Years of renewal: the diversity of approaches to urban planning in West and East Berlin in 1945-1961

Bachelor Thesis Author: Kristýna Dohnalová Years of renewal: the diversity of approaches to urban planning in West and East Berlin in 1945-1961 Abstract The topic of this bachelor thesis is the difference in the urban planning strategies of West and East Berlin from the end of the Second World War to the year 1961, when construction of the Berlin Wall divided the city. The time range between 1945 and 1961 was marked by a spirit of post-war-rebuild of Berlin's urban structure. The period subjected to examination is divided into time-specific phases - each characterized by a different approach to urban planning varying in both the eastern and western part of the city. Since the political division of the city in 1948, the parts became known as "West and East Berlin" respectively. The theoretical section of the thesis focuses on the most significant principles of urban planning, applied to both parts of the city, during the defined period. Through a detailed research of individual urban planning concepts, the practical part of the thesis endeavours to compare the differences between the architectural approaches and the changing West Berlin and East Berlin urban planning strategies. The thesis concludes that both urban development policies differed significantly. This dissimilarity was caused by geopolitical..