everywhere.
This development has continued; and the present Emperor has done all he can to beautify the city, chiefly with monuments and statues. Likewise the activity of private citizens along the same lines is now far greater than in former centuries. The great historical events which created the German Empire and made Berlin the capital of it found a happy echo in the populace. The new development of the city to the metropolis of the political life and of na tional and international trade has not been ex ternal and artificial as formerly, but has been internal and necessary. This fact cannot be set forth in an account of buildings and monu ments, It would be necessary to examine the statistics of trade and conunerce, of banlcing, and of the industries, etc. If one studies the statistics, then it becomes clear that those material aspects of the city that amaze one and compel admiration are only the manifestation of a powerful historical development, which Cannot by any. means be regarded as having reached its zenith.
Area, Population, Suburbs, Besides Cologne, othcr neighboring towns were built up later, as Friedrichwerder (with Friedrichstadt) and Dorotheenstadt. All four of these towns, though lying in immediate proximity to one another, remained completely independent of each other till 1709, when Frederick I fused them into one municipal corporation. At that time the population was about 57,000. Now, after over 200 years, we find a similar situ ation as regards a plurality of independent cities. Immediately adjoining Berlin there are some 20 completely independent municipali ties of one kind and another. For the most part these towns and cities have, to all appearance, become fused with Berlin, and boundary lines have been obliterated; but each one has it own independent municipal government. As yet there is no centralized, unifying government to bind them together. The population of Berlin was in 1820, 202,000; in 1871, &26,000; and in 1910, 2,071,257, composed of 1,689,118 of the Evangelical faith, 243,020 Roman Catholics and 90,013 Jews. Among the contiguous cities ntay be mentioned Charlottenburg (305,978 inhabit ants) ; Neu-Koln (formerly Rixdorf, 237,289); and Schiineberg (173,823). The area of Berlin is 15,696 acres, and of Greater Berlin 156,290 acres. The area of Berlin proper is much less than that of several other German cities, as for instance Cologne (27,750 acres), Frank fort-on-Main (20,000 acres), Strassburg (19,500 acres), Munich (18,570 acres) and Mannheim (16,500 acres).
There has been no considerable extension of the.corporate limits of Berlin into this neigh boring territory since 1860, though the neces sity for such a proceeding has been urged re peatedly in various quarters. To do this and thus effect a union of these several mumcipali ties, the consent of both the state government and the Parliament is necessary. For a long time the Prussian government was inclined to carry out such a plan, but the city of Berlin objected to assuming the burden which the poor condition of the streets and public utilities of the suburbs would have imposed upon her. At present the state government encourages the incorporation of the smaller country suburbs into towns, and sooner or later all these ele ments, large and small, will be brought together under one municipal government.