The full story
He was mostly interested in decorum: he ordered the building of the castle Charlottenburg in the west of the city. He made Berlin the capital of the new kingdom of Prussia. 1709: Berlin counted 55,000 inhabitants, of whom 5,000 served in the Prussian Army. Cölln and Berlin were finally unified under the name of Berlin, including the suburbs of Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt, with 60,000 inhabitants. Berlin and Cölln are on both sides of the river Spree, in today's Mitte borough. On 1 January 1710, the cities of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt were united as the “Royal Capital and Residence of Berlin”. Prussian capital As Prussia grew, so too did Berlin, and the Kings made it the centerpiece of culture and the arts, as well as the Army.