1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Berlin

BERLIN (see 3.785). Since 1910 the city of Berlin (pop., Greater Berlin 1919 census, 1,902,509; 1910 census 2,071,257) has undergone a very considerable development in respect of the form of its municipal organization. The rapid growth of the suburbs, which were independent communities, necessitated the adoption of certain main lines of procedure, applicable both to them and to Berlin, in order to prevent conflicting action on the part of the authorities on one side and the other. This led, in 1911, to the creation of Greater Berlin as, in the first instance, an association of the city with the more important outlying districts for special objects. It embraced the city of Berlin and the towns of Charlottenburg, Schoneberg, Neukölln, Wilmersdorf, Lichtenberg and the administrative circles of Teltow and Niederbarnim. Its objects were to institute a common control of streets, roadways and the elevated railway, also of building and street alignment plans, the uniform coordination of police regulations and the acquisition of large tracts of forest and of land for building. This special union came into force on April 1 1912. It soon became manifest, however, that beyond coöperation for special purposes, a further coördination of the administrations of these places was requisite. It was only in the year 1920 that it was possible, after long negotiations, to form a new municipality of Berlin, embracing all the suburbs under a single united administration. A law to this effect was carried through the Prussian Constituent Assembly on April 27 1920 and was put into force on Oct. 1 of the same year. This law effected the centralization of Berlin and all its suburbs into one uniform municipal region (Stadtbezirk), but nevertheless left large powers of local self-administration to the individual communes (Gemeinden).

(C. K.*)