The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

capital of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

History

Berlin had been part of the Province of Brandenburg since 1815. On 1 April 1881, the city became Stadtkreis Berlin, a city district separate from Brandenburg. The Greater Berlin Act was passed by the

Prussian Parliament The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representa ...

on 27 April 1920 and came into effect on 1 October of the same year. The new Prussian province then termed ''Greater Berlin'' acquired territories from the Province of Brandenburg and consisted of the following: * The city of Berlin (''Alt-Berlin''); * 7 towns that surrounded Berlin: Charlottenburg,

Köpenick Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopt ...

, Lichtenberg, Neukölln/Rixdorf, Schöneberg,

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

and

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The ...

; * 59 rural communities and 27 estate districts from the surrounding districts of

Niederbarnim Barnim () is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark. History The name "Barnim" emer ...

, Osthavelland and

Teltow Teltow [] is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is . The Teltow Canal links th ...

; * and the grounds of the

Berliner Stadtschloss The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of ...

, which had curiously formed an estate district in its own right. The Act increased the area of Berlin 13 times from to and the population doubled from approximately 1.9 million to near 4 million, with almost 1.2 million of the new inhabitants coming from the 7 surrounding towns alone. Greater Berlin was then subdivided into 20

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

(''Verwaltungsbezirke''): * from Alt-Berlin: Mitte, Tiergarten, Wedding, Prenzlauer Berg,

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it h ...

and Friedrichshain; * one borough for each of the 7 previously independent towns: Charlottenburg,

, Lichtenberg, Neukölln, Schöneberg,

and

; * 7 new boroughs created from the remaining added areas, each named after the largest village in the area at the time: Pankow, Reinickendorf,

Steglitz Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is a Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . Steglitz was also a borough from 1920 to 2000. It contained th ...

, Tempelhof, Treptow, Weißensee and Zehlendorf Through that law, it became possible to implement integrated town planning across the whole of Greater Berlin. The Act was an important foundation for the rise of Berlin to a cultural centre of Europe in the 1920s. Apart from minor changes, the city boundary defined in the law is still the same as today even though its character has changed several times over the years. Originally a mere municipal boundary, it became a demarcation line between occupation zones after 1945 and part of the Iron Curtain after 1949, with the Berlin Wall on some of its length between 1961 and 1990. Since the Reunification of Germany, it is the border between the German states of Berlin and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

References

External links

Verfassungen.de
text of the law {{coord, 52.517, N, 13.408, E, display=title, source:dewiki 1920 in law 1920 in Germany Government of Berlin Prussian law 1920s in Berlin Mergers of administrative divisions Provinces of Prussia