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

Berlin's reputation for disorder stretches back centuries. From the Tailors' Revolution of 1830 to the rise of a powerful industrial working class in the 19th century, the city has been a hotbed of upheaval and protest. It wasn't until Karl Marx, a future German philosopher and revolutionary socialist, was still in high school that Berlin truly became a center of the country's labor movement.

The General Workers' Brotherhood, one of Germany's first worker's organizations, was founded during the failed March Revolution of 1848. As the working-class population grew, the city's political culture became more populist, moving away from traditional, elitist politics and towards inclusion. However, this shift was met with heavy-handed repression under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who introduced anti-socialist laws and banned socialist and communist organizations.

Despite this, the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels gained popularity in Berlin, forming the basis of a genuine mass movement in the city.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), Germany's oldest political party, was formed in 1875 through a merger of two smaller groups. Prior to World War I, the SPD enjoyed significant success in Berlin, winning higher vote shares than in other parts of the country. However, the SPD's stance on World War I led to a loss of credibility.

In 1918, Berlin saw the largest labor strike in its history, sparked by war-weariness, food shortages, and economic ruin. The Spartacus League, an underground group led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, emerged from this strike, eventually becoming the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).

The Spartacist Uprising of 1919, an attempt to overthrow Germany's provisional government, was launched by the Spartacus League. Although violently suppressed, this event permanently fractured the political left. Post-World War I, Berlin remained a center of radical politics throughout the interwar period, particularly in working-class neighborhoods like Wedding, Kreuzberg, and Neukölln.

The Great Depression further weakened the SPD, as unemployment ravaged the city, leading many men to seek new bonds and camaraderie in the Communist Party (KPD) or far-right paramilitary groups.

After the Nazis took power in 1933, many labor movement leaders were killed or exiled. Following World War II, Berlin was divided into East and West. East Berlin became the capital of the communist German Democratic Republic, while West Berlin deindustrialized, the labor movement weakened, and the SPD shifted to the right. During the Cold War, many left-leaning young people moved to West Berlin to avoid military service, intensifying the student movement and leading to historic sit-ins at Berlin's Free University to protest perceived authoritarianism and the presence of former Nazi officials.