Guten tag und wilkommmen zum Berlin Stadtrunfahrt. We will start our tour of Berlin with a brief history of the city. Berlin developed as a trading village in about 1200 AD. It's location at the junction on the Spree and Havel rivers helped to establish its importance. In the 1600's it became the capital of Prussia. Berlin's worst period began with Adolf Hitler's rise to power with the Nazi Party in 1933. During World War II in 1939 to 1945, Germany fought England, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Berlin was ruined by the bombings. Germany was defeated in 1945 and the peace treaty divided the nation into Communists East Germany and non-Communist West Germany. Berlin was also divided.