184818–19 March 1848 · Berlin

March Revolution in Berlin

Contemporary coloured lithograph of Berliners fighting from a barricade under black-red-gold flags in March 1848 — Archival image: Unknown artist. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by the February revolution in Paris, Berliners demanding a constitution and a free press fought the Prussian army from barricades on 18 March 1848. Hundreds died before King Frederick William IV withdrew his troops and bowed before the coffins of the dead. Prussia gained an elected assembly, but by the end of the year the king had dissolved it and the old order returned.

Revolutions & Resistance
Political History
Berlin, Germany

Sites

Site 1: Cemetery of the March Fallen, Volkspark FriedrichshainBurial ground of the barricade dead, with an open-air exhibition on 1848.Map ↗
Site 2: Platz des 18. MärzSquare west of the Brandenburg Gate named after the day of the barricades.Map ↗