Berlin
From Spree crossing to divided city to startup capital—Berlin exists because it keeps dying and rebuilding. 2026: tech winter tests the phoenix city.
Berlin exists not because of what the Spree River offered, but because of what the Brandenburg marshes demanded—a crossing point where Slavic and Germanic trade routes met at the edge of empty land that nobody else wanted.
Two small trading settlements—Berlin and Cölln—emerged in the early 13th century at a natural Spree River crossing between major east-west routes. First recorded in 1237 and 1244, they merged by 1307. Unlike Paris or London, Berlin had no Roman predecessor; it grew from nothing on the sandy plains of Brandenburg. The Hohenzollern dynasty made it their capital in 1417, but Berlin remained a provincial backwater until Prussian militarization in the 18th century transformed it into the administrative heart of Europe's most efficient war machine.
Berlin's unique trajectory comes from repeated destruction and reinvention. Prussian power made it Germany's capital by 1871, attracting Siemens (founded here in 1847), Deutsche Bank, and AEG—the companies that industrialized Germany. Then came three catastrophes: World War I's defeat, Nazi rule, and World War II's destruction of 80% of the city center. The Cold War divided Berlin into a capitalist showcase and a socialist laboratory, with the Wall creating history's most visible border between systems from 1961 to 1989. When that Wall fell on November 9, 1989, Berlin had to reinvent itself yet again—from subsidized island to reunified capital.
Today Berlin's €193 billion GDP (2023) has outpaced German growth for over a decade, achieving 0.8% growth in 2024 while Germany contracted by -0.2%. The city launches 500 startups annually, hosting 2,000+ tech companies and 21 unicorns including N26, Zalando, and Delivery Hero. Berlin captured 31% of Germany's €7 billion in 2024 venture capital. Siemens is building Siemensstadt 2.0, a campus combining production, research, and housing. Yet 330,000 Berliners received unemployment payments in 2025—the scars of deindustrialization remain.
By 2026, Berlin's test will be whether its startup culture can survive the European tech winter while completing the transformation that reunification began 35 years ago.