Background
He was born in Memel (now Klaipėda, Lithuania).
He was born in Memel (now Klaipėda, Lithuania).
At the age of nineteen, he came to Copenhagen, starting out as an apprentice to the privileged town musician there, Andreas Berg. In 1737, he became the privileged town musician in Trondheim. In 1741, he became organist of the Nidaros Cathedral (1741–1787) and Vår Frue Church (1752–1761).
He allegedly composed many works, but only a few of the compositions of Berlin have been preserved.
His book, Musicaliske Elementer (Musical Elements), printed in Trondheim in 1744, was the first Norwegian textbook on the theory of music and instruments.
In addition, he held the positions as captain of the fire brigade and inspector of the water-works, practiced as an architect, land-surveyor, artisan, constructor and maker of instruments, made series of meteorological, geomagnetic, and astronomical observations, and was for 38 years an active member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.