From the insignificant Brandenburg village to the urban industrial and business location: Christian Simon expertly guides us from the world of traders and craftsmen in Berlin in the Middle Ages to the emergence of Berlin manufactories in the 18th century and the industrial revolution in the 19th century to the Gründerzeit, in which Due to its economic development, Berlin finally rose to become a metropolis.

The economy in the 20th century, shaped by great entrepreneurs such as Carl Bolle, Georg Wertheim or today Werner Gegenbauer is described. Simon shows how entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas shaped the face of the city. But the dark side of this development, the increasing impoverishment of a rapidly growing population, is not concealed.