This social history examines the Berlin bourgeoisie using the example of a representative group of entrepreneurs. Using the modern method of nominal record linkage, the mobility and social networks of bourgeois families and groups of families are traced well back into the 18th century.

The study is based principally on a complex evaluation of church records. The study takes the social context of the capital city and residence of Berlin to contribute to the ongoing lively debate on the problems of continuity and discontinuity in the development of the modern bourgeoisie in Brandenburg and Prussia.

This study gives tangible form to the Berlin middle classes, with their outstanding entrepreneurs, civil servants and artisans working at court, important ecclesiastical figures, doctors, scholars and artists.