[3] Berlinite can vary from colorless to greyish or pale pink and has translucent crystals.

[3] It was first described in 1868 for an occurrence in the Västanå iron mine, Scania, Sweden and named for Nils Johan Berlin (1812–1891) of Lund University.

[2][3] It occurs as a rare mineral in high-temperature hydrothermal or metasomatic deposits.

[2] Associated minerals include augelite, attakolite, kyanite, pyrophyllite, scorzalite, lazulite, gatumbaite, burangaite, amblygonite, phosphosiderite, purpurite, apatite, muscovite, quartz, hematite in granite pegmatites.

It also occurs with alunite, aragonite, collophane, crandallite, francoanellite, gypsum, huntite, hydromagnesite, leucophosphite, nesquehonite, niter, and nitrocalcite in the Paddy's River copper mine in the Brindabella Mountains of Australia.