Berlin (carriage)

A Berlin, or Berline, carriage is a type of enclosed four-wheeled coach. The word "Berlin" was initially applied to the new style of undercarriage using two perch rails and having the body suspended by leather straps, called thoroughbraces. The Berlin-undercarriage could be used with any number of carriage or coach styles, but the Berlin eventually became known as a particular coach-body style and shape.

In his book Voitures hippomobiles: vocabulaire typologique et technique, carriage historian Jean‑Louis Libourel describes the berline as follows:

Berline: A carriage with a closed body, with two ends and two doors, containing two seats facing each other for four people. Throughout the eighteenth century, Berlines are distinguished from coaches, although they share the same decorative richness, by their running gear, which is characterized by two parallel poles, called the brancards de train (double perch). —Jean‑Louis Libourel