Berlin

 

 

.

Content

Berlin, Paintings, Drawings

Akademie der Künste
Berlin Guide
Berlin Guide
Top 10 Berlin
Berlin Map
Berlin State Opera
Books
American Forces in Berlin: Cold War Outpost, 1945-1994, Robert P. Grathwol, Donita M. Moorhus
Baden in und um Berlin: Die 100 schönsten Badestellen, Kristine Jaath
Berlin 1937: die Ruhe vor dem Sturm, Gianluca Falanga
Berlin Divided City, 1945-1989, Philip Broadbent, Sabine Hake
Berlin In Your Pocket, Jeroen van Marle, Christina Knight, Catherine Lejtenyi
Berlin: die alte neue Metropole : Architektur und Kunst, Geschichte und Literatur, Ingrid Nowel
Cabaret Berlin: Revue, Kabarett and film music between the wars, Lori Münz
Die Zwanziger Jahre in Berlin: ein Wegweiser durch die Stadt, Michael Bienert, Elke Linda Buchholz
Frommer's Berlin Day by Day, Kerry Walker
Napoleon in Berlin: Preussens Hauptstadt unter französischer Besatzung 1806-1808, Frank Bauer
The Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Claude Keisch
The Berlin Candy Bomber, Gail S. Halvorsen
The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 - 9 November 1989, Frederick Taylor
Voluptuous panic: the erotic world of Weimar Berlin, Mel Gordon

Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden 2
Botanical Garden 3
Botanical Garden 4

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor )

Bundeskanzleramt

Church

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 2
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 3

Fernsehturm Berlin
Fernsehturm Berlin 2

Museum

Bode Museum
Bode Museum 2
Deutsches Historisches Museum

Museum für Naturkunde

Naturkundemuseum 2
Naturkundemuseum 3
Naturkundemuseum 4

Pergamonmuseum
Antikensammlung
Actor, Papposilenus
Attic Krater
Caracalla
Drusus maior
Gordian III
Stele Sk 1708
Stele with colour
Stele with colour 2
Wounded Amazon
Greek Roman Architechture
Altar of Athena Polias
Altar of Athena Polias 2
Market Gate of Miletus 2
Mosaic Palace V
Mosaic Palace V 2
Mosaic Palace V 3
Mosaic Palace V 4
Mosaic Palace V 5
Temple of Asklepios
Temple of Zeus Sosipolis
Trajaneum Pergamon
Middle East Museum
Babylon Lions
Babylon Lions 2
Ishtar Gate
Bull, Ishtar Gate
Dragon, Ishtar Gate
Ishtar Gate 2
Ishtar Gate 3
Ishtar Gate 4
King Kilanuwa
Lion Hunt
Persian Warriors
Persian Warriors 2
Warrior
Pergamon Altar

Reichstag
Reichstag 2
Reichstag 3
Reichstag 4
Reichstag 5

Sculptures, Statues
Abguss-Sammlung antiker Plastik
Archaic Greek Art
Archaic Greek Art 2
Archaic Greek Art 3
Giant Kouros
Cycladic Art
Cycladic Art 2
Greek Art
Aphrodite of Knidos
Athena Parthenos
Kritios Boy
Hellenistic Art
Diana of Versailles
Hellenistic Art 2
Hellenistic Art 3
Hellenistic Art 4
Hellenistic Art 5
Hercules Farnese
Hercules Farnese 2
Roman Art
Augustus
Esquiline Venus
Esquiline Venus 2
Esquiline Venus 3
Roman Art 2
Bode Museum Sculptures
Bode Museum Sculptures 2
Bode Museum Sculptures 3
Brandenburg gate Quadriga
Quadriga 2
Brandenburg Gate Reliefs
Reliefs 10
Reliefs 11
Reliefs 2
Reliefs 3
Reliefs 4
Reliefs 5
Reliefs 6
Reliefs 7
Reliefs 8
Reliefs 9

Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia 2
Reichstag Sculptures
Reichstag Sculptures 2
Reichstag Sculptures 3
Reichstag Sculptures 4
Reichstag Sculptures 5
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Spree River
Birds
Trabi
Transport
Main Train Station
Main Train Station 2
Zeus Altar, Pergamon

Old Postcards

Old Postcards 10
Old Postcards 11
Old Postcards 12
Old Postcards 13
Old Postcards 14
Old Postcards 15
Old Postcards 16
Old Postcards 17
Old Postcards 18
Old Postcards 19
Old Postcards 2
Old Postcards 20
Old Postcards 21
Old Postcards 22
Old Postcards 23
Old Postcards 24
Old Postcards 25
Old Postcards 26
Old Postcards 27
Old Postcards 28
Old Postcards 29
Old Postcards 3
Old Postcards 30
Old Postcards 31
Old Postcards 32
Old Postcards 4
Old Postcards 5
Old Postcards 6
Old Postcards 7
Old Postcards 8
Old Postcards 9

History

Berliners watching a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport, 1948

Berlin

Berlin (play /bɜrˈlɪn/; German pronunciation: [bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ( listen)) is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.5 million people,[1] Berlin is Germany's largest city and is the second most populous city proper and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union.[4] Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 4.4 million residents from over 190 nations.[5] Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.[6]

First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945).[7] Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world.[8] After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—the capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989).[9] Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.[10][11]

Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science.[12][13][14] Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, and convention venues. Berlin also serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport,[15][16] and is a popular tourist destination.[17] Significant industries include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, electronics, traffic engineering, and renewable energy.

Berlin is home to renowned universities, research institutes, orchestras, museums, and celebrities, as well as host of many sporting events.[18] Its urban settings and historical legacy have made it a popular location for international film productions.[19] The city is well known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, public transportation networks and a high quality of living.[20]

History
Main article: History of Berlin

The origin of the name Berlin is unknown, but it may have its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[21] Folk etymology connects it to the German Bär, a bear, and a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city.
Map of Berlin in 1688

The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin is a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192.[22] The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920.[23] The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244.[22] The former is considered to be the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties and eventually merged in 1307 and came to be known as Berlin.

In 1435, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440.[24] His successor, Frederick II Irontooth, 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 Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1448, citizens rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the construction of a new royal palace by 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 Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.[25]
17th to 19th centuries
Frederick the Great (1712–1786) was one of Europe's enlightened monarchs.

The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population.[26] Frederick William, 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 Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots. More than 15,000 Huguenots went to Brandenburg, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1700, approximately 20 percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence on the city was immense.[citation needed] Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.
Berlin became the capital of the German Empire in 1871 and expanded rapidly in the following years. (Unter den Linden in 1900)

With the coronation of Frederick I in 1701 as king (in Königsberg), Berlin became the new capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (instead of Königsberg); this was a successful attempt to centralize the capital in the very outspread Prussian Kingdom, and it was the first time the city began to grow.[citation needed] In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment.[citation needed] Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, 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 Brandenburg.

The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany.[citation needed] Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including Wedding, Moabit, and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. On 1 April 1881 it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.
20th century
Berlin in ruins after World War II (Potsdamer Platz, 1945).

At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. This new area encompassed Spandau and Charlottenburg in the west, as well as several other areas that are now major municipalities. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin became internationally renowned as a center of cultural transformation, at the heart of the Roaring Twenties.

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 170,000 before 1933.[citation needed] After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943–45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Among the hundreds of thousands who died during the Battle for Berlin, an estimated 125,000 were civilians.[27] After the end of the war in Europe 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 zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.[28]
The Berlin Wall in 1986, painted on the western side. People crossing the so-called "death strip" on the eastern side were at risk of being shot.

All four Allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949.[29] In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but as a corpus separatum it politically was very closely aligned with Federal Republic of Germany despite Berlin's geographic location within East Germany. West Berlin issued its own postage stamps, which were often the same as West German postage stamps but with the additional word "Berlin" added. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory and East Germany proclaimed East Berlin (described as "Berlin") as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the western powers. Although only half the size and population of West Berlin, East Berlin included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government, meanwhile, established itself provisionally in Bonn.[30]

As a result of the political and economical tensions brought on by the Cold War, on 13 August 1961, East Germany began building of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and similar barriers around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany.
Berlin Mitte in the 21st century. Some landmarks from top left to bottom right: Hauptbahnhof (main station), Charité hospital, Berliner Dom, City hall, TV tower at Alexanderplatz, Spree river, East Side Gallery, O2 World.

Berlin was completely divided. Although 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 agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.[31]

In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989 and was subsequently mostly demolished, with little of its physical structure remaining today; the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall.[citation needed]

On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital. In June 1991, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the seat of the (West) German capital back from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999.
Geography
Natural and built environment.

Berlin is located in eastern Germany, approximately 60 km (37 mi) west of the Polish border, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography, for it is part of the vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berlin–Warsaw Urstromtal (ice age glacial valley), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow Plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree empties into the river Havel, 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 Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.[32]
View over central Berlin. Unter den Linden in foreground and skyscrapers of Potsdamer Platz up to the right.

Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau.

The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge in the city's outskirts, and in the centre the Kreuzberg. While the latter measures 66 m (217 ft) above sea level, the former have both an elevation of about 115 m (377 ft). The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.
Climate
The outskirts of Berlin are covered with woodlands and numerous lakes

Berlin has a humid continental climate according to the Köppen climate classification system.

Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are relatively cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of -2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.[33]

Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through March, but snow cover does not usually remain for long. The recent winter of 2009/2010 was an exception as there was a permanent snow cover from late December till early March.[34]

Climate data for Berlin
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	15.0 (59.0)	17.0 (62.6)	23.0 (73.4)	27.0 (80.6)	33.0 (91.4)	36.0 (96.8)	38.8 (101.8)	35.0 (95.0)	32.0 (89.6)	25.0 (77.0)	18.0 (64.4)	15.0 (59.0)	38.8 (101.8)
Average high °C (°F)	2.9 (37.2)	4.2 (39.6)	8.5 (47.3)	13.2 (55.8)	18.9 (66.0)	21.8 (71.2)	24.0 (75.2)	23.6 (74.5)	18.8 (65.8)	13.4 (56.1)	7.1 (44.8)	4.4 (39.9)	13.4 (56.1)
Daily mean °C (°F)	0.5 (32.9)	1.3 (34.3)	4.9 (40.8)	8.7 (47.7)	14.0 (57.2)	17.0 (62.6)	19.0 (66.2)	18.9 (66.0)	14.7 (58.5)	9.9 (49.8)	4.7 (40.5)	2.0 (35.6)	9.6 (49.3)
Average low °C (°F)	−1.5 (29.3)	−1.6 (29.1)	1.3 (34.3)	4.2 (39.6)	9.0 (48.2)	12.3 (54.1)	14.7 (58.5)	14.1 (57.4)	10.6 (51.1)	6.4 (43.5)	2.2 (36.0)	−0.4 (31.3)	5.9 (42.6)
Record low °C (°F)	−25 (−13.0)	−16 (3.2)	−13 (8.6)	−4 (24.8)	−1 (30.2)	4.0 (39.2)	7.0 (44.6)	7.0 (44.6)	0.0 (32.0)	−7 (19.4)	−9 (15.8)	−17 (1.4)	−21 (−5.8)
Rainfall mm (inches)	42 (1.65)	33 (1.3)	41 (1.61)	37 (1.46)	54 (2.13)	69 (2.72)	56 (2.2)	58 (2.28)	45 (1.77)	37 (1.46)	44 (1.73)	55 (2.17)	571 (22.48)
Avg. rainy days	10.0	8.0	9.1	7.8	8.9	9.8	8.4	7.9	7.8	7.6	9.6	11.4	106.3
Sunshine hours	46.5	73.5	120.9	159.0	220.1	222.0	217.0	210.8	156.0	111.6	51.0	37.2	1,625.6
Source no. 1: World Meteorological Organization (UN)[35]
Source no. 2: HKO[36]

Cityscape
Berlin along the Spree river and the Fernsehturm by night

Berlin's history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings. The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin—the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany—initiated ambitious (re-) construction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II, and many of the buildings that had remained after the war were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East Berlin. Much of this demolition was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.

The eastern parts of Berlin have many Plattenbauten, reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas that had fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools to the number of inhabitants.
Architecture
The Neue Nationalgalerie by Mies van der Rohe

The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 meters (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204 m (669 ft) high observation floor. Starting here the Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Joseph Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons, personifications of the four main Prussian rivers and Neptune on top of it.
The Brandenburg Gate.

The East Side Gallery 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 Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German euro coins (10 cent, 20 cent, and 50 cent). The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect Norman Foster 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.
Potsdamer Platz at night.

The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin whose name dates back to the quarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Französischer Dom with its observation platform and the Deutscher Dom. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.

The Museum Island in the River Spree houses five museums build from 1830 to 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Restoration and the construction of a main entrance to all museums, as well as the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss on the same island[37] is costing over 2 billion Euros since reunification.[38] Also located on the island and adjacent to the Lustgarten and palace is Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II's ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. The church is now owned by the Protestant umbrella Union of Evangelical Churches (UEK). Like many other buildings, it suffered extensive damage during the Second World War and had to be restored. Berlin's best preserved medieval Church of St. Mary's is the 1st preaching venue – Memorial Church being the 2nd – of the Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO), a Protestant regional church body. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is the 2nd preaching venue of the Bishop of the Regional Protestant Church (EKBO).

Unter den Linden is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Roaring Twenties. It combines 20th century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down.[39] To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.[40]

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. Although the New Synagogue is still an anchor for Jewish history and culture, Oranienburger straße and surrounding areas are increasingly known for the shopping and nightlife.
Schloss Charlottenburg is the largest existing palace in Berlin.

The Straße des 17. Juni, 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 Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.

West of the center, Schloss Bellevue 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 Berlin is a 150 m (490 ft) 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 55 m (180 ft) and an observation deck 126 m (413 ft) above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
Politics
The Reichstag is the seat of the German parliament.

Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has his official residence in Schloss Bellevue.[41] Berlin is the seat of the German executive, housed in the Chancellery, the Bundeskanzleramt.

Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government moved back to Berlin in 1998. The Bundesrat ("federal council", performing the function of an upper house) is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords. Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions to move the remaining branches continue.[42]
City state
Mayor since 2001, Klaus Wowereit

The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive 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 Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.[43] After the 2011 state election, there is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party with the Christian Democratic Union.

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 Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2001 this office has been held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD.[44]

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.[45] 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.[46] 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.[47] In 2011, the very high level of public sector debt prompted the Stabilitätsrat von Bund und Ländern (Council for Fiscal Stability of the Federal and Local States) to declare a possible fiscal emergency for the city.[48]

Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city states, together with Hamburg and Bremen, among the present 16 states of Germany.
Boroughs
Main article: Boroughs and localities of Berlin
Map of Berlin's twelve boroughs and their localities.

Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke), down from 23 boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which often have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and became urbanized and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities or boroughs. At present Berlin consists of 95 localities, which are commonly made up of several city neighborhoods—called Kiez 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, however. 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 local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher, were taken over by the borough mayors.
Sister cities

Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.[49] Town twinning 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 Pact and its allies.

There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Belgrade, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, and Vienna. 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. Berlin's official sister cities are:[49]

1967 United States Los Angeles, United States
1987 France Paris, France
1988 Spain Madrid, Spain
1989 Turkey Istanbul, Turkey
1991 Poland Warsaw, Poland[50]
1991 Russia Moscow, Russia

1991 Hungary Budapest, Hungary
1992 Belgium Brussels, Belgium
1993 Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
1993 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan
1993 Mexico Mexico City, Mexico
1994 China Beijing, China

1994 Japan Tokyo, Japan
1994 Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina
1995 Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic
2000 Namibia Windhoek, Namibia
2000 United Kingdom London, United Kingdom

Economy
The economy of Berlin is dominated by the service sector. The ICC is part of the city's exhibition and congress center.
Main article: Economy of Berlin

In 2009, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% (−3.5% in Germany) and totaled €90.1 (~$117) billion.[51] Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate reached a 15-year low in September 2011 and stood at 12.7% (German average: 6.6%).[52]

Fast-growing economic sectors in Berlin include communications, life sciences, and transportation,[citation needed] particularly services that use information and communication technologies, as well as media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, and medical engineering.[53][not in citation given]

The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have high economic significance for the city, and the Berlin–Brandenburg region ranks among the top-three innovative regions in the EU.[54]
2007 EUROSTAT[55] Area Population Nominal GDP in billion Nominal GDP per capita
Berlin 892 km2 344 sq mi 3,420,000 € 85 / ~$110 € 24,900 / ~$32,370
Germany 357,050 km2 137,858 sq mi 82,000,000 € 2,482 / ~$3,227 € 29,500 / ~$38,350
EU27 4,325,675 km2 1,670,152 sq mi 498,000,000 € 12,363 / ~$16,072 € 24,900 / ~$32,370
Companies
Air Berlin is headquartered in Berlin.

Siemens, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the 30 German DAX companies, is headquartered in Berlin. The state-owned railway, Deutsche Bahn, has its headquarters in Berlin as well.[56] Many German and international companies have business or service centres in the city.

Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider, Charité, the local public transport provider, BVG, and the service provider, Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group. Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Health Care and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is also headquartered in Berlin.[57]
Tourism

Berlin has 746 hotels with 112,400 beds as of the end of 2010. The city recorded 20.8 million overnight hotel stays and 9.1 million hotel guests in the same year.[17] Berlin has a yearly total of about 135 million day visitors, which puts it in third place among the most-visited city destinations in the European Union.[citation needed]

Berlin is among the top three convention cities in the world and is home to Europe's biggest convention center, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC).[15] Several large-scale trade fairs like the IFA, Grüne Woche ("Green Week"), InnoTrans, Artforum and the ITB are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries

Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6 billion Euro in total revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20% of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005.[58] The German headquarter of Universal Music is based in Berlin.
Infrastructure
Transport
Main article: Transport in Berlin
Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated rail station in Europe and has operated since 2006.

Berlin's transportation infrastructure is highly complex, providing a diverse range of urban mobility.[59] A total of 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of inner-city waterways, 5,334 kilometers (3,314 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 73 kilometers (45 mi) are motorways ("Autobahn").[54] In 2006, 1.416 million motor vehicles were registered in the city.[60] With 358 cars per 1000 residents 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.[61]

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 Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated rail station in Europe.[62] Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and others. It also runs an airport express rail service, as well as trains to international destinations like Moscow, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Malmö.

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.[63]
Berlin Transportation System
System Stations/ Lines/ Net length Passengers per year Operator/ Notes
S-Bahn 166 / 15 / 331 km (206 mi) 376 million DB/ Mainly overground rail system. Some suburban stops.
U-Bahn 173 / 10 / 147 km (91 mi) 457 million BVG/ Mainly underground rail system. 24hour-service on weekends.
Tram 398 / 22 / 192 km (119 mi) 171 million BVG/ Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs.
Bus 2627 / 147 / 1,626 km (1,010 mi) 407 million BVG/ Extensive services in all boroughs. 46 Night Lines
Ferry 6 lines BVG/ All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket.[64]

Airports

Tegel International Airport (left) and the Berlin Brandenburg Airport under construction (right)

Berlin has two commercial airports. Tegel Airport (TXL), which lies within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport (SXF), which is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 22.3 million passengers in 2010. In 2011, 88 airlines serve 164 destinations in 54 countries from Berlin.[65] Tegel Airport is the European hub of Air Berlin, whereas Schönefeld services mainly low-cost airline travel.

Berlin's airport authority plans to transfer all of Berlin's air traffic in June 2012 to a newly built airport at Schönefeld, to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).[66] City authorities want to establish a European aviation hub with a gateway to Asia.

Cycling

Main article: Cycling in Berlin

Berlin is well known for its highly developed bike (cycle) lane system.[67] It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2009.[68] Riders have access to 620 km (390 mi) of bike paths including approx. 150 km (93 mi) mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km (120 mi) off-road bicycle routes, 60 km (37 mi) of bike lanes on the roads, 70 km (43 mi) of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, 100 km (62 mi) of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km (31 mi) of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks.[69]
Energy
Heizkraftwerk Mitte

Berlin's energy is mainly supplied by the Swedish firm Vattenfall, which relies more heavily than other electricity producers on lignite as an energy source. Because burning lignite produces harmful emissions, Vattenfall has announced its commitment to transitioning to cleaner sources, such as renewable energy.[70] In the former West Berlin, electricity was supplied chiefly by thermal power stations. To facilitate buffering during load peaks, accumulators 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 energy consumption and unloaded during periods of high consumption.

In 1993 the power grid connections to the surrounding areas, which had been cut 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 Autobahn, use overhead lines. The Berlin 380-kV electric line was built when West Berlin's electrical grid was not connected to those of East or West Germany. This has now become the backbone of the city's energy grid.

Car maker Daimler AG and the electric utility, RWE AG, are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in Berlin called "E-Mobility Berlin."[71]
Health
The main entrance to the Charité medical campus.

Berlin has a rich history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology.[72] The modern history of medicine has been significantly influenced by scientists from Berlin. Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, while Robert Koch developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis.[73]

The Charité hospital complex is the largest university hospital 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, and more than 60 operating theatres, and has a turnover of over one billion euros annually.[74] It is a joint institution of the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University of Berlin, including a wide range of institutes and specialized medical 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. The scientific research at these institutions is complemented by many research departments of companies such as Siemens, Schering and Debis.
Demographics
See also: Berlin population statistics, Turks in Berlin, Arabs in Berlin, and Vietnamese community of Berlin
Berlin's population 1880–2007.

As of March 2010, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,440,441 registered inhabitants[1] in an area of 891.82 square kilometers (344.33 sq mi).[64] The city's population density was 3,848 inhabitants per km² (9,966/sq mi). The urban area 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 5,370 km2 (2,070 sq mi). In 2004, The Larger Urban Zone was home to over 4.9 million people in an area of 17,385 km².[5]

National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act 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 km2 (25 sq mi) to 883 km2 (341 sq mi) and the population from 1.9 million to 4 million.
Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, Berlin is home to about 250,000 Turks (especially in Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Wedding, a locality in the borough of Mitte),[75] making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.

In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community.[76] The current decade experiences an increasing influx from various Western countries. Especially young EU-Europeans are settling in the city. Additionally, Berlin has seen a rise of African immigrants during the last two decades.[77]

In December 2010, 457,806 residents (13.5% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from 190 different countries.[78] The largest groups of foreign nationals are those from Turkey (104,556), Poland (40,988), Serbia (19,230), Italy (15,842), Russia (15,332), France (13,262), Vietnam (13,199), the United States (12,733), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10,198), the United Kingdom (10,191), Croatia (10,104), and Israel (estimated 10,000[79]).[78] An estimated 394,000 citizens (12.2%) are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany.[80] All in all, about 25%–30% of the population is of foreign origin[81]

As of 2010, there were approx. 900,000 (approx. 27%) persons with a migrant background resident in Berlin. However, there are significant differences in the distribution of minorities. For Instance, in the West-Berlin areas of Wedding, Neukölln and Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, foreign nationals and German nationals with a migrant background make up nearly 70% of the population, whereas areas and localities in former East Berlin have much lower percentages. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Middle Easterners (e.g. Turks, Arabs etc.), Eastern Europeans and smaller numbers of East Asians, Sub-Saharan Africans and other European immigrants form the largest groups.[82][83] Approximately 70,000 Afro-Germans live in Berlin.[84] Furthermore, there are more than 25 non-indigenous communities&nationalities which have a population of at least 10,000 people such as Turkish, Polish, Russian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Serbian, Italian, Bosnian, Vietnamese, US-American, Romanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Austrian, Ghanaian, Ukrainian, French, British, Spanish, Israeli, Thai, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian etc. [85]
Percentage of people with migrant background[86]
Germans without migrant background ~73 % (2,500,000)
Germans with migrant background (including non-German nationals) ~27 % (900,000)
Muslim/Middle Eastern origin (Turkey, Arab League, Iran etc.) ~9 % (300,000)
Non-German European origin (Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Greece, Serbia, Spain, France etc.) ~9 % (300,000)
Others (East Asians, Afro-Germans, Americans, Israelis, Sub-Saharan Africans, Latin Americans etc.) ~9 % (300,000)

This list is based on official statistics and not on ethnicity; hence, there might be a lower percentage of Germans without a migrant background/ethnic Germans. The percentage of children and teenagers who have a migrant background is 50%.[87] In Neukölln it is nearly 80%.[88]

Additionally, Berlin has up to 100,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants mostly from Africa, Asia, the Balkan region and Latin America.[89] Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union, there has been an influx of Romani people. Local social welfare offices are attempting to integrate them and other migrants with German-language and job-skill courses.[90]

The most common foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, English, Serbian, Croatian, Greek and other Asian languages. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbian and Croatian can be heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle-Eastern and ex-Yugoslavian immigrant communities, whereas Vietnamese, Russian and Polish have more native speakers residing in the eastern part of Berlin.[91]

Most significant foreign countries of birth(numbers rounded)[92][93]
Ancestry Number Percentage
Turkey 210,000 6%
Poland 100,000 3%
Russia 50,000 1,5%
Palestine 35,000 1%
Lebanon 25,000 0,8%
Serbia 25,000 0,8%
Vietnam 22,000 0,7%
Italy 22,000 0,7%
USA 20,000 0,6%

Religion
Berliner Dom, held by a congregation and the Protestant umbrella UEK.

More than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation and Berlin has been described as the atheist capital of Europe.[94] The largest denominations are the Protestant regional church body of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) (a church of united administration comprising mostly Lutheran, and few Reformed and United Protestant congregations; EKBO is a member of the umbrellas Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Union Evangelischer Kirchen (UEK)) with 19.4% of the population as of 2008, and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.4% of registered members.[95][96][97] About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations and 8.9% are Muslims. Approximately 80% of the 12,000 Jews now residing in Berlin[98] have come from the former Soviet Union.[99]
The Neue Synagoge on Oranienburger St.

Berlin is seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Berlin and also EKBO's elected chairperson is titled bishop of EKBO. Furthermore Berlin is seat of Orthodox cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of St. Boris the Baptist, one of the two seats of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe, and the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Berlin (Patriarchate of Moscow).

The faithful of the different religions and denominations maintain many places of worship in Berlin. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.[100] There are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church and an Anglican church in Berlin.

Berlin has 76 mosques, eleven synagogues, and two Buddhist temples. There are also a number of humanist and atheist groups in the city.
Education
Main article: Education in Berlin
Statue of Alexander von Humboldt outside the Humboldt University

Berlin has 878 schools that teach 340,658 children in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere.[54] The city has a six-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students progress to the Sekundarschule (a comprehensive school) or Gymnasium (college preparatory school). Berlin has a special bilingual school program embedded in the "Europaschule". At participating schools, children are taught the curriculum in German and also in a foreign language, starting in primary school and continuing in high school. Throughout nearly all boroughs, nine major European languages can be chosen as foreign languages in 29 schools.[101]

The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, which was founded in 1689 to teach the children of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction.[102] The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school located in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of diplomats and the English-speaking expatriate community. In addition, four schools ("Humanistische Gymnasien") teach Latin and Classical Greek, and are renowned for highest academic standards.[citation needed] Two of them are state schools (Steglitzer Gymnasium in Steglitz and Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf), one is Protestant (Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Wilmersdorf), and one is Jesuit (Canisius-Kolleg in the "Embassy Quarter" in Tiergarten).
Higher education
Main article: Universities, colleges, and research institutions in Berlin
Solar filling station at the science and technology park in Adlershof.

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 27 private, professional and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines.[103] 135,327 students were registered at the 31 universities and colleges in 2008/09.[104] The three largest universities combined have approximately 100,000 enrolled students. They are the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with 35,000 students, the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin) with ca. 35,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin with 30,000 students. The Universität der Künste has about 4,300 students and the Berlin School of Economics and Law has enrollment of about 9,000 students.

The city has a high density of research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. A total number of 62,000 scientists are working in research and development.[54] The city is one of the centers of knowledge and innovation communities (Future Information and Communication Society and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).[105]

In addition to libraries that are affiliated with the various universities, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are near Potsdamer Platz on Potsdamer Straße and on Unter den Linden. There are also 108 public libraries in the city.[54]
The arts and culture
Main articles: Culture in Berlin and 1920s Berlin
The Museum Island is a World Heritage Site.

Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation.[18][106] The diversity and vivacity of the Zeitgeist Metropolis led to a trendsetting image among major cities.[107] The city has a very diverse art scene and is home to around 420 art galleries.[108]
The artistically painted Buddy Bear is a popular figure seen around downtown Berlin (here in front of Charlottenburg city hall)

Many young people and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as a center of youth and popular culture in Europe.[109]

The expanding cultural role of Berlin is underscored by the 2003 announcement that the Popkomm, Europe's largest annual music industry convention—previously hosted for 15 years by Cologne—would move to Berlin.[110] Shortly thereafter, the Universal Music Group and MTV also decided to move their European headquarters and main studios to the banks of the River Spree in Friedrichshain.[111] In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title of "City of Design" by UNESCO.[16]
Media
See also: List of films set in Berlin
Headquarters of the Axel Springer AG

Berlin is home to many international and regional television and radio stations.[112] The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, and N24. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city. American radio programming from National Public Radio is also broadcast on the FM dial.
The Berlinale is the largest publicly attended film festival worldwide.

Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Junge Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarter of the two major German-language publishing houses Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publishing books, periodicals, and multimedia products.

Berlin is an important center in the European and German film industry.[113] It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year.[54] The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the 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.[114]
Nightlife and festivals
Berghain

Berlin's nightlife is one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind in Europe.[115] Throughout the 1990s, people in their twenties from many 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 historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground and counterculture gatherings. Mitte and surrounding boroughs are also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs Tresor, WMF, Ufo, E-Werk, KitKatClub and Berghain. The techno-music club, Linientreu, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, has been in business since the late 1980s. The LaBelle discothèque in Friedenau became widely known as the location of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.[116] Berlin is notable for the length of its parties. Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time on the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning, or all weekend. Berghain features the Panorama Bar, so named because the bar opens its shades at daybreak, allowing party-goers a panorama view of Berlin after dancing through the night.
Beach along the Spree river

The SO36 in Kreuzberg originally focused largely on punk music, but today has become a popular venue for many dances and parties. 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.'s book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.[117]

The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every Pentecost weekend,[118] and the Christopher Street Day are both supported by the city's government.[119] Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival, Berliner Festspiele, which include the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress.
Gay life

Berlin has a long history of gay culture and influence on popular entertainment, and according to some authors, in the 1920s the city was the Gay Capital of Europe.[120] Today, the city has a huge number of gay clubs and festivals, such as Easter fetish week (Easter in Berlin), Christopher Street Day (Berlin Pride)—central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event celebrated on the last weekend of June—Folsom Europe and Hustlaball. Berlin is also leading Europe in the number of fetish clubs. "Easter in Berlin" and "Folsom Europe Berlin" are the biggest gay fetish festivals in Europe.[citation needed] Annual gay highlights in Berlin are also the gay and lesbian street festival in Berlin-Schöneberg (Lesbisch-schwules Stadtfest) and Kreuzberg Pride in June. The largest gay areas in Berlin are located in Schöneberg close to Nollendorfplatz and in Prenzlauer Berg at the Schönhauser Allee subway station.[121][122]
Galleries and museums
See also: List of museums and galleries in Berlin
The Jewish Museum presents an exhibition on two millennia of German–Jewish history.

Berlin is home to 153 museums.[54] The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben.[18] As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the Altes Museum (Old Museum) in the Lustgarten displaying the bust of Queen Nefertiti,[123] the Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of their collections.

Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, located in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Bauhaus Archive is an architecture museum.
The reconstructed Ishtar Gate of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum.

The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history.[124] The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a brachiosaurus), and a preserved specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.[125]

In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War) and the Brücke Museum (an art museum). In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi), is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum, a private venture which exhibits comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East. The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.[126]
Performing arts
See also: Music in Berlin
Sir Simon Rattle conducting the renowned Berlin Philharmonic.

Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters.[54] The Deutsches Theater 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 Volksbühne at Rosa Luxemburg Platz was built in 1913–14, though the company had been founded in 1890. The Berliner Ensemble, famous for performing the works of Bertolt Brecht, was established in 1949, not far from the Deutsches Theater. The Schaubühne was founded in 1962 in a building in Kreuzberg, but in 1981 moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurfürstendamm.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Berlin has three major opera houses: the Deutsche Oper, the Berlin State Opera, and the Komische Oper. The Berlin State Opera on Unter den Linden opened in 1742 and is the oldest of the three. Its current musical director is Daniel Barenboim. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in operettas 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. The city's main venue for musical theatre performances is the Theater des Westens (built 1895).

There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world;[127] it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan.[128] The current principal conductor is Simon Rattle.[129] 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 Zagrosek. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.[130]
Cuisine
The currywurst was invented in Berlin

Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Twelve restaurants in Berlin have been included into the Michelin guide, which ranks the city at the top for the number of its restaurants having this distinction in Germany.[131]

Many local foods originated from north-German culinary traditions and include rustic and hearty dishes with pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers or potatoes.

Typical Berliner fares include Currywurst, invented in 1949,[132] Eisbein, the Berliner known in Berlin though as a Pfannkuchen, and Leber Berliner Art (Berlin-style liver).[133]

Turkish and Arab immigrant workers brought their culinary traditions to the city; for example, the döner kebab, falafel and lahmacun, which have become common fast-food staples. The modern fast-food version of the döner was invented in Berlin in 1971.[134]
Recreation
The Zoologischer Garten Berlin is the most visited zoo in Europe and presents the most diverse range of species in the world.

Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world.[135] It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut,[136] born in December 2006.[137] The city's other zoo is Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 on the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of Lichtenberg.

Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of 43 hectares (110 acres) and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world.[citation needed] Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, site of the 1985 Bundesgartenschau, and the Erholungspark Marzahn, promoted under the name Gardens of the world.[138]

The Tiergarten is Berlin's largest park located in Mitte and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné.[139] In Kreuzberg the Viktoriapark provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin. Treptower Park beside the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, 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 soldiers.

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.[140]
Sports
The Olympiastadion hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup final.
The annual Berlin Marathon is known as a flat and fast course.

Berlin has established a high-profile reputation as a host city of international sporting events.[141] Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.[142] The IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in the Olympiastadion in August 2009.[143] The annual Berlin Marathon and the annual ÅF Golden League event ISTAF for athletics are also held here.[144] The FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near Alexanderplatz to present a beach volleyball 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 Championship. Many fans and viewers are coming together to watch the matches on huge video screens. The event is known as the Fan Mile and takes place at the Brandenburg Gate every two years.[145]

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[146] Football 1892 Bundesliga Olympiastadion O. Rehhagel
1. FC Union Berlin[147] Football 1966 2. Bundesliga Alte Försterei U. Neuhaus
ALBA Berlin[148] Basketball 1991 BBL O2 World Gordon Herbert
Eisbären Berlin[149] Ice hockey 1954 DEL O2 World D. Jackson
Füchse Berlin[150] Handball 1891 HBL Max-Schmeling-Halle D. Sigurdsson
Berlin Recycling Volleys[151] Volleyball 1911 DVL[152] Max-Schmeling-Halle Mark Lebedew
Quotations
See also: List of quotes featuring Berlin
Marlene Dietrich was born in Berlin-Schöneberg

"Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein" ("Berlin is a city condemned always to become, never to be.")
(Karl Scheffler, author of Berlin: Ein Stadtschicksal, 1910)[153]
"Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" ("I still have a suitcase in Berlin")
(Marlene Dietrich, 1951 song by the actress and singer born in Berlin-Schöneberg.)[154]
"Ich bin ein Berliner". ("I am a citizen of Berlin")
(John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, 1963 while visiting Berlin)
"The greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine."
(David Bowie, singer, on 1970s Berlin)[155]
"Berlin wird leben und die Mauer wird fallen." ("Berlin will live and the wall will fall.")
(Willy Brandt, Former Governing Mayor of West Berlin and chancellor of Germany, 10 November 1989)[156]
"Berlin ist arm, aber sexy." ("Berlin is poor, but sexy.")
(Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor, in a press interview, 2003)[157]

See also
Portal icon Berlin portal
Portal icon Germany portal

Administrative divisions of Berlin
Berolina, personification of the city
Berlinerisch dialect
Culture in Berlin
United Buddy Bears
List of sights in Berlin

Notes

^ a b c "Bevölkerungsstand in Berlin am 31. Oktober 2011 nach Bezirken" (in German). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
^ Prefixes for vehicle registration were introduced in 1906, but often changed due to the political changes after 1945. Vehicles were registered under the following prefixes: "I A" (1906– April 1945; devalidated on 11 August 1945); no prefix, only digits (since July till August 1945), "БГ" (=BG; 1945–1946, for cars, lorries and busses), "ГФ" (=GF; 1945–1946, for cars, lorries and busses), "БM" (=BM; 1945–1947, for motor bikes), "ГM" (=GM; 1945–1947, for motor bikes), "KB" (i.e.: Kommandatura of Berlin; for all of Berlin 1947–1948, continued for West Berlin until 1956), "GB" (i.e.: Greater Berlin, for East Berlin 1948–1953), "I" (for East Berlin, 1953–1990), "B" (for West Berlin as of 1 July 1956, continued for all of Berlin since 1990).
^ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt (nominal) in BERLIN seit 1995" (in German). 30 March 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
^ INSEE. "Population des villes et unités urbaines de plus de 1 million d'habitants de l'Union européenne" (in French). Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ a b "City Profiles Berlin". Urban Audit. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
^ Gren Berlin. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
^ "Documents of German Unification, 1848–1871". Modern History Sourcebook. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Topographies of Class: Modern Architecture and Mass Society in Weimar Berlin (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany).". /www.h-net.org. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
^ "Berlin Wall". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Berlin – Capital of Germany". German Embassy in Washington. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Diplomatic Berlin". Deutschland Online. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
^ Davies, Catriona (10 April 2010). "Revealed: Cities that rule the world – and those on the rise". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ Sifton, Sam (31 December 1969). "Berlin, the big canvas". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2008. See also: "Sites and situations of leading cities in cultural globalisations/Media". GaWC Research Bulletin 146. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Global Power City Index 2009". Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation (Tokyo, Japan). 22 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
^ a b "ICCA publishes top 20 country and city rankings 2007". ICCA. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ a b "Berlin City of Design Press Release". UNESCO. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ a b "Berlin-Tourismus 2010 mit neuem Rekord" (in German). Amt für Statistik. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
^ a b c "World Heritage Site Museumsinsel". UNESCO. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Hollywood Helps Revive Berlin's Former Movie Glory". Deutsche Welle. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Flint, Sunshine (12 December 2004). "The Club Scene, on the Edge". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2008. See also: "Ranking of best cities in the world". City mayors. Retrieved 18 August 2008. and "The Monocle Quality Of Life Survey" (PDF). www.denmark.dk. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Berger, Dieter (1999). Geographische Namen in Deutschland. Bibliographisches Institut. ISBN 3411062525.
^ a b "Berlin dig finds city older than thought". Associated Press.
^ "Spandau Citadel". Berlin tourist board. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "The Hohenzollern Dynasty". Antipas. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Berlin Cathedral". SMPProtein. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Brandenburg during the 30 Years War". WHKMLA. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Clodfelter, Michael (2002), Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000 (2nd ed.), McFarland & Company, ISBN 0786412046
^ "Agreement to divide Berlin". FDR-Library. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Berlin Airlift / Blockade". Western Allies Berlin. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Berlin official website; History after 1945". City of Berlin. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
^ "Ostpolitik: The Quadripartite Agreement of September 3, 1971". US Berlin Embassy. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Satellite Image Berlin". Google Maps. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ weather.com
^ "Climate figures". World Weather Information Service. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Weather Information for Berlin". May 2011.
^ "Climatological Normals of Berlin". Hong Kong Observatory. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
^ Neumann: Stadtschloss wird teurer, Berliner Zeitung 24 June 2011
^ Das Pathos der Berliner Republik, Berliner Zeitung, 19 May 2010
^ "Construction and redevelopment since 1990". Senate Department of Urban Development. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Ouroussoff, Nicolai (9 May 2005). "A Forest of Pillars, Recalling the Unimaginable". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Bundespräsident Horst Köhler, www.bundespraesident.de. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Der Regierungsumzug ist überfällig, Berliner Zeitung, 26 October 2010
^ "Berlin state election, 2006" (in German). Der Landeswahlleiter für Berlin. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ "The Glamor Guy". Time Europe. 8 May 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2008. See also: Landler, Mark (23 September 2006). "Berlin Mayor, Symbol of Openness, Has National Appeal". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ Berlin schafft erstes Etatplus seit dem Krieg(German), SpiegelOnline. Retrieved February, 2008.
^ Fahrun, Joachim (10 June 2008). "Sarrazin: Keine neuen Schulden mehr ab 2008". Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ "Debt-Laden Berlin Goes to Court For Federal Aid". Deutsche Welle. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
^ "Vier Bundesländern drohen griechische Verhältnisse" (in German). Spiegel. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
^ a b "Berlin's international city relations". Berlin Mayor's Office. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
^ "Miasta partnerskie Warszawy". um.warszawa.pl. Biuro Promocji Miasta. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
^ "Exporteinbruch stürzt deutsche Wirtschaft in die Krise" (in German). Reuters. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Arbeitslosigkeit sinkt auf niedrigsten Stand seit 20 Jahren" (in German). Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
^ "Poor but sexy". The Economist. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ a b c d e f g h "Berlin fact sheet" (PDF). berlin.de. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU 27" (PDF). Eurostat. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ "DB Schenker to concentrate control functions in Frankfurt am Main". Retrieved 6 June 2011.
^ "Air Berlin: Contact." Retrieved on 12 May 2009.
^ Creative Industries in Berlin berlin.de Retrieved on 1 April 2011.
^ "Broke but dynamic, Berlin seeks new identity". IHT. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Kraftfahrzeuge und Schienenbestand". Destatis. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Die Hauptstadt des umweltfreundlichen Verkehrs" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
^ "Berlin Hauptbahnhof". Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
^ Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, Die kleine Berlin-Statistik. (German) Accessed 6 January 2009.
^ a b "Berlin statistical figures" (in German). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Airport BBI: Einzigartige, historische Chance für Berlin und Brandenburg". airportzentrale.de. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
^ "Airport Berlin Brandenburg International". Airports Berlin. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
^ "Bike City Berlin". Treehugger. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Platz da! – für die Radfahrer". ND. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
^ "Bicycle Routes and Facilities Bicycle Paths". Senate Department of urban development. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
^ Reimer, Nick (30 May 2006). "Abgase tiefer gelegt" (in German). taz. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "CNN.com Video". CNN.
^ Kühne, Anja; Warnecke, Tilmann (17 October 2007). "Berlin leuchtet" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "History of the Charité of Berlin". Charité. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Customer company profile". Ansell Healthcare. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Spooner, Andrew (13 May 2007). "Berlin: Shish And Sauerkraut To Go". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 24 May 2010.
^ Berlin is speaking Russians' language. The Russia Journal. 10 March 2001.
^ "Berlin wird farbiger. Die Afrikaner kommen – Nachrichten WELT am SONNTAG – WELT ONLINE" (in (German)). Die Welt. 28 October 2001. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
^ a b "Foreign residents of Berlin" (in German) (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
^ Israelis Learn to Love the New Berlin. SpiegelOnline. 5 February 2011.
^ "Statistik Berlin/Brandbenburg". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
^ "Jeder vierte Berliner ist ausländischer Herkunft" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ http://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/Publikationen/Stat_Berichte/2011/SB_A1-5_hj02-10_BE.pdf
^ "Migration - Jeder vierte Berliner hat ausländische Wurzeln - Berlin Aktuell - Berliner Morgenpost - Berlin". Morgenpost.de. 2011-03-30. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ Yonis Ayeh. "ISD Online • Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland". Isdonline.de. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ http://www.statistik-be rlin-brandenburg.de/statis/login.do?guest=guest&db=EWRBEE
^ http://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/pms/2011/11-02-04.pdf
^ "Schlagworte der Integrationsdebatte". Berlin.de. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ "deine inform@tion zone: Mach dich stark für starke Kinder". wob4u.de. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ Von Andrea Dernbach (2009-02-23). "Migration: Berlin will illegalen Einwanderern helfen - Deutschland - Politik - Tagesspiegel". Tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ "Die Roma von Berlin-Neukölln - Nachrichten welt_print - Politik - WELT ONLINE" (in (German)). Welt.de. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
^ "Studie – Zwei Millionen Berliner sprechen mindestens zwei Sprachen – Wirtschaft – Berliner Morgenpost – Berlin". Morgenpost.de. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
^ http://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/Publikationen/Stat_Berichte/2012/SB_A01-05-00_2011h02_BE.pdf
^ http://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/statis/login.do?guest=guest&db=EWRBEE
^ Connolly, Kate (26 April 2009). "Atheist Berlin to decide on religion's place in its schools". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 10 May 2010.
^ Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland, Table 1.3: Bevölkerung und Kirchenzugehörigkeit nach Bundesländern. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
^ Evangelical Church in Germany, Kirchenmitglieder 2007. Tabelle 2: Evangelische Kirchenmitglieder und Bevölkerung nach Bundesländern am 31 December 2007 and also Tabelle 3: Evangelische Kirchenmitglieder, Katholiken und Bevölkerung nach Bundesländern am 31 December 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
^ Die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz – German Catholic Church, Population and Catholics by Bundesstaat. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
^ de:Jüdisches Leben in Berlin
^ Germany: Berlin Facing Challenge Of Assimilating Russian-Speaking Jews. Radio Free Europe. 17 September 2007.
^ "Lutheran Diocese Berlin-Brandenburg". Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Jahrgangsstufe Null" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 19 August 2008.[not in citation given]
^ "Geschichte des Französischen Gymnasiums" (in German). Französisches Gymnasium Lycée Français Berlin. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ "Metropolis of Sciences". Berlin Partner GmbH. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Wirtschaftsstandort Berlin" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
^ "European Institute of Innovation and Technology: Home". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 8 June 2010.
^ "World Heritage Site Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin". UNESCO. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Hub Culture's 2009 Zeitgeist Ranking". Hub Culture. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
^ "Sprung in die Wolken" (in German). Zitty. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ Boston, Nicholas (10 September 2006). "A New Williamsburg! Berlin's Expats Go Bezirk". The New York Observer. Retrieved 17 August 2008. See also: "Die Kunstszene" (in German). Deutschland Online. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008. and "Culture of Berlin". Metropolis. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Saucy Berlin transforms itself into a 'music city'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Berlin's music business booms". Expatica. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Media Companies in Berlin and Potsdam". medienboard. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
^ "Wall-to-wall culture". The Age (Australia). 10 November 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
^ European Film Academy, www.europeanfilmacademy.org, Accessed 19 December 2006. See also: Berlin Film Festival, www.berlinale.de. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Wasacz, Walter (11 October 2004). "Losing your mind in Berlin". Metro Times. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
^ Compensating Victims of the La Belle Attack, German Embassy, Washington D.C.. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
^ Christiane F.-Page, christianef. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
^ ENGLISH SUMMARY, www.karneval-berlin.de,. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
^ Berlin for Gays and Lesbians, Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
^ Krauss, Kenneth (2004). The drama of fallen France: reading la comédie sans tickets. Albany: State University of New York. p. 11. ISBN 0-7914-5953-5.
^ "Berlin Lesbian and Gay Festival 2011 – Berlin Gay Pride 2011". 25 July 2008.
^ "THE GAY CAPITAL OF EUROPE BERLIN". 25 September 2010.
^ A 3,000-year-old smile, Expatica.Com. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
^ "Exhibitions". Jewish Museum Berlin. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
^ The World of Dinosaurs, Museum für Naturkunde. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
^ In Berlin, the Art of Sex, Washington Post. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
^ Is Rattle's Berlin honeymoon over?, The Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Wakin, Daniel J. (25 September 2005). "Music: Berlin". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ Berlin Philharmonic elects Sir Simon Rattle, Culturekiosque. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Haus der Kulturen der Welt, www.hkw.de. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Berlin Minimalist Glamor Retrieved
^ Paterson, Tony (15 August 2009). "Spicy sausage that is worthy of a shrine in Berlin". The Independent (London).
^ "Berlin Style Liver – Gebratene Kalbsleber auf Berliner Art, Germanic". Germancorner.com. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
^ Berlin German Foods
^ "Hauptstadt-Zoo beliebtester Tierpark". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ Moore, Tristana (23 March 2007). "Baby bear becomes media star". BBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ Boyes, Roger (13 December 2007). "Berlin Zoo culls creator of the cult of Knut". The Times (UK). Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ "Grün Berlin [Green Berlin]" (in German). Die Grün Berlin GmbH. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^ Peter Joseph Lenné, Senate Department of Urban Development. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
^ 36 Hours in Berlin, NYT, Accessed 29 May 2007.
^ "Melbourne retains ultimate sports city title". ABC News. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Berlin 1936 Games of the XI Olympiad, www.olympic.org, Accessed 18 November 2006. See also: "Italy conquer the world as Germany wins friends".
^ 12. IAAF Leichtathletik WM berlin 2009, www.berlin2009.org. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Berlin Marathon, www.scc-events.com. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ 500,000 spectators to watch the game together, SABAH Newspaper. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Hertha BSC, www.herthabsc.de/. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Union Berlin, www.fc-union-berlin.de/. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
^ ALBA Berlin, www.albaberlin.de. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Eisbären Berlin. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ Füchse Berlin, www.fuechse-berlin.de. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ SCC Berlin, www.scc-berlin.de. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
^ [1] Retrieved 21 May 2010
^ Scheffler, Karl. Berlin: Ein Stadtschicksal. Fannei & Walz. ISBN 3927574023.
^ "Citysongs". The New Colonist. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "David Bowie's golden years in Berlin". Expatica. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ Tomforde, Anna; Farr, Michael (11 November 1999). "Kohl: We are one nation". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 18 August 2008.
^ "Arm, aber sexy" (in German). Focus. Retrieved 18 August 2008.

References

Chandler, Tertius (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census. Edwin Mellen Pr. ISBN 0889462070.
Gill, Anton (1993). A Dance Between Flames: Berlin Between the Wars. John Murray. ISBN 0719549868.
Gross, Leonard (1999). The Last Jews in Berlin. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0786706872.
Large, David Clay (2001). Berlin. Basic Books. ISBN 046502632X.
Read, Anthony; David Fisher (1994). Berlin Rising: Biography of a City. W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393036065.
Ribbe, Wolfgang (2002). Geschichte Berlins. Bwv – Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. ISBN 3830501668.
Roth, Joseph (2004). What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920–33. Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-636-7.
Taylor, Frederick (2007). The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 0060786140.

From Wikipedia, All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Berlin

Germany

Hellenica World - Scientific Library

Index