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History

Overview[]

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin is the largest city in Germany.

20th Century[]

When the Nazi Party took political power during the 1930s, their political center was in Berlin, and it also served as the regular home of their notorious leader Adolf Hitler. As such, during World War II, Berlin became the frequent battle ground between the Nazis and super-human and costumed heroes who were working with the Allied Forces to stop the Nazis invasion of Europe.

In 1941, the Blazing Skull smuggled himself into Berlin in order to stop a Nazi scientist who was producing a enervating gas. Although the Skull succeeded in his mission he was taken prisoner and tortured by Hitler himself. Blazing Skull managed to escape however, but not before his refusal to submit to the pain of his torture caused Hitler to burst into a fit of hysterics.[1] American super-soldier Captain America and his partner Bucky also smuggled themselves into Berlin in order to rescue British millionaire Henry Baldwin who was being kept prisoner in the Blackforest Concentration Camp. They freed Baldwin after delivering Hitler and Hermann Göring a personal and humiliating defeat.[2] When Nazi agents led by the Red Skull captured a British spy codenamed Agent Zero, the Young Allies also travelled to Berlin and succeeded in rescuing Agent Zero.[3] The most frequent threat to security in Berlin came from the original Destroyer who frequently attacked and killed Nazi operatives and scientists within and around Berlin.[4][5][6][7][8]

By 1942, the Destroyer became an infamous character among the Nazi regime after the hero paid a personal visit to Hitler himself, delivering the mad dictator a humiliating defeat.[9] Also undermining Hitler's authority was the Freedom Broadcast, a pirate radio station that frequently interrupted Hitler's public addresses with mocking broadcasts. The Destroyer assisted in keeping the Freedom Broadcast on the air, despite Hitler's efforts to have the pirate radio shut down.[10]

During 1943, Berlin continued to be the site of a number of strange happenings. Captain Daring and his fellow Sky-Shark Zeke Mallon were double-crossed by Nazis in Berlin during a prisoner exchange. However Daring and Mallon managed to break free and rescue Colonel Welling and escape back to England.[11] Berlin was also the location where Nazi scientist biologically engineered the poisonous Killer Beasts. The creatures were sent to attack the soldiers at Camp Lehigh in the USA, but were slain by Captain America and Bucky.[12] The Destroyer later assisted German defectors escape with secrets stolen from Berlin.[13] Later that year, Hitler called Italian leader Benito Mussolini and Imperial Japanese emperor Hirohito to Berlin to met with the international terrorist known as the Torso. The three Axis leaders agreed to fund the Torso on a mission to destroy Captain America. However, the plot was a failure ending in the Torso's death.[14] When Nazis led by Marshall Kronin kidnapped the Sub-Mariner's friend Betty Dean, they imprisoned her in Berlin. She was eventually rescued by Namor.[15]

On April 25, 1945 Berlin was the scene of a massive Allied attack which included an army of American super-heroes. Among them a squad of heroes (later dubbed the Twelve) were captured by Nazi forces who intended to experiment them when Germany had won the war. The Phantom Reporter, Black Widow, Fiery Mask, Blue Blade, Dynamic Man, Electro, Mastermind Excello, Laughing Mask, Mister E, Rockman and the Witness were all placed in suspended animation in a bunker beneath Berlin where they were forgotten for decades due to the fact that the Nazis eventually lost the war.[16] Shortly there after on April 30, 1945 the final invasion of Berlin, Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun hid in a bunker while Berlin was crumbling around them. The American heroes Human Torch and Toro found the bunker and clashed with Hitler, killing him when he refused to surrender.[17][18]

With the fall of Berlin, and the defeat of the Nazis, the area was taken over by the Allied Forces.

Following the war, the United States and other nations occupied Berlin and worked at re-stabilizing the country following the Nazi's defeat. Among American operatives active in the area was Secret Service agent Kent Blake. In April of 1947, Kent prevented Communist operatives from smuggling counterfeit money plates that they intended to use to make phony American currency in order to flood the market and crash the American economy.[19]

Modern Age[]

In recent years, the bunker containing the Twelve was found when new condominium development uncovered it. The trapped heroes were then revived and return to the United States to try and find new lives in the modern age.[16]

Points of Interest

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