Germany: The Policing of West Berlin with Special Reference to the Work of Beat Patrol Officers for the Policing of Kreuzberg

Abstract

Berlin is a fascinating city, its history reflecting the many stages of development of Prussia and of the German Empire from the time when the two neighbouring communities of Kolln and Berlin, on the north-east periphery of the Holy Roman Empire, were first mentioned in documents of the early thirteenth century. The city has a history of uprisings and of wars, its citizens a reputation for progressive thinking and independence and its importance as a European capital city was firmly established in the late eighteenth century. Scholars and artists were attracted to the city and Berlin become known as ‘Athens on the Spree’. The Opera House and St Hedwig’s Cathedral were built and by the end of the eighteenth century European sentiments of ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Romanticism’ had established Berlin as a centre of intellectual life. Berliners fought for their rights, not always successfully, in the early nineteenth century and finally in 1871, when the German Empire was proclaimed, Berlin was the capital city of Germany.

What a garrison of spies … What a cabinet of useless liquid secrets, what a playground for every alchemist, miracle worker and rat-piper that ever took up the cloak and turned his face from the unpalatable constraints of political reality.

John le Carré¹