Berlin is the
capitalThe Capital of Germany is the city state of Berlin. It is the seat of the President of Germany, whose official residence is Schloss Bellevue. The Bundesrat is the representation of the Federal States of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian Herrenhaus...
city and one of sixteen
statesGermany is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as . Since is also the German word for "country", the term is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.The citizens of the states form the nation...
of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second
most populous cityThis is a list of the largest cities in the European Union by population within city limits which have more than 300,000 inhabitants. It deals exclusively with the areas within city administrative boundaries as opposed to urban areas or metropolitan areas, which are generally larger in terms of...
and the eighth
most populous urban areaThis is a list of all the urban areas of the European Union which have more than 750,000 inhabitants in 2005.This list is an attempt to present a consistent list of population figures for urban areas in the European Union. All the figures here have been compiled by Demographia.-Important notes:*...
in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-
BrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
metropolitan area, comprising 5 million people from over 190 nations. Geographically embedded in the
European PlainThe European Plain or Great European Plain is a plain in Europe. It is the largest mountain-free landform in Europe, although a number of highlands are identified within. It stretches from the Pyrenees Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east.It consists of the...
s Berlin is influenced by a
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
seasonal climate. Around one third of the city´s territory is composed of
forestA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators,...
s,
parkA park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment. It may consist of, rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas....
s,
gardenA garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form is known as a residential garden. Western gardens are almost universally...
s,
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
s and
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
s.
First documented in the thirteenth century, Berlin was successively the capital of the
Kingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918, until the defeat of Germany in World War I, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire...
(1701–1918), the
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
(1871–1918), the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
(1919–1933) and the
Third ReichNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
(1933–1945). During the
1920s||-||-||-||}The Golden Twenties in Berlin was a vibrant period in the history of Berlin, German history, and European history in general. This fertile culture of Berlin extended onwards until Adolf Hitler rose to power in early 1933 and stamped out any and all resistance to the Nazi Party....
, Berlin was the third largest municipality in the world. After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the city was divided;
East BerlinEast Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a de facto part of West Germany. Despite its status as part of an occupied city,...
became the capital of
East GermanyThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
while
West BerlinWest Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945. It was in many ways integrated with, although legally not a part of, West Germany...
became a
WesternWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
exclaveIn political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory.An exclave, on the other hand, is a territory legally attached to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous.These are two distinct concepts,...
, surrounded by the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
(1961–1989). Following
German reunificationGerman reunification is the process in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state. The start of this process is commonly referred to by former citizens of the GDR as die Wende...
in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of all Germany hosting 147 foreign embassies.
Berlin is a major center of
cultureCulture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, politics,
mediaMass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such...
, and
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
in Europe. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of
creative industriesThe phrase creative industries refers to a set of interlocking industry sectors that focus on creating unique property, content or design that previously did not exist. Economic contributions from creative industries have been increasing, particularly as manufacturing industries have become...
, media corporations, environmental services, congress and convention venues. Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the EU. Other industries include
traffic engineeringTraffic Engineering can mean:* traffic engineering , a branch of civil engineering* teletraffic engineering, a field of statistical techniques used in telecommunications...
,
optoelectronicsOptoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light...
,
ITInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
, pharmaceuticals,
biomedical engineeringBiomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve healthcare diagnosis and treatment.Biomedical engineering has only recently...
, and
biotechnologyBiotechnology is technology based on biology, agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern use of the term usually refers to genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies...
.
The
metropolisA metropolis is a big city, in most cases with over half a million inhabitants in the city proper, and with a population of at least one million living in its urban agglomeration. Big cities belonging to a larger urban agglomeration, but which are not the core of that agglomeration, are not...
is home to world-renowned universities, research institutes, sporting events, orchestras, museums and personalities. The urban and historical legacy has made it a popular setting for international film productions. The city is recognized for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, extensive public transportation networks and a
high quality of livingThe world's most livable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economists World's Most Livable Cities...
.
Berlin has evolved into a global focal point for young individuals and artists attracted by a
liberal lifestyleLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
and modern
zeitgeistZeitgeist is a German language expression referring to "the spirit of the times" and/or "the spirit of the age." The word Zeitgeist is used to describe the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and/or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general...
.
History
The name
Berlin is of unknown origin, but may be related to the Old
PolabianThe Polabian language is an extinct West Slavic language that was spoken by the Slavs of North-Eastern Germany around the Elbe or Laba River...
stem
berl-/
birl- "swamp".
The earliest evidence of settlements in today's Berlin central areas is a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192. The first written mention of towns in the area of present-day Berlin dates from the late twelfth century. The settlement of
SpandauSpandau is the fifth and westernmost borough of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel. In the west it borders with the districts of Oberhavel, Havelland and the city of Potsdam in the federal state of Brandenburg. Modern industries...
is first mentioned in 1197, and
KöpenickKöpenick is a locality in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick in Berlin. It is located in the south-east of the city and is best known for the Hauptmann von Köpenick....
in 1209, though these areas did not join Berlin until 1920. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns.
CöllnIn the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin , located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg...
on the
FischerinselMuseum Island in Berlin, Germany, is the name of the northern half of the Spreeinsel, an island in the Spree river in the centre of Berlin ....
is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the
SpreeThe Spree is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany and in Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic. It is a left tributary of the Havel river and is approximately in length....
in what is now called the
NikolaiviertelFounded about 1200, the Nikolaiviertel of Altberlin, together with the neighbouring settlement of Cölln, is the reconstructed historical heart of the German capital Berlin. It is located in the Mitte district, five minutes away from Alexanderplatz...
, is referenced in a document from 1244. The former is considered to be the "founding date". From the beginning, the two cities formed an economic and
social unitSocial unit is a term used in sociology, anthropology, ethnology, and also in animal behaviour studies, zoology and biology to describe a social entity which is part of and participates in a larger social group or society....
. In 1307, the two cities were united politically. Over time, the twin cities came to be known simply as Berlin.
In 1435, Frederick I became the
electorThe Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....
of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. His successor,
Frederick IIFrederick II , nicknamed "the Iron" and sometimes "Irontooth" , was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the House of Hohenzollern.- Biography :Frederick II was born in Tangermünde to Frederick I, Brandenburg's first...
, established Berlin as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, and finally as German emperors. In 1448 citizens rebelled in the “Berlin Indignation” against the construction of a new royal palace by Elector Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. In 1451 Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free
HanseaticThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became
LutheranLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the 16th century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
.
Seventeenth to nineteenth centuries
The
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
between 1618 and 1648 had devastating consequences for Berlin. A third of the houses were damaged and the city lost half of its population.
Frederick WilliamFrederick William was the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia from 1640 until his death. He was of the House of Hohenzollern and is popularly known as the Great Elector because of his military and political skill...
, known as the “Great Elector”, who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the
Edict of PotsdamThe Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
in 1685, Frederick William offered
asylumRight of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or Church sanctuaries...
to the French
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
s. More than 15,000 Huguenots went to Brandenburg, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1700, approximately twenty percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence on the city was immense. Many other immigrants came from
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
,
PolandThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
, and
SalzburgThe Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly consisting of the present-day state of Salzburg in Austria....
.
With the coronation of
Frederick IFrederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union. The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia...
in 1701 as king (in
KönigsbergKönigsberg was the capital of eastern Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945. It was founded by the Teutonic Knights just south of the Sambian peninsula in the year 1255 AD during the Northern Crusades and named for King Ottokar II of Bohemia...
), Berlin became the capital of the
Kingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918, until the defeat of Germany in World War I, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire...
. In 1740 Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786) came to power. Berlin became, under the rule of the philosophically oriented Frederick II, a center of the Enlightenment. Following
France'sThe French Empire
, also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
victory in the
War of the Fourth CoalitionThe Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city. In 1815 the city became part of the new
Province of BrandenburgThe Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. Its capital was originally Potsdam, before moving to Berlin in 1827, then back to Potsdam in 1843 and finally in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1918.-History:The province of Brandenburg...
.
The
Industrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North...
transformed Berlin during the nineteenth century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including
WeddingWedding is a locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany and was a separate borough in the north-western inner city until it was fused with Tiergarten and Mitte in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform...
,
MoabitMoabit is an inner city locality of Berlin. Since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it belongs to the newly regrouped governmental borough of Mitte. Previously, from 1920 to 2001, it belonged to the borough of Tiergarten. Moabit's borders are defined by three watercourses, the Spree, the...
, and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
. On 1 April 1881 it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.
Twentieth century
At the end of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
in 1918, the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920, the
Greater Berlin ActThe Greater Berlin Act , in full the Law Regarding the Reconstruction of the New Local Authority of Berlin , was a law passed by the Prussian government in 1920 that greatly expanded the size of the German capital of Berlin....
united dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into a greatly expanded city at the expense of Brandenburg. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around four million.
On 30 January 1933 (
MachtergreifungMachtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in Weimar Germany on January 30 1933. This is the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany....
),
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
and the
Nazi PartyThe National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party , was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945...
came to power. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 170,000 before 1933. After the
KristallnachtKristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November 1938. It is often called Novemberpogrome or Reichspogromnacht in German....
pogromA pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers...
in 1938, thousands of the city's German Jews were imprisoned in the nearby
Sachsenhausen concentration campSachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
or, in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as
AuschwitzAuschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II.The camp took its German name from the hosting town of Oświęcim. Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim was annexed by Nazi Germany and...
. During the war, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in
the 1943–45 air raidsThe Battle of Berlin was a British bombing campaign on Berlin from November 1943 to March 1944. The campaign period was not limited to attacks solely on Berlin, other German cities were attacked to prevent the concentration of defences in Berlin, and Bomber Command had other responsibilities and...
and during the
Battle of BerlinThe Battle of Berlin was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II and was designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union.
[The last offensive of the European war was the Prague Offensive on 6–11 May 1945, when the Red Army, with the help...]
. After the
end of the war in EuropeThe final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well as the German surrender took place in late April and early May 1945.- Timeline of surrenders and deaths :...
in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the
occupation zonesThe Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during the period 1945–1949. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, American forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed...
into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed
West BerlinWest Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945. It was in many ways integrated with, although legally not a part of, West Germany...
, while the
Soviet sectorThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
formed
East BerlinEast Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a de facto part of West Germany. Despite its status as part of an occupied city,...
.
All four allies retained shared responsibility for Berlin. However, the growing political differences between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union led the latter, which controlled the territory surrounding Berlin, to impose the
Berlin Blockade||-|}The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first such crisis that resulted in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of...
, an economic blockade of West Berlin. The allies successfully overcame the Blockade by airlifting food and other supplies into the city from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany, and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, but excluded those three countries' zones of Berlin, while the
Marxist-LeninistMarxism-Leninism is a communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency among the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era....
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin remained a free city that was separate from the Federal Republic of Germany, and issued its own postage stamps. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British and French airlines.
The founding of the two German states increased
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory. East Germany, however, proclaimed East Berlin (which it described only as "Berlin") as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the Western powers. Although half the size and population of West Berlin, it included most of the historic center of the city. The
West GermanWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
government, meanwhile, established itself provisionally in
BonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990...
.
The tensions between east and west culminated in the construction of the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
between East and West Berlin and other barriers around West Berlin by East Germany on 13 August 1961 and were exacerbated by a tank standoff at
Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie "Checkpoint C" was the name given by the Western Allies to the most well known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Germany and West Germany during the Cold War....
on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany.
Berlin was completely separated. It was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other only through strictly controlled checkpoints. For most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible. In 1971, a
Four-Power agreementThe Four Power Agreement on Berlin also known as the Berlin Agreement or the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin was agreed on 3 September, 1971 by the four wartime allied powers, represented by their Ambassadors...
guaranteed access across East Germany to West Berlin and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.
In 1989, pressure from the East German population broke free across the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, which was subsequently mostly demolished. Not much is left of it today; the
East Side GalleryThe East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom. It is a 1.3km long section of the Berlin Wall located near the centre of Berlin on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.-Description:...
in
FriedrichshainFriedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a freestanding city borough...
near the
Oberbaumbrücke over the
SpreeThe Spree is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany and in Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic. It is a left tributary of the Havel river and is approximately in length....
preserves a portion of the Wall. Democracy and market economy changed East Germany and East Berlin.
On 3 October 1990 the two parts of Germany were
reunifiedGerman reunification is the process in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state. The start of this process is commonly referred to by former citizens of the GDR as die Wende...
as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin became the German capital according to the unification treaty. In June 1991 the German Parliament, the
BundestagThe Bundestag is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag...
, voted to move the (West) German capital back from
BonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990...
to Berlin. In 1999, the
German parliamentThe Bundestag is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag...
and government began their work in Berlin.
Geography
Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the border with Poland in an area with marshy terrain. The Berlin–Warsaw
Urstromtal (ancient river valley), between the low Barnim plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by water flowing from melting
ice sheetAn ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km² . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the last glacial period at Last Glacial Maximum the Laurentide ice sheet covered much of Canada and North America, the...
s at the end of the last
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
. The
SpreeThe Spree is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany and in Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic. It is a left tributary of the Havel river and is approximately in length....
follows this valley now. In
SpandauSpandau is the fifth and westernmost borough of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel. In the west it borders with the districts of Oberhavel, Havelland and the city of Potsdam in the federal state of Brandenburg. Modern industries...
, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree meets the river
HavelThe Havel is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and 325 km in length. Extended by the Oder-Havel Canal it connects the Oder with Berlin and the Elbe....
, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and
Großer WannseeThe Wannsee is both a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany, and a linked pair of lakes adjoining the locality. Both lakes, the larger Großer Wannsee and the Kleiner Wannsee , are located on the river Havel and are separated only by the Wannsee bridge...
. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the
Großer MüggelseeMüggelsee is the largest of the Berlin lakes . Some call it 'Großer Müggelsee' because there is the 'Kleiner Müggelsee', which is only 0.16 km². The lake is in the Berlin district of Treptow-Köpenick. The suburbs of Friedrichshagen, Rahnsdorf and Müggelheim border on the lake.The lake itself is up...
in eastern Berlin.
Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs
ReinickendorfReinickendorf is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin-Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel.-Subdivision:...
and
PankowPankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.-Overview:...
lie on the Barnim plateau, while most of the boroughs
Charlottenburg-WilmersdorfCharlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf.-Overview:The borough was the center of former West Berlin...
,
Steglitz-ZehlendorfSteglitz-Zehlendorf is the sixth borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf.-Subdivision:The Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough consists of seven localities:*Steglitz*Lichterfelde...
,
Tempelhof-SchönebergTempelhof-Schöneberg is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg.-Geography:...
, and
NeuköllnNeukölln is the eighth borough of Berlin, located in the southeastern part of the city. It features many Gründerzeit buildings and has one of the highest percentage of immigrants in Berlin....
lie on the Teltow plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin
Urstromtal and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the
TeufelsbergThe Teufelsberg is a hill in Berlin, Germany, in former West Berlin. It rises about 80 meters above the surrounding Brandenburg plain, more precisely the north of Berlin's Grunewald forest....
and the
MüggelbergeThe Müggelberge are a line of forested hills up to 115 metres high, located in southeastern Berlin. The Müggelturm in the hills is an observation tower with view on the Müggelsee and the incomplete Berlin-Müggelberge TV Tower....
. Both hills have an elevation of about . The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.
Climate
Berlin has a
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
/mesothermal climate (Cfb) according to the
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936...
system.
Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 22–25°C (mid 70s F) and lows of 12–14°C (mid 50s F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 4°C (upper 30s F) and lows of −2 to 0°C (upper 20s and low 30s F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a
microclimateA microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be 4°C (7°F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.
Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through March, but snow cover does not usually remain for long.
Cityscape
The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the twentieth century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin — the 1871
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
, the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
,
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
, East Germany, and now the reunified
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
— initiated ambitious construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II and many of the old buildings that escaped the bombs were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East. Much of this destruction was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.
In the eastern part, many
PlattenbauPlattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of Platte and Bau...
ten can be found, reminders of
Eastern BlocThe terms Eastern Bloc, Communist Bloc or Soviet Bloc were used to refer to the former Communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, including the countries of the Warsaw Pact, along with Yugoslavia and Albania, which were not aligned with the Soviet Union after 1948 and 1960...
ambitions to create complete residential areas with fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools. The design of little red and green men on pedestrian crossing lights, the
Ampelmännchenis the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic...
, are also rather spread in Eastern parts. Berlin's unique recent history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings.
Architecture
The
FernsehturmThe Fernsehturm is a television tower in the city centre of Berlin, Germany. Close to Alexanderplatz and part of the World Federation of Great Towers , the tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the former German Democratic Republic administration who intended it as a symbol of Berlin,...
(TV tower) at
Alexanderplatz' is a large public square and transport hub in the Mitte district of Berlin, near the river Spree and the Berliner Dom. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the...
in Mitte is the second-tallest structure in the European Union at . Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its high observation floor. Starting here the
Karl-Marx-AlleeThe Karl-Marx-Allee is a monumental socialist boulevard built by the GDR between 1952 and 1960 in Berlin Friedrichshain and Mitte. Today the boulevard is named after Karl Marx....
heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the
Rotes RathausThe Rotes Rathaus is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government of the Federal state of Berlin...
(City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. The previously built-up part in front of it is the
NeptunbrunnenThe Neptune Fountain in Berlin was built in 1891 and was designed by Reinhold Begas. The Greek god Poseidon is in the center. The four women around him represent the four main rivers of Germany: Elbe, Rhine, Vistula, and Oder....
, a fountain featuring a mythological scene.
The
East Side GalleryThe East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom. It is a 1.3km long section of the Berlin Wall located near the centre of Berlin on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.-Description:...
is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. It has recently undergone a restoration.
The
Brandenburg GateThe Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city center at the intersection of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which one formerly...
is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German
euroThe euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
coins (10 cent, 20 cent, and 50 cent). The
Reichstag buildingThe Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire supposedly set by Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe, who was later beheaded for the crime....
is the traditional seat of the German
ParliamentThe Bundestag is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag...
, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect
Norman FosterNorman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, FRIBA, FCSD, RDI, is a English architect whose company maintains an international design practice. He is Britain's most prolific builder of landmark office buildings.-Biography:...
in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.
The
GendarmenmarktThe Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The centre of the Gendarmenmarkt is crowned by a statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the...
, a
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
square in Berlin whose name dates back to the Napoleonic occupation of the city, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the
French CathedralFranzösischer Dom is the colloquial naming for the French Church of Friedrichstadt located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from the Deutscher Dom , formerly a church of German-speaking congregants. Louis Cayard and Abraham Quesnays built the first parts of the actual...
with its observation platform and the German Cathedral. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.
The
Berliner DomBerlin Cathedral is the colloquial name for the Evangelical Oberpfarr- und Domkirche in Berlin, Germany...
, a Protestant cathedral and the third church on this site, is located on the
Spree IslandMuseum Island in Berlin, Germany, is the name of the northern half of the Spreeinsel, an island in the Spree river in the centre of Berlin ....
across from the site of the
Berliner StadtschlossThe Stadtschloss , was a royal palace in the centre of Berlin, capital of Germany...
and adjacent to the
LustgartenThe Lustgarten is a park on Museum Island in central Berlin, near the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss of which it was originally a part...
. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
n royal family. Like many other buildings, it suffered extensive damage during the Second World War. The Cathedral of St. Hedwig is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Unter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways...
is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former
Berliner StadtschlossThe Stadtschloss , was a royal palace in the centre of Berlin, capital of Germany...
, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there.
FriedrichstraßeThe Friedrichstraße is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood. It runs from the northern part of the old Mitte district to the Hallesches Tor in the district of Kreuzberg...
was Berlin's legendary street during the
Roaring TwentiesRoaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, that emphasizes the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
. It combines twentieth century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platzis an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down. To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the
Neue NationalgalerieNeue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for classical modern art in Berlin, with main focus on early the 20th century. It is part of the German National Gallery. The museum building and its sculpture gardens were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and opened in 1968. The collection...
and the Philharmonic. The
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of EuropeThe Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , also known as the Holocaust Memorial , is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold...
, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. Oranienburger Straße and the nearby New Synagogue were the center of Jewish culture before 1933, and regains being it today.
The
Straße des 17. JuniThe Straße des 17. Juni is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is the western continuation of the Unter den Linden. It runs east-west through the Tiergarten, a large forest park to the west of the city centre. At the eastern end is the Brandenburg Gate and at the western end is...
, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.
The
KurfürstendammThe Kurfürstendamm, known locally as the Ku'damm, is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin — full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants...
is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial ChurchThe Protestant Kaiser William Memorial Church is located in Berlin on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz. The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943...
at its eastern end on
BreitscheidplatzBreitscheidplatz is a major public square in the western part of Berlin, Germany.-Geography:Today the Breitscheidplatz lies within Charlottenburg at the tip of the Tiergarten between the Kurfürstendamm boulevard, the Tauentzienstraße and the Budapester Straße. The Europa-Center closes off the...
. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Near by on Tauentzienstraße is
KaDeWeThe Kaufhaus des Westens is a department store in Berlin. With over 60,000 square metres of selling space and more than 380,000 articles available, it is the second largest department store in Europe; trumped only by Harrods in London...
, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The
Rathaus SchönebergRathaus Schöneberg is the city hall for the Borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin.It was constructed between 1911–1914 for Schöneberg, at that time an independent city not yet incorporated into Berlin....
, where
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
made his famous "
Ich bin ein Berliner||-||-||}"Ich bin ein Berliner" is a quotation from a June 26, 1963 speech by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin...
!" speech, is situated in
Tempelhof-SchönebergTempelhof-Schöneberg is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg.-Geography:...
.
West of the center,
Schloss BellevueSchloss Bellevue is a château in the centre of Berlin. It is situated on the north edge of the Tiergarten park, beside the Spree, near the Berlin Victory Column, with the address "Spreeweg 1". It has been the principal residence of the German President since 1994...
is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War and largely destroyed, has been rebuilt and is the largest surviving historical palace in Berlin.
The
Funkturm BerlinThe Berliner Funkturm or Funkturm Berlin is a transmitting tower in Berlin, built between 1924 and 1926 by Heinrich Straumer. It is nicknamed "der lange Lulatsch" and is one of the best-known points of interest in the city of Berlin. It stands in the Berlin trade fair ground in the...
is a tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators, and has a restaurant and an observation deck above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
Government
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the
President of GermanyThe President of Germany is Germany's head of state. The position is largely a ceremonial one, with the president acting in accordance with the advice and directives of the legislature...
, whose official residence is
Schloss BellevueSchloss Bellevue is a château in the centre of Berlin. It is situated on the north edge of the Tiergarten park, beside the Spree, near the Berlin Victory Column, with the address "Spreeweg 1". It has been the principal residence of the German President since 1994...
. Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, it has been one of the three city states, together with
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
and
BremenThe Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 Federal States . A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
, among the present sixteen
states of GermanyGermany is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as . Since is also the German word for "country", the term is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.The citizens of the states form the nation...
. The
BundesratThe German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
("federal council") is the representation of the Federal States (
Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian
HerrenhausThe German term Herrenhaus is equivalent to the English House of Lords and describes roughly similar institutions as the English House of Lords in German-speaking countries.More specifically, Herrenhaus, can refer to either of the following:...
(House of Lords). Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in
BonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990...
, the former capital of West Germany. The
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
invests in several projects within the city of Berlin. Infrastructure, education and social programs are co-financed with budgets taken from EU cohesion funds.
City state
The city and state parliament is the
House of RepresentativesThe Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin is the state parliament for the State of Berlin according to the constitution of Berlin, Germany. The parliament is based in the building which housed the Prussian Landtag. The current president of the parliament is Walter Momper.- Election :The parliament of Berlin...
(
Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's
executive}}In the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers .In many...
body is the Senate of Berlin (
Senat von Berlin). The Senate of Berlin consists of the
Governing Mayor (
Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (
Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor. The
Social Democratic PartyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is Germany's oldest political party. The party governed at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union until conceding defeat in the federal election of September 2009...
(SPD) and
The LeftThe Left , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
(Die Linke) took control of the city government after the
2001 state electionThe Berlin state election, 2001, was conducted on October 21, 2001, to elect members to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.-Issues and campaign:The 2001 election was a premature election...
and won another term in the
2006 state electionThe Berlin state election, 2006, was held on September 17, 2006, to elect members to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.After the elections the Social Democratic Party under Klaus Wowereit and the Left Party formed a coalition government....
.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (
Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the Federal State (
Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the
Rotes RathausThe Rotes Rathaus is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government of the Federal state of Berlin...
(Red City Hall). Since 2001 this office has been held by
Klaus WowereitKlaus Wowereit is a German politician, member of the SPD , and has been the Mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, where he won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections...
of the SPD. The city's government is based on a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and The Left.
The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city state. Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculates an increasing budget surplus in 2008. The total budget includes an estimated amount of €5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesländer. Mainly due to reunification-related expenditures, Berlin as a German state has accumulated more debt than any other city in Germany, with the most current estimate being €60 ($84)bn in December 2007.
Boroughs
Berlin is subdivided into
twelve boroughsBerlin is both a city and one of Germany's federal states. It is made up of twelve boroughs , each with its own borough government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city and state government.-Overview:Each borough is made up of several officially recognized localities...
(
Bezirke), but before
Berlin's 2001 administrative reformBerlin is subdivided into 12 boroughs , which are administrative units with political rights comparable to incorporated communities in the rest of Germany ....
there were 23. Each borough is subdivided into a number of localities (
Ortsteile), which represent the traditional
urbanizedUrbanization is the physical growth of urban areas from rural areas as a result of population immigration to an existing urban area. Effects include change in density and administration services. While the exact definition and population size of urbanized areas varies amongdifferent countries,...
areas that inhabitants identify with. Some of these have been rearranged several times over the years. At present the city of Berlin consists of 95 such localities. The localities often consist of a number of city neighborhoods (usually called
KiezKiez is a German word that refers to a city neighbourhood, a relatively small community within a larger town. The word is mainly used in Berlin and northern Germany.- Original Meaning and Etymology :...
in the Berlin dialect) representing small residential areas.
Each borough is governed by a Borough Council (
Bezirksamt) consisting of five Councilors (
Bezirksstadträte) and a Borough Mayor (
Bezirksbürgermeister). The Borough Council is elected by the Borough Assembly (
Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the Council of Mayors (
Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's Governing Mayor, which advises the Senate.
The localities have no government bodies of their own, even though most of the localities have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920. The subsequent position of locality representative (
Ortsvorsteher) was discontinued in favor of borough mayors.
Sister cities
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.
Town twinningSister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties...
between Berlin and other cities began with Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the
Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact is the informal name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland...
and its allies.
There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
,
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin...
,
JohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi or Jo'burg, is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
,
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
,
SeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the world's largest cities. The Seoul National Capital Area, which includes the major port city of Incheon and most of Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million...
,
SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality...
,
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
, and
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, Conference of the World's Capital Cities.
- 1967 US Los Angeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- 1987 France Paris
Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
- 1988 Spain Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
, SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. [The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
- 1989 Turkey Istanbul
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
, TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
.
- 1990 Russia Moscow
Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
, RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
- 1991 Poland Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
, PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. |
1991 Hungary BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
, HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
.
1992 Belgium BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
, BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
.
1993 Indonesia JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
, IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
1993 Uzbekistan TashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million. According to unofficial data, the population is more than 3 million.- History :...
, UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
.
1993 Mexico Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
, MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
1994 PRC BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
, ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
|
1994 Japan Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
, Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
1994 Argentina Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
.
1995 Czech Republic PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
, Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
.
2000 Namibia WindhoekWindhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in the central Khomas Region, and had a population of 306,093 in the 2009 calculations, believed to be over 296,000 in 2008.- Geography :...
, NamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east...
.
2000 UK London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
2003 Latvia JelgavaJelgava is a city in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with 66,087 inhabitants . It is the largest town in Semigallia. Jelgava is known as the former capital of the Duchy of Courland, and was the capital of the Courland region until 1919.Jelgava is situated on a fertile plain...
, LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. |
Demographics
As of December 2008, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,431,700 (an increase of 15,400 from December 2007) registered inhabitants in an area of . The city's population density was 3,848 inhabitants per km² (9,966 /sq mi). The
urban areaAn urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
of Berlin stretches beyond the city limits and comprises about 3.7 million people while the metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region is home to about 4.3 million in an area of . The Larger Urban Zone comprised about five million people in an area of 17,385 km² in the year 2004.
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the
Edict of NantesThe Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598. by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic...
in France, the city responded with the
Edict of PotsdamThe Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
, which guaranteed religious freedom and a tax-free status to French
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
refugees for ten years. The
Greater Berlin ActThe Greater Berlin Act , in full the Law Regarding the Reconstruction of the New Local Authority of Berlin , was a law passed by the Prussian government in 1920 that greatly expanded the size of the German capital of Berlin....
in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin. The act increased the area of Berlin from 66 square kilometers (25.5 square miles) to 883 square kilometers (341 sq mi) and the population from 1.9 million to 4 million. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin have initiated waves of immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1990s the
Aussiedlergesetze made immigration from the former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
possible. Today ethnic
GermansThe German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking population. The current decade experiences an increasing influx from various Western countries. Especially young EU-Europeans are settling in the city.
In December 2008, 470,051 residents (13.9% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from 195 different countries.
Estimated 394,000 citizens (11.7%) are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany.
The largest groups of foreign national are those from Turkey (111,285), Poland (43,700), Serbia (22,251), Italy (14,964), Russia (14,915), the United States (14,186), France (13,113), Vietnam (12,494), Croatia (10,752), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10,556), the United Kingdom (10,196), Greece (9,582), Austria (8,982), Ukraine (8,706), Lebanon (7,553), Bulgaria (7,375), Spain (7,044), the People's Republic of China (6,023), and Thailand (5,772).
Religion
A majority of Berlin residents (60%) have no registered religious affiliation. The largest religious groups are Protestants (mostly belonging to the
Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper LusatiaEvangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony. The seat of the church is in Berlin. It is the most important Protestant denomination in the area....
, a united church) at 23% of the population (757,000),
Roman CatholicsThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
(9%, or 312,000 people), members of other Christian churches (2.7%), and
MuslimIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
s (6%, or 213,000). Most of the over 120,000
JewsJews have lived in Germany, or "Ashkenaz", at least since the early 4th century, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of antisemitic violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the near-destruction of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe, the subsequent division of Germany and...
in Berlin have come from the former Soviet Union.
Berlin is seat of both a Roman Catholic bishop (
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of BerlinThe Archdiocese of Berlin was erected on 13 August 1930 by Pope Pius XI and was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese on 27 June 1994 by Pope John Paul II....
) and a Protestant bishop (
Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper LusatiaEvangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony. The seat of the church is in Berlin. It is the most important Protestant denomination in the area....
). The
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran ChurchThe Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and a member of the International Lutheran Council...
(former name:
Old LutheransOld Lutherans refers to those German Lutherans who refused to join the Prussian Union in the 1830s and 1840s.Attempted suppression of the Old Lutherans led many to immigrate to Australia and the United States, resulting in the creation of significant Lutheran denominations in those countries.The...
) has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.
There are 36
BaptistA Baptist is a Christian who subscribes to a theology and may belong to a church that, among other things, is committed to believer's baptism and, with respect to church polity, favors the congregational model...
congregations, 29
New Apostolic ChurchThe New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, numbered to Protestantism as a free church of the Catholic Apostolic Churches or Irvingism. The church has been existing since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
es, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, an
Old CatholicThe Old Catholic Church is a Christian denomination originating with mainly German-speaking groups that split from the Holy See in the 1870s because they disagreed with the solemn declaration of the doctrine of papal infallibility promulgated by the First Vatican Council . The Old Catholic Church...
church, and an
AnglicanAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures...
church in Berlin. Berlin has eleven
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
s, two
BuddhistBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
temples, and 76
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
s. There are also a number of
humanistHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
and
atheistAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
groups in the city.
Economy
In 2008, the nominal
GDPThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.6% (1.3% in Germany) and totaled €83.0 ($108) billion, of which service sector contributes around 81.85%, industry 18.03%, and agriculture 0.12%. After Germany´s reunification, significant de-industrialization changed Berlin´s economy which is today dominated by the service sector. The unemployment rate steadily decreased and reached a 13 year-low with 13.3% in September 2008 (German average: 7.4%/September/2008).
Among the
Forbes Global 2000The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: Sales, Profit, Assets and Market value...
and the 30 German
DAXThe DAX is a blue chip stock market index consisting of the 30 major German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Prices are taken from the electronic Xetra trading system...
companies,
SiemensSiemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate. Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany. The company is a conglomerate of three main business sectors: Industry, Energy and Healthcare with a total of 15 Divisions.Worldwide, Siemens and its subsidiaries...
and
Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
control headquarters in Berlin. A multitude of German and international companies established secondary departments or service offices in the city. Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the railway company
Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
, the hospital company
CharitéThe Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
, the local public transport company BVG, the service provider
Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group. Daimler manufactures cars, and
BMW, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.-Company history:...
builds
motorcyclesBMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand. BMW introduced the first motorcycle under its name, the R32, in 1923.-Pre-1921: BMW began as an aircraft engine...
in Berlin. Bayer Schering Pharma and
Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second most important German airline
Air BerlinAir Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa. It is headquartered in Berlin, and operates extensive semi-low-cost services to holiday destinations on the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and North Africa, as well as to major cities in Europe from 21...
and the rail company
Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
are headquartered in Berlin. In Germany, Universal Music and Sony Music are headquartered in Berlin as well.
Fast-growing sectors are communications, life sciences, mobility and services with information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology and environmental services, transportation and medical engineering. The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have established economic significance, and the Berlin Brandenburg region ranks among the top three innovative regions in the EU. Berlin is among the top three convention cities in the world and is home to Europe's biggest convention center in the form of the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC). It contributes to the rapidly increasing tourism sector encompassing 659 hotels with 97,400 beds and numbered 17.8 million overnight stays and 7.9 million hotel guests in 2008. Berlin has established itself as the third most-visited city destination in the European Union.
| 2006 EUROSTAT |
| |Area |
|---|
Population |
Nominal GDP in billion |
Nominal GDP per capita |
| Berlin |
| 3,410,000 |
€ 81 / ~$105 |
€ 23,700 / ~$30,810 |
| Brandenburg |
| 2,540,000 |
€ 50 / ~$65 |
€ 19,700 / ~$25,610 |
| Germany |
| 82,100,000 |
€ 2,322 / ~$3,032 |
€ 28,200 / ~$36,660 |
| European Union |
| 496,000,000 |
€ 11,671 / ~$15,172 |
€ 23,600 / ~$30,680 |
Education
The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in the European Union. The city has four universities and numerous private, professional and technical colleges (
FachhochschuleA Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of university, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland...
n), offering students a wide range of disciplines. Around 130,000 students attend the universities and professional or technical colleges. The three largest universities account for around 100,000 students. These are the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin) with around 35,000 students, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with 35,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin with 30,000 students. The
Universität der KünsteThe Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a German university founded in 1975 with the merger of the Berlin State School of Fine Arts and the Berlin State School of Music and the Performing Arts. Its root institutions date back to the founding of the Akademie der Künste in 1696...
has about 4,300 students.
The city has a high concentration of research institutions, such as the
Fraunhofer SocietyThe Fraunhofer Society is a German research organization with 59 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science . It employs over 12,500, mainly scientists and engineers, with an annual research budget of about €1.2 billion...
,
Leibniz-GemeinschaftThe Leibniz-Gemeinschaft is a union of German research institutes from various branches of study....
and the
Max Planck SocietyThe Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften Eingetragener Verein is an independent non-profit association of German research institutes funded by the federal and state governments.The nearly 80 research institutes of the Max Planck Society conduct basic research in the interest...
, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. A total number of 62,000 scientists are working in
research and developmentThe phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
.
In addition to the libraries affiliated with the various universities, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. It has two main locations: one near
Potsdamer Platzis an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
on Potsdamer Straße and one on
Unter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways...
. There are 108 public libraries to be found in the city.
Berlin has 878 schools teaching 340,658 children in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere. The city has a six-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students progress to one of the four types of secondary schools for six further years:
HauptschuleA "Hauptschule" is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling. Any student who went to a German elementary school can go to a Hauptschule afterwards, whereas students who want to attend a Realschule or Gymnasium need to have good marks in order to do so...
,
RealschuleThe Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and Russian Empire .-Germany:In the German secondary school system, the Realschule is ranked between Hauptschule and Gymnasium...
,
GymnasiumA gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools...
, or Gesamtschule. Berlin has a unique bilingual school program embedded in the "Europaschule". At these schools children get taught the curriculum in German and a foreign language, starting in grammar school and later in secondary school. Throughout nearly all boroughs, a range of 9 major European languages in 29 schools can be chosen.
The
Französisches Gymnasium BerlinThe Französisches Gymnasium Berlin or Collège Français de Berlin is a long-existing francophone gymnasium in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1689 by Elector Frederick III for the children of the Huguenot families who settled in Brandenburg-Prussia by his invitation, being persecuted for their...
which was founded in 1689 for the benefit of
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
refugees, offers (German/French) instruction. The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school located in
ZehlendorfZehlendorf can refer to:*Zehlendorf, a district in Berlin, Germany*Zehlendorf near Oranienburg, a small village north of Berlin, part of Oranienburg....
, is particularly popular with children of Diplomats and the expat community. There are also four schools ("Humanistische Gymnasien") teaching
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
and Classical Greek, which are traditionally renowned for highest academic standards. Two of them are state schools (Steglitzer Gymnasium in
SteglitzSteglitz is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in the south-west of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The locality also includes the neighbourhood of Südende.-History:...
and Goethe-Gymnasium in
WilmersdorfWilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. In the north the Kurfürstendamm runs through the area.-History:...
), one is Protestant (Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Wilmersdorf) and one Jesuit (
Canisius-KollegThe Canisius-Kolleg is a coeducational, private and Catholic University-preparatory school in Berlin, Germany directed by the Jesuits. The school is named for Saint Petrus Canisius. It is known as one of Berlin's most prestigious schools.- Environment :...
in the "Embassy Quarter" in
TiergartenThe Berliner Tiergarten is the name of both a large park in the centre of Berlin and a locality within the borough of Mitte. Before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
).
Culture
Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation. The diversity and vivacity of the
Zeitgeist Metropolis led to an ever-changing and trendsetting image among major cities. The city has a very diverse art scene, and is home to around 420 art galleries. Young Germans and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as a center of youth and
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
in Europe.
Signs of this expanding role was the 2003 announcement that the annual Popkomm, Europe's largest music industry convention, would move to Berlin after 15 years in
CologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants...
. Shortly thereafter, the
Universal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
and
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
also decided to move their European headquarters and main studios to the banks of the River Spree in
FriedrichshainFriedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a freestanding city borough...
. In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title of "City of Design" by
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
.
Media
Berlin is the home of many television and radio stations; international, national as well as regional. The public broadcaster
RBBRundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg is an institution under public law for the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, situated in Berlin and Potsdam...
has its headquarters there as well as the commercial broadcasters
MTV EuropeMTV Europe is an pan-European cable television network launched on August 1, 1987. A 24-hour English-language network aimed at viewers aged around 16-35, it reaches more than 100 million households in 43 territories...
, VIVA, TVB,
FABFAB may mean:* FAB, the IATA airport code for Farnborough Airfield*Federated Array of Bricks, a low-cost distributed storage system that provides block-level storage and uses distributed data replication for fault tolerance...
,
N24N24 is a television news channel based in Germany. It is owned and operated by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. N24 provides regular news updates for some of the network’s channels such as kabel eins and ProSiebenSat.1 Welt in the U.S.-History:...
and
Sat.1Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station and started one day before RTL Television....
. German international public broadcaster
Deutsche WelleDeutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio in 29 languages . It has a satellite television service, , that is available in four languages, and there is also an online news site...
has its TV production unit in Berlin. Additionally, most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city. American radio programming from National Public Radio NPR is also broadcast on the FM dial.
Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local
broadsheetBroadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of matter, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
s (
Berliner MorgenpostBerliner Morgenpost is a German newspaper, based and mainly read in Berlin, where it is the second most read daily newspaper. Founded in 1898 by Leopold Ullstein, it was taken over by Axel Springer AG in 1959. The paper had a circulation of 145,556 issues in I/2009, with an estimated 322,000...
,
Berliner ZeitungThe Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
,
Der TagesspiegelDer Tagesspiegel is a classical liberal German daily newspaper...
), and three major
tabloidA tabloid is an industry term for a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge ; or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate or...
s, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as
Die WeltDie Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
,
Junge WeltJunge Welt is a Marxist German daily newspaper published in Berlin. It was first published on 12 February 1947 in the Soviet Sector of Berlin. Junge Welt became the official newspaper of the Central Council of the Free German Youth on 12 November 1947...
,
Neues DeutschlandNeues Deutschland is a national German daily newspaper. It was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , which governed the German Democratic Republic , and as such served as one of the party's most important organs...
, and
Die TageszeitungDie Tageszeitung , was founded in 1978 in Berlin. It is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper which is administrated by a workers' self-management...
. The
ExberlinerExberliner is an English-language magazine published in Berlin. It is published monthly and available for €2.50 at newsstands around the city or by subscription. The magazine offers cultural listings, reviews, journalistic articles, opinion columns and a large classified section which is also...
, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarters of two major German-language publishing houses:
Walter de GruyterWalter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG is a scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. For over 250 years Walter de Gruyter has published scholarly books in philosophy, theology, literature, natural science, semiotics, linguistics, and mathematics...
and
SpringerAxel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and western European countries: Germany, France,...
, each of which publishes books, periodicals, and multimedia products.
Berlin is an important center in the European and
German film industryCinema in Germany can be traced back to the very beginnings of the medium at the end of the 19th century. German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film.-Before 1918 - Cinema pioneers:...
. It is home to more than one thousand film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year. The venerable
Babelsberg StudiosThe Studio Babelsberg, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1911, it covers an area of about . Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel were filmed there.Today, Studio Babelsberg...
and the production company
UFAUniversum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
are located outside Berlin in
PotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, some 25 kilometres southwest of the centre of Berlin....
. The city is also home of the
European Film AcademyThe European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988.- European Film Academy :...
and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With over 430,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.
Nightlife, festivals
Berlin has one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe. Throughout the 1990s, twentysomethings from surrounding countries, particularly those in Eastern and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene the premier nightlife destination of Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many buildings in
MitteMitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin . Mitte encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin , most of which were in former East Berlin...
, the former city center of East Berlin, were renovated. Many had not been rebuilt since the Second World War. Illegally occupied by young people, they became a fertile ground for all sorts of underground and counter-culture gatherings. It is also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs
TresorTresor is an underground techno nightclub and record label - the club had techno music in the 1990s. The club was founded in March 1991 in the vaults of the former old Wertheim department store in Mitte, the central part of the former East Berlin, next to the famous Potsdamer Platz, however the...
, WMF, Ufo,
E-WerkThe E-Werk was a techno music club in Berlin, which was previously an electrical substation. Located near Checkpoint Charlie, it was for many years one of Berlin's most well known techno clubs. It closed on 24 July 1997....
, the infamous
KitkatclubFor the 18th century English club in London with strong political and literary associations see the Kit-Cat Club.The KitKatClub is a night club in Berlin, opened in March 1994 by Austrian pornographic film maker Simon Thaur and his life partner Kirsten Krüger.- Overview :The Kit Kat Club is said to...
and
BerghainBerghain is a Berlin nightclub, named after its location on the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Philip Sherburne has described it as "quite possibly the current world capital of techno, much as E-Werk or Tresor were in their respective heydays." -Overview:The club is located in a...
. The Linientreu, near the
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial ChurchThe Protestant Kaiser William Memorial Church is located in Berlin on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz. The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943...
, has been well known since the 1990s for techno music. The LaBelle discothèque in
FriedenauFriedenau is a locality within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany.- Etymology :The origin of the name Friedenau is German; coming from the word Frieden and the suffix -au, referring to floodplains...
became famous as the location of the
1986 Berlin discotheque bombingThe Berlin discotheque bombing of April 5, 1986 was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discotheque, West Berlin, Germany, that was frequented by U.S. soldiers. A bomb placed under a table near the DJ booth exploded at the club, killing a Turkish woman and two U.S. servicemen and injuring 230...
.
SO36 in Kreuzberg originally focused largely on punk music but today has become a popular venue for dances and parties of all kinds. SOUND, located from 1971 to 1988 in Tiergarten and today in Charlottenburg, gained notoriety in the late 1970s for its popularity with heroin users and other drug addicts as described in
Christiane F.Christiane F. is a former heroin addict famous for her contribution to the autobiographical book , and the film based on the book, which describes her struggle with various forms of drug addiction during her teens.-Early life:Christiane was born in Hamburg, but her family moved to West Berlin when...
's book
Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.
The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every
PentecostPentecost is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian liturgical year. The feast is also called Whitsun, Whitsunday, Whit Sunday, and Whitsuntide, especially in the United Kingdom. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks after Easter Sunday, hence its name...
weekend, and the
Christopher Street DayChristopher Street Day is an annual European LGBT celebration held in various cities across Europe. Only Germany and Switzerland use the term CSD, in other countries, the same kind of event is called Gay Pride or Pride Parade. Austria calls their Pride Parade Rainbow Parade...
, which is Central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event and is celebrated the last weekend of June, are openly supported by the city's government. Berlin is also well known for the techno carnival
Love ParadeThe Love Parade is a popular festival and parade that originated in 1989 in Berlin, Germany. It was held in Germany annually between 1989 and 2003, and then from 2006 to 2008...
,
club transmedialeThe annual CTM Festival festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "festival for adventurous music and related visual...
and the cultural festival
Berliner FestspieleThe Berliner Festspiele arts center brings together a variety of arts and culture events under one roof each year in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1951. Throughout the year, festivals, program series, and individual events enrich the cultural scene of the city...
, which include the jazz festival
JazzFest BerlinJazzFest Berlin is a jazz festival based in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" , it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele...
. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including
TransmedialeTransmediale is an annual festival for art and digital culture, held in Berlin, Germany. Originating as a video and film festival for contemporary art that started in 1988, transmediale has since 2008 been directed by Stephen Kovats...
and
Chaos Communication CongressThe Chaos Communication Congress is an annual meeting of the international hacker scene, organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues....
.
Museums, galleries
Berlin is home to 153 museums. The ensemble on the
Museum IslandMuseum Island in Berlin, Germany, is the name of the northern half of the Spreeinsel, an island in the Spree river in the centre of Berlin ....
is a UNESCO
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben. As early as 1841 it was designated a “district dedicated to art and antiquities” by a royal decree. Subsequently, the
Altes MuseumThe Altes Museum , is one of several internationally renowned museums on Berlin's Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the antique collection of the Berlin State Museums...
(Old Museum) in the Lustgarten displaying the bust of
Queen NefertitiNefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for changing Egypt's religion from a polytheistic religion to a henotheistic religion. They revered only one god, Aten, the sun disc...
, and the
Neues MuseumThe Neues Museum is a museum in Berlin, Germany, located north of the Altes Museum on Museum Island.It was built between 1843 and 1855 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The museum was closed at the beginning of World War II in 1939, and was...
(New Museum),
Alte NationalgalerieThe Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin is a gallery showing a collection of Classical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist artwork, all of which belong to the Berlin National Gallery Collection...
(Old National Gallery),
Pergamon MuseumThe Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930...
, and
Bode MuseumThe Bode Museum belongs to the group of museums on the Museum Island in Berlin and is a historically preserved building. The museum was designed by architect Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904...
were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of the collections they house. Opposite the Museum Island there is the
DDR MuseumThe DDR Museum is an interactive museum in the centre of Berlin. The museum is located in the former governmental district of East Germany, right on the river Spree, opposite the Berlin Cathedral....
about the life in the GDR.
Apart from the Museum Island, there is a wide variety of museums. The
GemäldegalerieThe Gemäldegalerie is an art museum in Berlin, Germany. It holds one of the world's leading collections of European art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. It is located on Kulturforum west of Potsdamer Platz. Its collection includes masterpieces from such artists as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas...
(Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, while the
Neue NationalgalerieNeue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for classical modern art in Berlin, with main focus on early the 20th century. It is part of the German National Gallery. The museum building and its sculpture gardens were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and opened in 1968. The collection...
(New National Gallery, built by
Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
) specializes in twentieth century European painting. The
Hamburger BahnhofHamburger Bahnhof is a former train station in Berlin, Germany on Invalidenstraße in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as the Museum für Gegenwart, a contemporary art museum.-Former use as a train station:...
, located in
MoabitMoabit is an inner city locality of Berlin. Since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it belongs to the newly regrouped governmental borough of Mitte. Previously, from 1920 to 2001, it belonged to the borough of Tiergarten. Moabit's borders are defined by three watercourses, the Spree, the...
, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded
Deutsches Historisches MuseumThe Deutsches Historisches Museum was founded in 1987 by the chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl and the mayor of Berlin, Eberhard Diepgen on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin...
re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The
Bauhaus-ArchiveThe Bauhaus Archive Museum of Design, in Berlin, collects items, documents and literature which relate to the Bauhaus School , one of the most influential schools of architecture, design, and art of the 20th century) and puts them on public display.- History :The Bauhaus Archive was founded in...
is an architecture museum.
The
Jewish MuseumThe Jewish Museum Berlin , in Berlin, Germany, covers two millennia of German Jewish history. It consists of two buildings. One is the old Kollegienhaus, a former courthouse, built in the 18th century. The other, a new addition specifically built for the museum, designed by world-renowned architect...
has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. The
German Museum of TechnologyDeutsches Technikmuseum Berlin was founded in 1982 in Berlin, Germany, and exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The museum's main emphasis is on rail transport, but it also features exhibits of various sorts of industrial technology. Recently, it has opened both maritime...
in
KreuzbergKreuzberg, since 2001 part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin. Kreuzberg is often described as consisting of two distinctive parts, the SO 36, home to many immigrants and radicals, and the more middle-class SW 61,...
has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde exhibits natural history near
Berlin Hauptbahnhof', or Berlin Central Station, is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany and the largest crossing station in Europe. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is now Europe's largest two-level railway station...
. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a
brachiosaurusBrachiosaurus , meaning "arm lizard", from the Greek brachion/βραχιων meaning "arm" and sauros/σαυρος meaning "lizard", was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic Period and possibly the Early Cretaceous Period. It was named thus because its forelimbs were longer than its...
), and a preserved specimen of the early bird
ArchaeopteryxArchaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is the earliest and most primitive bird known...
.
In
DahlemThis article refers to the neighborhood in Berlin. For other places with the same name, please see Dahlem .Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf...
, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Indian Art, the Museum of East Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War), the Brücke Museum (an art museum). In
LichtenbergLichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security
(StasiThe Ministry for State Security, The Ministry for State Security, The Ministry for State Security, (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, commonly known as the Stasi [ˈʃtazi] (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official secret police of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered in...
), is the Stasi Museum. The site of
Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie "Checkpoint C" was the name given by the Western Allies to the most well known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Germany and West Germany during the Cold War....
, one of the renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum. The museum, which is a private venture, exhibits a comprehensive array of material about people who devised ingenious plans to flee the East. The
Beate Uhse Erotic MuseumThe Beate Uhse Erotic Museum in Berlin, Germany, opened in 1996. The museum was opened by Beate Uhse, the early stunt pilot and entrepreneur, who started the world's first sex shop after World War II. It claims to be "the world's largest erotic museum"....
near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.
Performing arts
Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters. The
Deutsches TheaterThe Deutsches Theater in Berlin is a well-known German theatre. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street , the Deutsches Theater consists of two adjoining stages that share a common, classical facade...
in Mitte was built in 1849–50 and has operated continuously since then, except for a one-year break (1944–45) due to the Second World War. The
VolksbühneThe Volksbühne is a theater in Berlin, Germany. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in what was the GDR's capital....
on Rosa Luxemburg Platz was built in 1913–14, though the company had been founded already in 1890. The
Berliner EnsembleThe Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin...
, famous for performing the works of
Bertolt Brecht' was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner...
, was established in 1949, not far from the Deutsches Theater. The
SchaubühneThe Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located at almost the middle of the famous Kurfürstendamm. It is a conversion of the Kino Universum, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1926. This was perhaps the first Modernist cinema built in the world, as...
was founded in 1962 in a building in Kreuzberg, but moved in 1981 to the building of the former Universum Cinema on
KurfürstendammThe Kurfürstendamm, known locally as the Ku'damm, is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin — full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants...
.
Berlin has three major
opera houseAn opera house is a theater building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s: the
Deutsche OperThe Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in Berlin, Germany, in what was formerly West Berlin. The resident building, also called Deutsche Oper Berlin, also is home to the Staatsballett Berlin.-History:...
, the
Berlin State OperaStaatsoper Unter den Linden is a prominent German opera company. Its permanent home is the Opera House on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin.-Early years:...
, and the
Komische OperThe Komische Oper Berlin is an opera company in Berlin, Germany, which specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals....
. The Berlin State Opera on
Unter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways...
is the oldest; it opened in 1742. Its current musical director is
Daniel BarenboimDaniel Barenboim is an Argentinian-born pianist and conductor. He lives in Berlin and holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel, and Spain. He also holds a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority. Barenboim first came to prominence as a pianist but is now perhaps better known as a conductor...
. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in
operettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Operetta in French:...
s and is located at Unter den Linden as well. The Deutsche Oper opened in 1912 in Charlottenburg. During the division of the city from 1961 to 1989 it was the only major opera house in West Berlin.
There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The
Berlin Philharmonic OrchestraThe Berlin Philharmonic , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra...
is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world; it is housed in the
Berliner PhilharmonieThe Berliner Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the building enjoys the rare distinction of acclaim for both its acoustics and its architecture...
near
Potsdamer Platzis an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor,
Herbert von KarajanHerbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor and one of the most renowned conductors in music history. His obituary in The New York Times described him as "probably the world's best-known conductor and one of the most powerful figures in classical music." Karajan conducted...
. The current principal conductor is
Simon RattleSir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE, FRSA, is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin, since the Philharmonic was based in West Berlin. Its current principal conductor is
Lothar ZagrosekLothar Zagrosek is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in The Magic Flute at the 1954 Salzburg Festival....
. The
Haus der Kulturen der WeltThe Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European art and culture...
presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.
Recreation
Zoologischer Garten BerlinThe Berlin Zoological Garden is the oldest and internationally most well known zoo in Germany. Opened in 1844 it comprises an area of 35 hectares and is located in Berlin, Tiergarten. With almost 1,400 different species and around 14,000 animals the zoo presents the most comprehensive collection...
, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. It is the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear
KnutKnut is a polar bear who was born in captivity at the Zoologischer Garten Berlin. Rejected by his mother at birth, he was subsequently raised by zookeepers. He was the first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at the Berlin Zoo in more than thirty years...
, born in December 2006. Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 in the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of
LichtenbergLichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
, is Europe's largest zoo in terms of square meters.
Berlin's Botanischer GartenBotanical Garden in Berlin is considered one of the most important gardens in the world, with area of 43 hectares and around 22,000 different plant species.The garden is located in the Dahlem neighborhood of the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf...
includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world.
The
TiergartenThe Berliner Tiergarten is the name of both a large park in the centre of Berlin and a locality within the borough of Mitte. Before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
is Berlin's largest park located in
MitteMitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin . Mitte encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin , most of which were in former East Berlin...
and was designed by
Peter Joseph LennéPeter Joseph Lenné was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect from Bonn who worked in the German classicist style. His father was Jewish and his mother was Prussian.-Childhood and development:...
. In
KreuzbergKreuzberg, since 2001 part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin. Kreuzberg is often described as consisting of two distinctive parts, the SO 36, home to many immigrants and radicals, and the more middle-class SW 61,...
the
ViktoriaparkThe Viktoriapark is an urban park in the district of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany.It is situated on the northern slope of the Teltow moraine plateau overlooking the glacial valley with Berlin's city centre...
provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin.
Treptower ParkTreptower Park is a park along the river Spree in Treptow, in the district of Treptow-Köpenick, south of central Berlin. The park is a popular place for recreation of Berliners and a tourist attraction...
beside the Spree in
TreptowTreptow is a former borough in the southeast of Berlin. It merged with Köpenick to form Treptow-Köpenick in 2001.-Geography:The district was composed by the localities of Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald, Baumschulenweg, Niederschöneweide, Johannisthal, Adlershof, Altglienicke and Bohnsdorf....
has a
monumentThe Soviet War Memorial , is a vast war memorial and military cemetery in Berlin's Treptower Park. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky to commemorate 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in April-May 1945...
honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945
Battle of BerlinThe Battle of Berlin was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II and was designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union.
[The last offensive of the European war was the Prague Offensive on 6–11 May 1945, when the Red Army, with the help...]
. The Volkspark in
FriedrichshainFriedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a freestanding city borough...
, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city. Its summit is man-made and covers a Second World War bunker and rubble from the ruins of the city; at its foot is Germany's main
memorial to Polish soldiersThe Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists is a war memorial in Berlin, dedicated in 1972. Built by the German Democratic Republic during the division of Germany, it is today the principal German monument to the Polish soldiers who died in World War II, as well as an important...
.
Berlin is known for its numerous beach bars along the river Spree. Together with the countless cafés, restaurants and green spaces in all districts, they create an important source of recreation and leisure time.
Sports
Berlin has established a high profile reputation as a host city of international sporting events.
Berlin hosted the
1936 OlympicsThe 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
and was the host city for the
2006 FIFA World CupThe 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000...
Final. The
IAAF World Championships in AthleticsThe World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
were held in the
OlympiastadionThe Olympiastadion is a sports stadium in Berlin. There have been two stadia on the site: the present facility, and one that was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics...
in August 2009. The annual
Berlin MarathonThe Berlin Marathon is a major running and sporting event held annually in Berlin, Germany. The official marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers is set up as a city-wide road race where professional athletes and amateur sportsmen jointly participate...
and the annual ÅF Golden League event ISTAF for athletics are also held here. The WTA Tour holds the Qatar Total German Open annually in the city. Founded in 1896, it is one of the oldest tennis tournaments for women. The FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near
Alexanderplatz' is a large public square and transport hub in the Mitte district of Berlin, near the river Spree and the Berliner Dom. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the...
to present a
beach volleyballBeach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played on sand. Like other variations of volleyball, two teams, separated by a high net, try to score points against the other by grounding a ball on the other team's court...
Grand Slam every year.
Open Air gatherings of several hundred thousands spectators have become popular during international football competitions like the World Cup or the
UEFA European Football ChampionshipThe UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
. Fans of the respective national football squads are coming together to watch the match on huge videoscreens. The event is known as the
Fan Mile and takes place at the Brandenburg Gate every two years.
Several major clubs representing the most popular spectator sports in Germany have their base in Berlin.
| Club |
Sport |
Founded |
League |
Venue |
Head Coach |
| Hertha BSC |
Football |
1892 |
Bundesliga |
OlympiastadionThe Olympiastadion is a sports stadium in Berlin. There have been two stadia on the site: the present facility, and one that was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics...
|
Friedhelm FunkelFriedhelm Funkel is a German football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Bundesliga club Hertha BSC- Coaching career :...
|
| ALBA Berlin ALBA Berlin is a prominent German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club, sponsored by the Berlin-based recycling firm ALBA since 1991, is also known as the Berlin Albatrosse. The team plays its home games at the O2 World arena...
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BasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a 10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
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1991 |
BBL The Basketball Bundesliga —commonly abbreviated BBL— is the highest level league of club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season is split into a league stage and a playoff stage...
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O2 WorldO 2 World is a multi-use indoor arena in Berlin, Germany that opened in September 2008. Developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, it was named O 2 World when Telefonica O 2 Germany purchased the naming rights....
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Luka Pavicevic |
Eisbären BerlinEisbären Berlin are a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. They compete in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey and are also one of the league's founding members. They won the DEL championship four times in 2005, 2006, 2008 and...
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Ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
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1954 |
DEL |
O2 WorldO 2 World is a multi-use indoor arena in Berlin, Germany that opened in September 2008. Developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, it was named O 2 World when Telefonica O 2 Germany purchased the naming rights....
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Don Jackson |
| Füchse Berlin Füchse Berlin is a team handball club from Berlin, Germany. Currently, they compete in the German First League of Handball at Max-Schmeling-Halle. They have not won any championships....
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HandballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass and bounce a ball to throw it into the goal of the opposing team...
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1891 |
Bundesliga The Handball-Bundesliga is the top German professional handball league. The league has been sponsored by Toyota since 2007 and therefore the league is called the Toyota Handball-Bundesliga...
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Max-Schmeling-Halle Max-Schmeling-Halle is a multi-functional arena in Berlin,Germany, named after the famous German boxer Max Schmeling. Apart from the Velodrom, it's one of Berlin's biggest sport places and holds from 8,861 people, up to 10,050 people...
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Dagur Sigurdsson |
| SCC Berlin |
Volleyball Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules...
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1911 |
DVB |
Sporthalle Charlottenburg |
Andrej Urnaut |
Transportation
Berlin has developed a highly complex transportation infrastructure providing very diverse modes of urban mobility. 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, of roads run through Berlin, of which are motorways. In 2006, 1.416 million motor vehicles, were registered in the city. With 358 cars per 1000 inhabitants in 2008 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a German state and as a major European city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.
Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
. The
Berlin Hauptbahnhof', or Berlin Central Station, is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany and the largest crossing station in Europe. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is now Europe's largest two-level railway station...
is the largest crossing station in Europe.
Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
runs trains to regional destinations like
NurembergNuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 kilometres north of Munich, at 49.27° N 11.5° E. The population is...
,
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
,
FreiburgFreiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Located in the extreme south-west of the country, Freiburg straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the...
and more. It also runs the Airport express, as well as trains to international destinations like
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
,
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
, and
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
.
Berlin is known for its highly developed bike lane system. 710 bicycles per 1000 inhabitants are estimated. Around 500,000 daily riders accounting for 13% of total traffic in 2008. The Senate of Berlin aims to increase the number to 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Riders have access to 620 km of bike paths including approx. 150 km mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km off-road bicycle routes, 60 km of bike lanes on the roads, 70 km of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, 100 km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks. The and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.
| System |
Stations/ Lines/ Net length |
Passengers per year |
Operator/ Notes |
S-BahnThe Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn. The Berlin S-Bahn consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
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166 / 15 / 331 km |
376 million |
DB Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
/ Mainly overground rail system. Some suburban stops. |
U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of the capital. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across nine lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
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173 / 10 / 147 km |
457 million |
BVGThe is the main public transport company of Berlin. It manages the Berlin U-Bahn, the Berlin Strassenbahn, and the Berlin bus network, as well as several ferry lines...
/ Mainly underground rail system. 24hour-service on weekends. |
TramThe Berlin Straßenbahn is one of the oldest tram networks in the world and continues, to this day, to be one of the largest. It is operated by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe which was founded in 1929...
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398 / 22 / 192 km |
171 million |
BVGThe is the main public transport company of Berlin. It manages the Berlin U-Bahn, the Berlin Strassenbahn, and the Berlin bus network, as well as several ferry lines...
/ Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs. |
BusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
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2627 / 147 / 1,626 km |
407 million |
BVGThe is the main public transport company of Berlin. It manages the Berlin U-Bahn, the Berlin Strassenbahn, and the Berlin bus network, as well as several ferry lines...
/ Extensive services in all boroughs. 46 Night Lines |
FerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
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6 lines |
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BVGThe is the main public transport company of Berlin. It manages the Berlin U-Bahn, the Berlin Strassenbahn, and the Berlin bus network, as well as several ferry lines...
/ All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket. |
Berlin has two commercial airports. Tegel International Airport (TXL), the busier, and Schönefeld International Airport (SXF) handled more than 21 million passengers in 2008. Together they serve 155 destinations in 48 countries (summer 2009). Tegel lies within the city limits, whereas Schönefeld handles mainly low-cost-aviation and is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg.
Berlin's airport authority aims to transfer all of Berlin's air traffic in November 2011 to a newly built airport at Schönefeld, to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. City authorities aim to establish a European aviation hub with a gateway to Asia.
Utilities
Berlin's power supply is mainly provided by the Swedish firm
VattenfallVattenfall is a Swedish power company and one of the leading energy producers in Northern Europe. The name Vattenfall is Swedish for waterfall, and is an abbreviation of its original name, Royal Waterfall Board...
and relies more heavily than other electricity producers in Germany on
ligniteLignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal; it is mined in Russia, the United States, Australia and many European countries,...
as an energy source. Because burning lignite produces harmful emissions, Vattenfall has announced a commitment to shift towards reliance on cleaner,
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
sources. Former West Berlin's electricity supply was provided by thermal power stations. To facilitate buffering during load peaks,
accumulatorsAn accumulator is an apparatus by means of which energy can be stored, such as a rechargeable battery or a hydraulic accumulator. Such devices may be electrical, fluidic or mechanical and are sometimes used to convert a small continuous power source into a short surge of energy or vice versa...
were installed during the 1980s at some of these power stations. These were connected by static inverters to the power grid and were loaded during times of low power consumption and unloaded during times of high consumption.
In 1993 the power connections to the surrounding areas, which had been capped in 1951, were restored. In the western districts of Berlin, nearly all power lines are underground cables; only a 380 kV and a 110 kV line, which run from Reuter substation to the urban
AutobahnAutobahn is the German word for a major high-speed road restricted to motor vehicles capable of driving at least 60 km/h and having full control of access, similar to a motorway or freeway in English-speaking countries.In most countries, it usually refers to the German autobahn specifically...
, use overhead lines. The
Berlin 380-kV electric lineThe Berlin 380-kV electric line is a 38.3-km double-circuit high-voltage electric three-phase power line in Berlin. An unusual system for a municipality, it was installed by the West Berlin Bewag utility company during the division of the city...
was constructed when West Berlin's electrical system was a totally independent system and not connected to those of East or West Germany. This has now become the backbone of the whole city's power system.
Carmaker Daimler AG and utility RWE AG are going to begin a joint electric car and
charging stationA charging station, also called electric recharging point, charging point and juice point is a point that supplies electricity for the recharging of electric vehicles and filling of compressed air vehicles....
test project in Berlin called "E-Mobility Berlin."
Health system
Berlin has a long tradition as a city of medicine and medical technology. The history of medicine has been widely influenced by scientists from Berlin.
Rudolf VirchowRudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow was a German doctor, anthropologist, public health activist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician...
was the founder of cellular pathology, while
Robert KochHeinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Tuberculosis bacillus and the Vibrio cholera and for his development of Koch's postulates....
, discovered the anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis bacillus.
The
CharitéThe Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
hospital complex is today the largest
university hospitalA university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university...
in Europe tracing back its origins to the year 1710. The Charité is spread over four sites and comprises 3,300 beds, around 14,000 staff, 8,000 students, over 60 operating theatres with an annual turnover of over one billion euros.
It is a joint institution of the
Free University of BerlinThe Free University of Berlin is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on humanities and social sciences and on health and natural sciences...
and the
Humboldt University of BerlinThe Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
, including a wide range of institutes and medical competence centers. Among them are the German Heart Center, one of the most renowned transplantation centers, the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics. Scientific research is complemented by many industry research departments of companies such as Siemens, Schering or debis.
Quotations
- "Berlin ist arm, aber sexy." ("Berlin is poor, but sexy.")
(Klaus WowereitKlaus Wowereit is a German politician, member of the SPD , and has been the Mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, where he won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections...
, Governing Mayor, in a press interview, 2003)
- "Berlin wird leben und die Mauer wird fallen." ("Berlin will live and the wall will fall.")
(Willy BrandtWilly Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, Former Governing Mayor of West Berlin and chancellor of Germany, 10 November 1989)
- “The greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine..”
(David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, singer, on 1970s Berlin)
- "Ich bin ein Berliner
||-||-||}"Ich bin ein Berliner" is a quotation from a June 26, 1963 speech by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin...
." ("I am a citizen of Berlin")
(John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, President of the United States, 1963 while visiting Berlin)
- "Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" ("I still have a suitcase in Berlin")
(Marlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-born American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself. In 1920s Berlin, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, 1951 song by the actress and singer born in Berlin-Schöneberg.)
- "“Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein” ("Berlin is a city condemned to be eternally becoming, never to be.")
(Karl Scheffler, author of Berlin: Ein Stadtschicksal, 1910)
External links