Rebels, workers, radicals: The making of 'Red Berlin'

Berlin has long been known for its rebellious spirit. From the Tailors' Revolution of 1830 to the rise of a powerful industrial working class in the 19th century, the city has been a hotspot for revolution and protest. Even during the March Revolution of 1848, a failed attempt to create a democratic nation-state, Berlin was already emerging as a center for the country's labor movement. The General Workers' Brotherhood, one of Germany's first worker organizations, was founded during this time.

As the working-class population grew, so did the city's political culture. By the 1870s and 1880s, major industries such as mechanical and railway engineering, and clothing manufacturing had moved to Berlin. This influx of workers led to a more populist political climate, moving away from the traditional, elitist politics of bourgeois liberals and toward inclusion and the empowerment of ordinary people.

The labor movement in Berlin became increasingly radical, partly due to the heavy-handed repression under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. After Bismarck's resignation in 1890, anti-socialist laws were repealed, and the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels became the ideology of a genuine mass movement in Berlin. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) was formed in 1875 through a merger of the General German Workers' Association and the social Democratic Workers' Party.

The SPD won high vote shares in Berlin before World War I, but lost support when the party's leadership decided not to oppose the war. This decision led to mass strikes against the war in 1916, with the Spartacus League, a group founded by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, and other left-wing radicals, playing a key role. The Spartacist Uprising of 1919, aimed at overthrowing the provisional government and establishing a workers' council republic, was violently suppressed, leading to the deaths of prominent figures like Liebknecht and Luxemburg.

In the interwar period, Berlin remained a hub of radical politics, particularly in working-class neighborhoods like Wedding, Kreuzberg, and Neukölln. The Great Depression further weakened the SPD, leading many unemployed men to join the KPD or far-right paramilitary groups. After the Nazis took power, many labor movement leaders were killed or exiled.

After World War II, East Berlin became the capital of the communist German Democratic Republic, while West Berlin experienced deindustrialization and a weakened labor movement. The Cold War intensified the student movement in West Berlin, with historic sit-ins held to protest perceived authoritarianism and the presence of former Nazi officials.