New Berlin

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

"He is the Emperor of Berlin -- and Berlin is polluted and devastated by war and industrialization."
-- Booklet 089, "The Emperor of Berlin"

New Berlin (German: Neu-Berlin; also referred to simply as Berlin throughout the saga) is a sprawling corporate metropolis on Earth, the headquarters of the Kaiser Corporation, and the personal power base of Max von Valdec across the entire span of Die Terranauten. Built beyond the ruins of Old Berlin -- the crumbling remains of the pre-corporate city -- New Berlin represents the gleaming, authoritarian face of Terran civilization in the 26th century: a city of steel towers, military installations, corporate laboratories, and surveillance infrastructure, rising above the forgotten rubble where the Nomans survive in the shadows.

If Geneva is the administrative capital of the Council of Corporations -- the city of auditors, diplomats, and council sessions -- then New Berlin is the seat of raw power: military, industrial, and personal. It is from New Berlin that Valdec conducts his Kaiser Force experiments, from New Berlin that he deploys the Gray Guards against the Drivers, and from New Berlin that he ultimately proclaims himself "Kaiser of Berlin" during the Second Reich of Humanity. The city's fate mirrors the saga's arc of tyranny and liberation: by the final booklet, New Berlin is consumed by the Cosmic Spores, its steel towers swallowed by the green revolution that ends the corporate era.

Geography and Structure

The Divided City

The Berlin metropolitan area in the saga is divided into two distinct zones:

• New Berlin -- The modern corporate city, built on one side of the ruins. It houses the corporate elite, the Kaiser Corporation headquarters, military installations, and the residential districts of the Relax and Arbiter castes. The city features the Intercontinental Airport Berlin (German: Interkontinentale Flughafen Berlin), used for both atmospheric and space travel, the Berlin Star Hotel (German: Berliner Starhotel), where the Konzil sets up meeting places, and the Recreation Settlement (German: Erholungssiedlung), a residential area on its outskirts.

• Old Berlin -- The ruined remains of the original city, separated from New Berlin by the Trummergurtel der Berliner Altstadt (Rubble Belt of the Berlin Old Town), a ring of decaying ruins. Old Berlin is inhabited by Nomans and other outcasts who live outside Council control. It serves as a base for resistance operations throughout the saga and is the territory of the Berlin Shooting Club, who hunt Nomans for sport (Booklet 008).

Beneath the City: The Dead Spaces

Below both New and Old Berlin lie the Dead Spaces (German: Tote Raume unter Berlin), a high-security underground prison complex where political prisoners, captured Drivers, and enemies of the Council of Corporations are held and interrogated. The Dead Spaces serve as an alternative to the Moon Dungeons on Luna and are described as a vast subterranean network of cells, corridors, and experimental facilities (Booklet 009).

The Dead Spaces are the site of several pivotal events:

• Llewellyn 709 is imprisoned here before escaping through the ruins of Old Berlin with the help of Hanstein, a former Manag turned Noman (Booklet 009)
• Manuel Lucci, Ignazius Tyll, Christin Dorf, and other leaders of the F.F.D.E. are imprisoned here during the Second Reich of Humanity (Booklet 099)
• In the saga's final act, Bolter's Hausfreund frees the political prisoners from the Dead Spaces via a Space-Time Stroboscope and transports them to Ultima Thule (Booklet 099)

Key Landmarks

The Kaiser Headquarters

The Kaiser Headquarters (German: Kaiserzentrale), also called the Kaiser-Haus, is the nerve center of the Kaiser Corporation and the seat of Max von Valdec's personal power. It is described as a steel double tower -- the Double Tower of the Kaiser Headquarters (German: Doppelturm der Kaiser-Zentrale) -- a symbol of the Manags' dominance over the city and the planet. The headquarters houses Valdec's private quarters, his command center, the corporate administration, and military facilities.

It is at the Kaiser Headquarters that:

• Valdec conducts holographic conferences with other GeneralManags (Booklet 009)
• David terGorden is imprisoned before being transferred to ES-50 (Booklet 009)
• Hadersen Wells arrives to demand the release of David and Asen-Ger (Booklet 009)
• Gorthaur, operating through Anlyka terCrupp's body, attempts to assassinate Valdec (Booklet 053)
• Llewellyn 709 and Narda breach the headquarters during Valdec's fall from power, only to find an Electrical Double rigged to explode (Booklet 054)

The Kaiser Force Transmitter

The Kaiser Force Transmitter in New Berlin is the most powerful communications and energy installation on Earth. During the Noman uprising of 2501, the rebels seize this transmitter to broadcast the truth about the Oxyd catastrophe to the entire planet. The transmitter features a Priority Circuit that allows it to override all other broadcasts, making it the ultimate prize for any force seeking to control public information on Earth (Booklet 023).

The Berlin Kaiser-Central

The Berlin Kaiser-Central (German: Berliner Kaiser-Zentrale) is the command and control center from which the Gray Guards and the Kaiser Corporation coordinate military operations. It is from this location that the Queen calls Valdec during critical moments of the saga (Booklet reference).

The Berliner Rechenzentrum

The Berliner Rechenzentrum (Berlin Data Center) is the computational hub that processes the vast bureaucratic machinery of the caste system and corporate governance. Its role becomes critical during the Gorthaur crisis, when the alien manipulates Earth's computer network from outside Berlin, causing millions of Relax to be downgraded to Noman status (Booklet 053).

Berlin-Wannsee

Berlin-Wannsee serves as the location of Max von Valdec's estate and headquarters outside the corporate center. Described as a "landfill site," it is where Graf Max von Valdec maintains his personal base of operations (Booklet reference).

History

Corporate Capital (Pre-2499)

By the time the saga opens, New Berlin has long served as the headquarters of the Kaiser Corporation and the power base of Max von Valdec. While Geneva functions as the formal seat of the Council of Corporations, New Berlin is the city from which real power is exercised -- where the military-industrial apparatus of the Kaiser Corporation develops the Kaiser Force technology, where the Gray Guards maintain their primary garrison, and where Valdec personally directs the affairs of the Terran Star Empire.

The distinction between Geneva (institutional governance) and New Berlin (military-corporate power) runs throughout the saga. Geneva is the city of council sessions and auditors; New Berlin is the city of soldiers and scientists. When Valdec rules, Berlin is the de facto capital; when he falls, authority shifts back to Geneva.

The Kaiser Force Experiments and the City of Madness (2500)

One of the most traumatic events in New Berlin's history occurs when Max von Valdec conducts Kaiser Force experiments using Lithe, the daughter of the Guardian of the Holy Valley, as an unwilling test subject. The experiments cause widespread mental distress and hallucinations throughout the city's population -- earning the booklet in which these events are depicted its title: City of Madness (Booklet 008).

The Dead Spaces and the Hour of the Strapman (2500)

During the same period, Llewellyn 709 -- the legendary Riemenmann and super-Driver -- is held in the Dead Spaces beneath Berlin. Valdec inspects the prison personally and orders the transfer of imprisoned Drivers to Luna. Llewellyn discovers an escape route and, after fighting off the "Dark Ones" (prisoners driven mad by the Dead Spaces' psychological effects), breaks through a bricked-up passage into the ruins of Old Berlin. He is aided by Hanstein, a former Manag turned Noman, who leads the escapees through a secret tunnel to the edge of the ruined city. Mater Pernath, a Gray Guard officer wracked by conflicted loyalty, ultimately provides a magnetic glider and enables the escape (Booklet 009).

The Oxyd Crisis and Brak Shakram's Escape (2501)

During the Oxyd crisis, when the degenerate asteroid hurtles toward Earth after Summacum Homan's catastrophic Kaiser Force experiment, New Berlin becomes a scene of earthquake-stricken chaos. Brak Shakram, the legendary Noman leader, escapes the Kaiser Laboratories on the Moon with Summacum Alberti and navigates the chaotic streets of New Berlin, encountering Gray Guards and Nomans amid the global panic. Shakram transmits messages to the Nomans, urging them to resist the widespread panic and to trust Cantos, the Genessaner alien who is attempting to save Earth. He is recaptured, escapes again, and is ultimately killed by the Gray Guards before he can spread his message further (Booklet 021).

The Noman Uprising (2501)

The most significant military engagement fought on New Berlin's streets occurs during the Noman Uprising of 2501. With Valdec away on a punitive expedition to the Ginger System, Summacum Muhlherr and Nobody lead a coordinated global revolt. In New Berlin, the operation unfolds in three phases:

1. The Pirate Broadcasts: Hanstein prepares a pirate transmitter. The Nomans broadcast a message revealing that the Oxyd catastrophe was caused by Kaiser Force experiments and that Cantos, an alien, saved humanity.

1. The Seizure of the Kaiser Transmitter: Muhlherr's Driver lodge attacks the Kaiser Corporation's transmitter in Berlin. Using PSI illusions to confuse the Gray Guards, the Nomans seize the transmitter. Nobody programs the defense computer and uses the Priority Circuit to override all other broadcasts, sending images and information to the entire planet.

1. The Evacuation and Counterattack: Queen Paola, in charge of security on Earth, orders the evacuation of New Berlin and relocates her command center to a spacecraft in orbit. Bohrl and his group, armed with alien weapons from a secret installation, disable the protective shield of the Kaiser transmitter.

The uprising ends in disaster. GeneralManag Claasen informs Nobody that Valdec is returning to Earth. Valdec's fleet arrives, and Cosmoral Fay Gray leads the final assault. The Gray Guards destroy the Kaiser transmitter, killing Nobody, Hanstein, and Summacum Muhlherr. Valdec announces a cosmetic reform -- allowing people to reclassify into the Relax caste -- but the fundamental injustice of the system remains (Booklet 023).

The Alien Attacks (2501-2502)

New Berlin is the target of two alien assaults:

The Gorthaur Transformation (December 2501): Gorthaur, the last survivor of the planet Xaxon (destroyed by Kaiser Force side effects), infiltrates Earth disguised as Kormolan Jilith and claims to possess a functioning Triadic Monochord. Valdec, unable to resist the technological bait, brings "Jilith" to Berlin. Gorthaur reveals his true nature and initiates a devastating PSI-field that transforms Berlin into a swamp-like landscape reflecting the ecology of his destroyed homeworld. Buildings warp, the environment shifts, and the inhabitants -- including Valdec himself -- are transformed into reptilian creatures. The attack is broken when David terGorden, from Geneva, uses Bolter's Hausfreund to amplify his PSI powers and influences Queen Yazmin to activate the self-destruct system of the alien ship in orbit (Booklet 050).

The Gorthaur Assassination Attempt (January 2502): Gorthaur, now operating through the possessed body of Anlyka terCrupp, returns to New Berlin and attempts to assassinate Max von Valdec at the Kaiser Corporation headquarters. Using Vyria Vram, a young woman, to infiltrate Valdec's quarters, Gorthaur nearly succeeds, but Valdec is saved by the Gray Guards. Gorthaur retreats to the ASK headquarters in Geneva, where he is ultimately confronted by the Terranauts and sacrifices himself (Booklet 053).

Valdec's Fall (2502)

When Chan de Nouille broadcasts evidence of Valdec's illegal deconditioning of Gray Guards, strikes and uprisings erupt across Earth. Llewellyn 709 and Narda breach Valdec's headquarters in New Berlin, but find only an Electrical Double rigged to explode -- nearly killing Llewellyn. Valdec has already fled to the Ziolkowski-Werft in the Crimea, from which he launches in an Omega-class battle cruiser and escapes into Space II (Booklet 054).

The Second Reich of Humanity (2504)

When Valdec returns to conquer Earth through clone infiltration, New Berlin becomes the capital of the Second Reich of Humanity. Valdec proclaims himself "Kaiser of Berlin" and rules from the Kaiser Headquarters with an iron hand. The city is described as "polluted and devastated by war and industrialization" -- a testament to the cumulative toll of decades of Kaiser Force technology, military conflict, and corporate exploitation (Booklet 089).

During the Second Reich, the Pure Halvcwar, an emissary of the Varen Navtem (the galactic community of post-technological civilizations), arrives in Berlin to deliver a final warning about the dangers of Kaiser Force. The Halvcwar effortlessly dismantles military forces and infrastructure in a demonstration of alien power. Valdec, unmoved, fires a nuclear missile at the departing alien -- which has no effect. A Vacuum Squid is deployed as a final warning, but Valdec's resolve only hardens (Booklet 089).

The Eco-Shock: The End of New Berlin (2504)

In the saga's final booklet, New Berlin meets its end. Cosmic Spores -- genetically engineered organisms released from Earth orbit by Bolter's Hausfreund as part of David terGorden's plan -- begin enveloping the planet. In Berlin:

• The political prisoners in the Dead Spaces are freed by Bolter's Hausfreund via a Space-Time Stroboscope and transported to Ultima Thule
• Cant, the Cosmoral of the Kaiser Guards, is infected and transformed by the spores, her suppressed humanity restored by the Jin they carry
• Zarkophin and Chelskij attempt to flee Earth in a Ringo shuttle, but the spores disable the craft. Chelskij dies; Zarkophin's shuttle burns up in the atmosphere
• The city's steel towers and military installations are consumed by the green growth of the Cosmic Spores

New Berlin, the symbol of corporate tyranny and Kaiser Force technology, is swallowed by the biological transformation that makes the institutions of oppression physically impossible to reconstitute (Booklet 099).

Significance in the Saga

The Seat of Military-Industrial Power

New Berlin represents the military-industrial dimension of Terran power. Where Geneva functions as the seat of institutional governance -- the city of council sessions, audits, and diplomatic protocols -- New Berlin is the city of soldiers, scientists, and weapons. The Kaiser Corporation headquarters, with its iconic steel double tower, is the physical embodiment of Valdec's ambition to replace Driver space travel with Kaiser Force technology. Every significant Kaiser Force development -- from the early experiments on Lithe to the deployment of the Zarkophin Shield fleet -- is directed from this city.

The Contrast with Old Berlin

The spatial relationship between New Berlin and Old Berlin is the saga's most vivid illustration of the caste system's cruelty. The modern corporate city rises above the ruins where the Nomans -- the casteless, the rightless, the officially nonexistent -- survive in squalor. The rubble belt that separates the two Berlins is not merely a geographic boundary but a moral one: on one side, the gleaming towers of corporate power; on the other, the ruins where human beings are hunted for sport by the Berlin Shooting Club. That the Noman uprising of 2501 begins in Old Berlin and targets the Kaiser transmitter in New Berlin makes the spatial metaphor explicit: the dispossessed storm the citadel of their oppressors.

The Recurring Battleground

New Berlin is the stage for more acts of resistance and violence than any other single city in the saga:

The Death of a Symbol

New Berlin's destruction by the Cosmic Spores in the saga's final booklet carries profound symbolic weight. The city that housed the Kaiser Corporation, the Dead Spaces, and the apparatus of the Second Reich of Humanity is not conquered by armies or dissolved by political decree -- it is consumed by living organisms that make its continued existence impossible. The spores do not merely defeat tyranny; they make tyranny's physical infrastructure vanish. The steel double tower of the Kaiser Headquarters, the prison complex beneath the old city, the military airfields from which gliders launched against the Nomans -- all are swallowed by green growth. New Berlin's end is not a military event but a biological one: the universe reclaiming the ground that corporate civilization had stolen.

Notable Inhabitants and Figures

Key Locations Within New Berlin

Appearances

Related Articles

• Old Berlin -- The ruined pre-corporate city adjacent to New Berlin
• Dead Spaces -- The underground prison complex beneath Berlin
• Kaiser Corporation -- The corporation headquartered in New Berlin
• Kaiser Force -- The technology developed and tested in New Berlin
• Max von Valdec -- The ruler who made New Berlin his seat of power
• David terGorden -- The Heir of Power, captured and later liberator
• Llewellyn 709 -- The Riemenmann who escaped the Dead Spaces and breached Kaiser Headquarters
• Brak Shakram -- The Noman leader who died in New Berlin's streets
• Nobody -- The Noman leader killed in the uprising
• Gorthaur -- The alien who twice attacked Berlin
• Cosmic Spores -- The biological agents that consumed the city
• Eco-Shock -- The ecological transformation that ended New Berlin
• Second Reich of Humanity -- Valdec's authoritarian regime, ruled from Berlin
• Gray Guards -- The military force that garrisoned the city
• Nomans -- The casteless outcasts who inhabited Old Berlin
• Geneva -- The rival power center and administrative capital
• Ultima Thule -- The Biotroniks headquarters and site of Yggdrasil
• TERRA -- Earth, the planet on which New Berlin is located
• Council of Corporations -- The governing body whose real power resided in New Berlin
• Noman Uprising -- The 2501 revolt centered on the Kaiser transmitter
• Berlin Shooting Club -- The organization that hunted Nomans in Old Berlin
• Trummergurtel der Berliner Altstadt -- The rubble belt separating Old and New Berlin
• Kaiser Headquarters -- The steel double tower at the heart of New Berlin

New Berlin appears as a setting or is significantly referenced in at least 15 booklets of Die Terranauten. It is the military-industrial capital of the Terran Star Empire, the personal seat of Max von Valdec, and the city whose destruction by Cosmic Spores signals the end of the corporate era.