In 1840, the date of this painting of the Old Berlin City Hall at the corner of Königsstrasse and Spandauer Strasse, the historical core of Berlin still remained largely unaffected by the modern infrastructure, industrial architecture, and hustle and bustle that characterized the city in the last quarter of the century, when industrialization and urbanization had fully set in. The building in the center of the painting eventually gave way to the famous “Red City Hall,” which was built between 1861 and 1869. Oil painting by Johann Wilhelm Brücke (1800–1874), 1840.