Berlin

"Not far from them, a tin-colored figure grew out of the ruins of New Berlin."
-- Booklet 021

"The tunnels under Berlin date back to before the First Interstellar War."
-- Glossary entry

Berlin -- encompassing both New Berlin (German: Neu-Berlin, Berliner Neustadt) and Old Berlin (German: Alt-Berlin) -- is one of the most important cities on Earth in the Die Terranauten saga. It serves as the headquarters of the Kaiser Corporation, the seat of Max von Valdec's power, and the site of some of the saga's most pivotal events: the imprisonment and escape of Llewellyn 709 from the Dead Spaces, the Noman Uprising of 2501, the alien transformation of the city by Gorthaur, and the ecological revolution of the Eco-Shock in 2504. In the 2590s, Valdec rules from Berlin as the self-proclaimed "Kaiser of Berlin" (Kaiser von Berlin), making the city the capital of a galactic dictatorship confronted by the Varen Navtem themselves.

Berlin is not a single place but a layered geography -- a vertical metaphor for the Terran caste system itself. The gleaming modern metropolis of New Berlin rises above, home to the corporate elite and the machinery of empire. Below it, the decaying ruins of Old Berlin sprawl in darkness, inhabited by Nomans, outcasts, and the hunted. And deeper still, beneath Old Berlin, lie the Dead Spaces -- the high-security underground prison complex where Drivers and political dissidents are held, their PSI Powers stripped away. Power on top, suffering underneath, and the prison at the very bottom: Berlin's architecture is the caste system made concrete.

Old Berlin vs. New Berlin

Old Berlin (Alt-Berlin)

Old Berlin is the ruined remains of the original city, a vast urban wasteland encircling the modern metropolis. The glossary describes the Death Belt (Todesguertel) -- "a metaphorical term for the ring of old, decaying ruins surrounding New Berlin" -- a no-man's-land of collapsed buildings, abandoned tunnels, and crumbling infrastructure dating back centuries. The tunnels beneath the city predate even the First Interstellar War, suggesting that Berlin's subterranean labyrinth is among the oldest human-built structures still in existence.

Old Berlin is home to the dispossessed:

• Nomans -- The lowest caste, officially designated as non-persons, who survive in the ruins. Old Berlin is the saga's most prominent Noman habitat, described repeatedly as the place where outcasts live "outside Council control" (Booklets 008, 009, 021, 023).
• Relax -- The pacified dependent caste, who also inhabit parts of the ruins.
• Arbiters -- Workers and technical specialists who have drifted to the margins.

Old Berlin is also the hunting ground of the Berlin Shooting Club (Schuetzenverein Berlin) -- an organization of citizens who hunt Nomans for sport, using steel-jacketed bullets (Stahlmantelgeschosse). When David terGorden and his companions pass through Old Berlin in Booklet 008, they are attacked by members of this club, who treat the ruins as their private game preserve. The existence of a recreational hunting club for human beings is one of the saga's sharpest indictments of the Caste System.

Old Berlin also contains hidden installations of unknown origin. In Booklet 023, Bohrl and his group of Nomans, trapped in a secret installation beneath the city, emerge with advanced alien weapons whose computer identifies and arms them before deactivating itself. The presence of this installation -- never fully explained -- hints at Berlin's deeper history as a site of alien contact or pre-historical technology.

New Berlin (Neu-Berlin / Berliner Neustadt)

New Berlin is the modern corporate metropolis built on the other side of the ruins. It is a city of gleaming towers, elevated highways (Hochstrassen), flowing roads (Fliessstrassen), tube train terminals (Rohrenbahn-Terminals), solar energy collectors (Solarenergiekollektoren) shaped like metal mushrooms on rooftops, and underground parking shafts (Parkschacht). The city's architecture is dominated by the Protoppyramids -- pyramid-shaped corporate buildings -- and the Kaiser Double Tower (Kaiser-Doppelturm), the massive steel twin towers that house the Kaiser Corporation headquarters.

Key structures in New Berlin include:

• Kaiser Headquarters (Kaiserzentrale) -- "A steel double tower in Berlin, a symbol of the Manags' power." This is the nerve centre of the Kaiser Corporation and, by extension, the seat of Max von Valdec's political authority over Earth. The building contains Valdec's private quarters, Council chambers, and the special vault where the antidote to the Hate Plague is stored (Booklet 049).
• Kaiser Corporation Transmitter -- The most powerful communications installation on Earth, equipped with a Priority Circuit that can override all other broadcasts. It is this transmitter that the Nomans seize during the Noman Uprising of 2501 (Booklet 023).
• Protopgebaeude -- The headquarters of the Green Hill Corporation in Berlin.
• Berlin Star Hotel -- A hotel where the Konzil maintains meeting facilities.
• Interplanetary Hotel -- A hotel in the outer areas of the city.
• Intercontinental Airport Berlin -- The main airport, used for both atmospheric and space travel.
• Recreation Settlement -- A residential area on the outskirts.
• Berlin-Wannsee -- The location of Max von Valdec's personal headquarters, described as built on a landfill site.

New Berlin is also the administrative hub for Valdec's security apparatus:

• Berlin Guard Garrison (Berliner Garden-Garnison) -- The military garrison of the Kaiser Guards stationed in the city.
• Security Group Berlin (Sicherungsgruppe Berlin) -- A dedicated security detachment.
• Censorship Authority (Zensur-Behoerde) -- A censorship body overseen by Frost, Valdec's Security Manager.
• Berlin Data Center (Berliner Rechenzentrum) -- The city's central computing facility.

Connection to the Nomans

Berlin occupies a unique place in the Noman narrative. The ruins of Old Berlin are not merely a habitat for the outcasts but the staging ground for the Noman resistance:

• Booklet 008: David terGorden first encounters Nomans in Old Berlin and is attacked by the Berlin Shooting Club, establishing the ruins as a space of both persecution and survival.
• Booklet 009: Hanstein, a former Manag turned Noman, helps Llewellyn 709 escape the Dead Spaces by leading him through the ruins and a secret tunnel to the edge of the city. Old Berlin's underground passages -- predating the First Interstellar War -- provide the escape route.
• Booklet 021: Brak Shakram's messages inspire the Nomans to organize. Nomans inhabit "the ruins near New Berlin."
• Booklet 023: Old Berlin is the base of operations for the Noman Uprising. Nobody, Summacum Muhlherr, and Hanstein plan and launch the revolt from the ruins before seizing the Kaiser Corporation transmitter in New Berlin.

The relationship between Old Berlin and New Berlin mirrors the relationship between the Noman underclass and the corporate elite: the outcasts live literally beneath the feet of the rulers, separated by the Death Belt of ruins but connected by the underground passages that make rebellion possible.

The Dead Spaces

Beneath Old Berlin lies the Dead Spaces (Tote Raeume) -- a high-security underground prison complex that serves as the Council of Corporations' primary facility for incarcerating Drivers and political dissidents. The complex is defined by its PSI-Shield, an energy field that strips PSI Powers from imprisoned Drivers, rendering them powerless. The Dead Spaces are described as a bunker complex of military-grade construction, a claustrophobic maze of corridors, cells, and bricked-up passages.

Key personnel include Queen Kerish (commandant), Summacum Jorgez (chief scientist who experiments on prisoners), and Mater Pernath (PSI specialist who ultimately defects and commits suicide). The most disturbing inmates are the "Dark Ones" -- prisoners driven to violent madness by the PSI-Shield's prolonged suppression of their abilities, led by Rosen.

The Dead Spaces evolve across the saga:

• Booklet 009: A specialized Driver prison. Llewellyn 709 escapes with the help of Scanner Cloud, who sacrifices himself alongside Altamont O'Hale and Serge-Serge Suvez.
• Booklet 086: A general political prison under Valdec's restored dictatorship, where F.F.D.E. leaders and Arbiter representatives are interrogated.
• Booklet 099: In the saga's climax, Manuel Lucci, Ignazius Tyll, Christin Dorf, and other political prisoners are freed from the Dead Spaces by Bolter's Hausfreund via a Space-Time Stroboscope, transported directly to Ultima Thule.

The Dead Spaces sit at the intersection of Berlin's dual nature: the modern capital above, the lawless ruins below. When Llewellyn escapes the prison, he must pass through the ruins of Old Berlin -- moving from the state's underground to the people's underground -- before reaching the surface.

Key Events

David terGorden in Berlin (c. 2500) -- Booklets 007, 008

The Escape of Llewellyn 709 (c. 2499-2500) -- Booklet 009

The Noman Uprising (2501) -- Booklet 023

With Valdec away on a punitive expedition to the Ginger System, Nobody, Summacum Muhlherr, and Hanstein launch the Noman Uprising from Old Berlin. The revolt proceeds in phases:

1. A pirate transmitter broadcasts the truth about the Oxyd catastrophe and Cantos's role as humanity's savior.
2. Muhlherr's Driver lodge seizes the Kaiser Corporation transmitter in New Berlin using PSI-generated illusions.
3. Bohrl's group emerges from a secret installation with alien weapons, disabling the transmitter's protective shield.
4. Nobody broadcasts across Earth via the Priority Circuit, triggering Phase Three: simultaneous Noman attacks on Gray Guard positions worldwide.
5. Queen Paola evacuates New Berlin and relocates her command centre to orbit.
6. Valdec's fleet returns. Cosmoral Fay Gray leads the decisive assault. The transmitter is destroyed. Nobody, Hanstein, and Muhlherr are killed.

The uprising fails militarily but plants the seeds of the Brak Shakram Command, the F.F.D.E., and the War of the Castes.

The Alien Transformation of Berlin (December 2501) -- Booklet 050

Gorthaur's Assault on the Kaiser Headquarters (January 2502) -- Booklet 053

The Fall of Valdec's First Regime (2502) -- Booklet 054

Valdec's Return and the Second Reich (2504) -- Booklets 085, 086

Valdec's forces seize Berlin and Lunaport in a surprise attack. The Kaiser Headquarters in Berlin becomes the command centre of the Second Reich of Humanity. Frost orchestrates propaganda via the RMN from Berlin. The Dead Spaces become a general political prison for captured F.F.D.E. leaders: Manuel Lucci, Ignazius Tyll, and Christin Dorf are held and interrogated there.

The Excursion to a Semi-Reality Berlin (2597 / alternate timeline) -- Booklet 025

The Kaiser of Berlin (2590s) -- Booklet 089

The Eco-Shock (2504) -- Booklet 099

In the saga's climax, Cosmic Spores are released from orbit and begin transforming Earth's cities into jungles. Berlin comes under spore attack. Cant, Cosmoral of the Kaiser Guards, is infected and transformed by the spores. Zarkophin, Master Builder of the Kaiser-Earth Trust, and Chelskij attempt to escape Berlin in a Ringo, but the spores disable the ship; Chelskij dies and Zarkophin burns up in the atmosphere. Simultaneously, Manuel Lucci and other political prisoners are freed from the Dead Spaces by Bolter's Hausfreund via a Space-Time Stroboscope and teleported to Ultima Thule.

The spores carry The Jin -- tiny organisms that restore the humanity of Kaiser Guards conditioned with Lab-21, reversing their psychological programming. Berlin, the capital of Valdec's Second Reich, is consumed by green growth. The institutions of tyranny become physically impossible to maintain.

The BERLIN (Ship)

Distinct from the city, the BERLIN is also the name of an OMEGA-class Kaiser Force courier ship that plays a role in the Hate Plague arc. The ship develops a Seeker Consciousness -- a self-awareness in its Weltraum II navigator -- and carries the infected Terranauts through a Black Hole gateway toward Rorqual. A plan is later hatched to use the BERLIN to contact other Kaiser Force ships and awaken their Seeker consciousness, luring Max von Valdec into a trap (Booklets 044, 047).

Notable Inhabitants and Figures Associated with Berlin

Rulers and Power Holders

• Max von Valdec -- Chairman of the Council of Corporations, Lord Colonel, and ultimately self-proclaimed "Kaiser of Berlin." Rules from the Kaiser Headquarters across multiple periods. His power is synonymous with Berlin itself.
• Frost -- Valdec's most enduring loyalist. As Security Manager and later Reich Security Commissioner, he operates the propaganda, censorship, and intelligence apparatus from Berlin (Booklets 049, 085, 086, 089).
• Zarkophin -- Master Builder of the Kaiser-Earth Trust. In charge of government on Earth during Valdec's absence. Dies attempting to flee Berlin during the Eco-Shock (Booklet 099).
• Cant -- Cosmoral of the Kaiser Guards and deputy of Reichscosmoral Yazmin. Transformed by the Cosmic Spores in Berlin (Booklet 099).
• Fay Gray -- Cosmoral who leads the decisive assault on the Kaiser transmitter during the Noman Uprising (Booklet 023) and attacks Valdec's headquarters during his fall (Booklet 054).

Prisoners of the Dead Spaces

• Llewellyn 709 -- The legendary Riemenmann, imprisoned in the Dead Spaces before his dramatic escape (Booklet 009).
• Scanner Cloud -- Psyter imprisoned alongside Llewellyn. Sacrifices himself during the escape (Booklet 009).
• Manuel Lucci -- Coordinator of Commando Brak Shakram and the F.F.D.E.. Imprisoned during Valdec's second regime; freed by Bolter's Hausfreund in the Eco-Shock (Booklets 086, 099).
• Ignazius Tyll -- Lord Inspector and acting Lord Colonel. Imprisoned and freed alongside Lucci (Booklets 086, 099).
• Christin Dorf -- Arbiter Representative. Imprisoned and freed alongside Lucci (Booklets 086, 099).

Noman Leaders of Berlin

• Nobody -- Leader of the Noman forces during the 2501 uprising. Programmed the Kaiser transmitter's defense computer. Killed when the transmitter is destroyed (Booklet 023).
• Hanstein -- Former Manag turned Noman. Helped Llewellyn 709 escape through Old Berlin (Booklet 009). Prepared the pirate transmitter for the uprising. Killed when the transmitter is destroyed (Booklet 023).
• Bohrl -- Noman leader who discovered alien weapons in a secret installation beneath Berlin. Used them to disable the Kaiser transmitter's protective shield (Booklet 023).

Other Figures

• Queen Kerish -- Commandant of the Dead Spaces (Booklet 009).
• Summacum Jorgez -- Chief scientist at the Dead Spaces; conducts experiments on imprisoned Drivers (Booklet 009).
• Mater Pernath -- PSI specialist who defects, aids Llewellyn's escape, and commits suicide (Booklet 009).
• Queen Paola -- In charge of security on Earth during the Noman Uprising. Evacuates New Berlin (Booklet 023).
• Gorthaur -- The alien from Xaxon who transforms Berlin into a swamp-like landscape (Booklet 050) and later infiltrates the Kaiser Headquarters (Booklet 053).
• Growan terGorden -- Confronted Max von Valdec in Berlin after discovering his security chief Clint Gayheen's treachery (Booklet 031).

Role in the Saga

Berlin functions as the saga's primary symbol of centralized power and its corruption. The city's layered geography -- the gleaming towers of New Berlin above, the Noman-haunted ruins of Old Berlin in the middle, the PSI-stripping Dead Spaces below -- is a physical manifestation of the Caste System that defines Terran civilization. Each layer of Berlin corresponds to a layer of oppression: the corporate elite rule from the Kaiser Double Tower, the outcasts survive in the Death Belt, and the political prisoners are buried beneath everything.

Yet Berlin is also the site of resistance and transformation. The Noman Uprising of 2501 is launched from the ruins of Old Berlin -- the non-persons attacking upward through the layers. The escape of Llewellyn 709 from the Dead Spaces in Booklet 009 reverses the direction of power: the prisoner rises from the depths through the ruins to the surface and beyond. And in the Eco-Shock of Booklet 099, the Cosmic Spores transform Berlin itself, consuming the corporate infrastructure with jungle growth and freeing the Dead Spaces' prisoners -- the vertical geography of oppression flattened by biological revolution.

Berlin's evolution across the saga mirrors the arc of Valdec's power:

1. Corporate capital -- Headquarters of the Kaiser Corporation and seat of the Council of Corporations (Booklets 007-054)
2. Contested ground -- Site of the Noman Uprising, alien attack, and Valdec's fall (Booklets 023, 050, 054)
3. Dictatorial capital -- Heart of the Second Reich of Humanity (Booklets 085-089)
4. Transformed world -- Consumed by Cosmic Spores in the Eco-Shock (Booklet 099)

In the semi-reality of Booklet 025, set in 2597, Berlin appears as a Citadel in a devastated post-apocalyptic landscape -- the endpoint of Valdec's ambitions taken to their logical extreme. In the primary timeline of the 2590s (Booklet 089), Valdec as "Kaiser of Berlin" faces the Pure Halvcwar's demonstration of power, proving that even the title he has claimed cannot protect him from cosmic consequences.

Appearances

Related Articles

• TERRA -- Earth, the homeworld; Berlin is its most prominent power centre
• Kaiser Corporation -- The corporate entity headquartered in Berlin
• Max von Valdec -- Berlin's most powerful inhabitant across the saga
• Dead Spaces -- The underground prison complex beneath Berlin
• Noman -- The caste that inhabits Old Berlin and launches the 2501 uprising
• Noman Uprising -- The 2501 revolt centred on Berlin
• Berlin Shooting Club -- The organization that hunts Nomans in Old Berlin
• Caste System -- The social hierarchy physically manifested in Berlin's layered geography
• Gray Guards -- The military force that controls Berlin's surface
• Kaiser Force -- The technology developed and deployed from Berlin
• Cosmic Spores -- The organisms that transform Berlin during the Eco-Shock
• Eco-Shock -- The ecological revolution that consumes Berlin's infrastructure
• Frost -- Valdec's Security Manager who operates Berlin's propaganda and censorship apparatus
• Llewellyn 709 -- The Riemenmann who escapes the Dead Spaces beneath Berlin
• Manuel Lucci -- The F.F.D.E. leader imprisoned and freed in Berlin's Dead Spaces
• Gorthaur -- The alien who transforms Berlin into a swamp
• Geneva -- The other major Terran power centre; seat of the Council administration
• Ultima Thule -- The Biotroniks capital in Greenland; counterpart to Berlin
• War of the Castes -- The 2503 civil war whose origins lie in the Berlin uprising
• Commando Brak Shakram -- The resistance organization born from the Berlin uprising's legacy
• F.F.D.E. -- The umbrella resistance coalition whose leaders are imprisoned in Berlin
• Pure Halvcwar -- The Varen Navtem emissary who confronts Valdec in Berlin

Berlin appears as a setting or is significantly referenced in at least 21 of the 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. It is the saga's primary symbol of corporate power, caste oppression, and -- in its final transformation by the Cosmic Spores -- the possibility that even the most entrenched systems of tyranny can be consumed by the forces of renewal.