Berlin
Berlin | |
---|---|
Capital city and state | |
From top: view over the historic city center (Nicholas' Quarter with St. Nicholas' Church), Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin Victory Column, "Berlin" Sculpture on Tauentzienstraße, Potsdam Square, Gendarmenmarkt | |
Location within Germany | |
Coordinates: 52°31′12″N 13°24′18″E / 52.52000°N 13.40500°ECoordinates: 52°31′12″N 13°24′18″E / 52.52000°N 13.40500°E | |
Country | ![]() |
State | Berlin |
Government | |
• Body | Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin |
• Governing Mayor | Michael Müller (SPD) |
Area | |
• City/State | 891.1 km2 (344.1 sq mi) |
Elevation | 34 m (112 ft) |
Population (2019-12-31)[2] | |
• City/State | 3,769,495 |
• Metro | 6,144,600 |
Demonyms | Berliner(s) (English) Berliner (m), Berlinerin (f) (German) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
Area code(s) | 030 |
Geocode | NUTS Region: DE3 |
ISO 3166 code | DE-BE |
Vehicle registration | B [note 1] |
GDP (nominal) | €147 billion (2018)[4] |
GDP per capita | €40,600 (2018) |
GeoTLD | .berlin |
Website | www |
Berlin (/bɜːrˈlɪn/; German: [bɛʁˈliːn] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population.[5][6] Its 3,769,495 (2019)[2] inhabitants make it the most populous city proper of the European Union.[7] The city is one of Germany's 16 federal states. It is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, and contiguous with Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital. The two cities are at the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region, which is, with about six million inhabitants and an area of more than 30,000 km²,[8] Germany's third-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions.
Berlin straddles the banks of the River Spree, which flows into the River Havel (a tributary of the River Elbe) in the western borough of Spandau. Among the city's main topographical features are the many lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs formed by the Spree, Havel, and Dahme rivers (the largest of which is Lake Müggelsee). Due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers, canals and lakes.[9] The city lies in the Central German dialect area, the Berlin dialect being a variant of the Lusatian-New Marchian dialects.
First documented in the 13th century and situated at the crossing of two important historic trade routes,[10] Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and the Third Reich (1933–1945).[11] Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world.[12] After World War II and its subsequent occupation by the victorious countries, the city was divided; West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989) and East German territory.[13] East Berlin was declared capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany.
Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media and science.[14][15][16][17] Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations and convention venues.[18][19] Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination.[20] Significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics.
Berlin is home to world-renowned universities such as the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin), the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin), the Universität der Künste (University of the Arts, UdK) and the Berlin School of Economics and Law. The city has numerous orchestras, museums, and entertainment venues, and is host to many sporting events.[21] Its Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe and one of the most popular worldwide. With the world's oldest large-scale movie studio complex, Berlin is an increasingly popular location for international film productions.[22] The city is well known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts and a very high quality of living.[23] Since the 2000s Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene.[24]
History[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Berlin lies in northeastern Germany, east of the River Elbe, that once constituted, together with the River (Saxon or Thuringian) Saale (from their confluence at Barby onwards), the eastern border of the Frankish Realm. While the Frankish Realm was primarily inhabited by Germanic tribes like the Franks and the Saxons, the regions east of the border rivers were inhabited by Slavic tribes. This is why most of the cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic-derived names (Germania Slavica). Typical Germanised place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in, prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch. The name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[25] Since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär (bear), a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm.
Of Berlin's twelve boroughs, five bear a (partly) Slavic-derived name: Pankow (the most populous), Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Spandau (named Spandow until 1878). Of its ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a (partly) Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke, Alt-Treptow, Britz, Buch, Buckow, Gatow, Karow, Kladow, Köpenick, Lankwitz, Lübars, Malchow, Marzahn, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Rudow, Schmöckwitz, Spandau, Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow, Steglitz, Tegel and Zehlendorf. The neighborhood of Moabit bears a French-derived name, and Französisch Buchholz is named after the Huguenots.
12th to 16th centuries[edit]
The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated to 1174, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte,[26] and a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192.[27] 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.[28] 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.[27] 1237 is considered the founding date of the city.[29] The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod.[10] In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated.[30][31]
In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440.[32] During the 15th century, his successors established Berlin-Cölln as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of the town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille").[33][34] This protest was not successful and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. After the royal palace was finished in 1451, it gradually came into use. From 1470, with the new elector Albrecht III Achilles, Berlin-Cölln became the new royal residence.[31] Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power.[35] Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.[36]
17th to 19th centuries[edit]
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.[37] 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.[38]With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots.[39]
By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of the Huguenot immigration.[40] Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.[41]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Berlin_Unter_den_Linden_Victoria_Hotel_um_1900.jpg/220px-Berlin_Unter_den_Linden_Victoria_Hotel_um_1900.jpg)
Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia. In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia, as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia. Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom,[42] replacing Königsberg. This was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin".[30]
In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power.[43] Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment, but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army.[44] 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.[45] In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.[46]
The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic centre of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighbouring suburbs including Wedding, Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin.[47] In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire.[48] In 1881, it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.[49]
20th to 21st centuries[edit]
In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement.[50] In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased the area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km2 (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties, but also became a renowned centre of the Roaring Twenties. The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts, the humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in the country) to about 80,000 as a result of emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Starting in early 1943, many were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz.[51] Berlin is the most heavily bombed city in history.[citation needed] During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943-1945 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed.[52] After the end of the war in Europe in May 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.[53]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Berlinermauer.jpg/220px-Berlinermauer.jpg)
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 June 1948 to May 1949.[54] 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 it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British and French airlines.
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg/220px-West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg)
The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic centre. The West German government established itself in Bonn.[55] In 1961, East Germany began to build the Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie. 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. John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in 1963, underlining the US support for the Western part of the city. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.[56]
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin again became a reunified city. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first “all Berlin” mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.[57] On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin[58] (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move the seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several districts. The number of boroughs was reduced from 23 to 12.
In 2002, the German parliament voted to allow the reconstruction of the Berlin Palace, which started in 2013 and will be finished in 2019. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin.
In a 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL, a truck was deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured.[59]
Geography[edit]
Topography[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/16-07-04-Abflug-Berlin-DSC_0122.jpg/220px-16-07-04-Abflug-Berlin-DSC_0122.jpg)
Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography, part of the vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an 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, a borough in the west of Berlin, 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 the Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.[60]
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 of 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. Since 2015, the highest elevation in Berlin is found on the Arkenberge hills in Pankow, at 122 metres (400 feet). Through the dumping of construction debris, they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), a hill made of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War.[61] The highest natural elevation is found on the Müggelberge at 114.7 metres (376 feet), and the lowest at the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 metres (92 feet).[62]
Climate[edit]
Berlin has an oceanic climate – (Köppen: Cfb),[63] the eastern part of the city has a slight continental influence (Dfb), especially in the 0 °C isotherm, one of the changes being the annual rainfall according to the air masses and the greater abundance during a period of the year.[64][65] This type of climate features moderate summer temperatures but sometimes hot (for being semicontinental) and cold winters but not rigorous most of the time.[66][65]
Due to its transitional climate zones, frosts are common in winter and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates. Furthermore, Berlin is classified as a temperate continental climate (Dc) under the Trewartha climate scheme, as well as the suburbs of New York City, although the Köppen system puts them in different types.[67] By classification of Wincenty Okołowicz has a warm-temperate climate in the center of continental Europe with the "fusion" of different features (although being influenced mainly by western standards, which best describes[clarification needed] at macro-regional levels[68]).
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 cool 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 and pavement. Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.[69] Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March.[70] The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and the coldest was January 1709, with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (11.1 °F).[71] The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimetres (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimetre (0.039 in) of rainfall.[72]
Climate data for Berlin (Schönefeld), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1957–present | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 15.1 (59.2) |
18.0 (64.4) |
25.8 (78.4) |
30.8 (87.4) |
32.7 (90.9) |
35.4 (95.7) |
37.3 (99.1) |
38.0 (100.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
27.7 (81.9) |
20.4 (68.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
38.0 (100.4) |
Average high °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) |
4.3 (39.7) |
8.7 (47.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
22.0 (71.6) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
19.3 (66.7) |
13.8 (56.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
3.3 (37.9) |
13.7 (56.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.1 (32.2) |
0.9 (33.6) |
4.3 (39.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
14.0 (57.2) |
16.8 (62.2) |
19.1 (66.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
9.4 (48.9) |
4.4 (39.9) |
1.0 (33.8) |
9.3 (48.7) |
Average low °C (°F) | −2.8 (27.0) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
0.4 (32.7) |
3.5 (38.3) |
8.2 (46.8) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.5 (56.3) |
13.0 (55.4) |
9.6 (49.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
1.4 (34.5) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
5.0 (41.0) |
Record low °C (°F) | −25.3 (−13.5) |
−22.0 (−7.6) |
−16.0 (3.2) |
−7.4 (18.7) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
1.3 (34.3) |
4.9 (40.8) |
4.6 (40.3) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−12.0 (10.4) |
−24.0 (−11.2) |
−25.3 (−13.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 37.2 (1.46) |
30.1 (1.19) |
39.3 (1.55) |
33.7 (1.33) |
52.6 (2.07) |
60.2 (2.37) |
52.5 (2.07) |
53.0 (2.09) |
39.5 (1.56) |
32.2 (1.27) |
37.8 (1.49) |
46.1 (1.81) |
515.2 (20.28) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 57.6 | 71.5 | 119.4 | 191.2 | 229.6 | 230.0 | 232.4 | 217.3 | 162.3 | 114.7 | 54.9 | 46.9 | 1,727.6 |
Average ultraviolet index | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Source: DWD[73] and Weather Atlas[74] |
Climate data for Berlin (Tempelhof), elevation: 48 m or 157 ft, 1971–2000 normals, extremes 1878–present | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 15.5 (59.9) |
18.7 (65.7) |
24.8 (76.6) |
31.3 (88.3) |
35.5 (95.9) |
38.5 (101.3) |
38.1 (100.6) |
38.0 (100.4) |
34.2 (93.6) |
28.1 (82.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
16.0 (60.8) |
38.5 (101.3) |
Average high °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) |
5.0 (41.0) |
9.0 (48.2) |
15.0 (59.0) |
19.6 (67.3) |
22.3 (72.1) |
25.0 (77.0) |
24.5 (76.1) |
19.3 (66.7) |
13.9 (57.0) |
7.7 (45.9) |
3.7 (38.7) |
14.0 (57.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) |
1.4 (34.5) |
4.8 (40.6) |
8.9 (48.0) |
14.3 (57.7) |
17.1 (62.8) |
19.2 (66.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
14.5 (58.1) |
9.7 (49.5) |
4.7 (40.5) |
2.0 (35.6) |
9.7 (49.4) |
Average low °C (°F) | −1.9 (28.6) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
1.3 (34.3) |
4.2 (39.6) |
9.0 (48.2) |
12.3 (54.1) |
14.3 (57.7) |
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) | −23.1 (−9.6) |
−26.0 (−14.8) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
1.5 (34.7) |
6.1 (43.0) |
3.5 (38.3) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−9.6 (14.7) |
−16.0 (3.2) |
−20.5 (−4.9) |
−26.0 (−14.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 42.3 (1.67) |
33.3 (1.31) |
40.5 (1.59) |
37.1 (1.46) |
53.8 (2.12) |
68.7 (2.70) |
55.5 (2.19) |
58.2 (2.29) |
45.1 (1.78) |
37.3 (1.47) |
43.6 (1.72) |
55.3 (2.18) |
570.7 (22.48) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.0 | 8.0 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 8.9 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 9.6 | 11.4 | 101.2 |
Source #1: WMO[75] | |||||||||||||
Source #2: KNMI[76] |
Climate data for Berlin (Dahlem), 58 m or 190 ft, 1961–1990 normals, extremes 1908–present[note 2] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 15.2 (59.4) |
18.6 (65.5) |
25.1 (77.2) |
30.9 (87.6) |
33.3 (91.9) |
36.1 (97.0) |
37.9 (100.2) |
37.7 (99.9) |
34.2 (93.6) |
27.5 (81.5) |
19.5 (67.1) |
15.7 (60.3) |
37.9 (100.2) |
Average high °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
3.5 (38.3) |
7.9 (46.2) |
13.1 (55.6) |
18.6 (65.5) |
21.8 (71.2) |
23.1 (73.6) |
22.8 (73.0) |
18.7 (65.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.2 (37.8) |
12.9 (55.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.4 (31.3) |
0.6 (33.1) |
4.0 (39.2) |
8.4 (47.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
16.7 (62.1) |
17.9 (64.2) |
17.2 (63.0) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
4.6 (40.3) |
1.2 (34.2) |
8.9 (48.0) |
Average low °C (°F) | −2.9 (26.8) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
0.5 (32.9) |
3.9 (39.0) |
8.2 (46.8) |
11.4 (52.5) |
12.9 (55.2) |
12.4 (54.3) |
9.4 (48.9) |
5.9 (42.6) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
5.0 (41.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | −21.0 (−5.8) |
−26.0 (−14.8) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
−6.7 (19.9) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
0.8 (33.4) |
5.4 (41.7) |
4.7 (40.5) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−9.6 (14.7) |
−16.1 (3.0) |
−20.2 (−4.4) |
−26.0 (−14.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 43.0 (1.69) |
37.0 (1.46) |
38.0 (1.50) |
42.0 (1.65) |
55.0 (2.17) |
71.0 (2.80) |
53.0 (2.09) |
65.0 (2.56) |
46.0 (1.81) |
36.0 (1.42) |
50.0 (1.97) |
55.0 (2.17) |
591 (23.29) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 112 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 45.4 | 72.3 | 122.0 | 157.7 | 221.6 | 220.9 | 217.9 | 210.2 | 156.3 | 110.9 | 52.4 | 37.4 | 1,625 |
Source #1: NOAA[78] | |||||||||||||
Source #2: Berliner Extremwerte[79] |
Cityscape[edit]
Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric organization and 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 Kingdom of Prussia, the 2nd German Empire of 1871, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany – initiated ambitious reconstruction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture.
Berlin was devastated by bombing raids, fires and street battles during World War II, and many of the buildings that remained after the war were demolished in the post-war period 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. Many ornaments of pre-war buildings were destroyed following modernist dogmas, while in both systems and in reunified Berlin, various important heritage monuments were also (partly) reconstructed, including the Forum Fridericianum with e.g., the State Opera (1955), Charlottenburg Palace (1957), the main monuments of the Gendarmenmarkt (1980s), Kommandantur (2003) and the project to reconstruct the baroque façades of the City Palace. A number of new buildings are inspired by historical predecessors or the general classical style of Berlin, such as Hotel Adlon.
Clusters of high-rise buildings emerge at disperse locations, e.g. Potsdamer Platz, City West, and Alexanderplatz, the latter two representing the previous centers of West and East Berlin, respectively, and the former representing the new Berlin of the 21st century built upon the previous no-man's land of the Berlin Wall. Berlin has three of the top 40 tallest buildings in Germany.
Architecture[edit]
The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (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. 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 is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodelled 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.
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.
The Gendarmenmarkt is a neoclassical square in Berlin, the name of which derives from the headquarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century. It 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 built from 1830 to 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Restoration and construction of a main entrance to all museums, as well as reconstruction of the Stadtschloss continues.[80][81] Also on the island and next 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. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
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 there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Golden Twenties. It combines 20th-century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after the Wall came down.[82] 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 to the north.[83]
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to 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. The nearby New Synagogue is the center of Jewish culture.
The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as the central east–west axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately halfway 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 in 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 in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.
West of the center, Bellevue Palace is the residence of the German President. Charlottenburg Palace, which was burnt out in the Second World War, is the largest historical palace in Berlin.
The Funkturm Berlin is a 150 m (490 ft) tall lattice radio tower in the fairground 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.
The Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree river is Berlin's most iconic bridge, connecting the now-combined boroughs of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg. It carries vehicles, pedestrians, and the U1 Berlin U-Bahn line. The bridge was completed in a brick gothic style in 1896, replacing the former wooden bridge, with an upper deck for the U-Bahn. The center portion was demolished in 1945 to stop the Red Army from crossing. After the war, the repaired bridge served as a checkpoint and border crossing between the Soviet and American sectors, and later between East and West Berlin. In the mid-1950s it was closed to vehicles, and after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, pedestrian traffic was heavily restricted. Following German reunification, the center portion was reconstructed with a steel frame, and U-Bahn service resumed in 1995.
Demographics[edit]
At the end of 2018, the city-state of Berlin had 3.75 million registered inhabitants[2] in an area of 891.1 km2 (344.1 sq mi).[1] The city's population density was 4,206 inhabitants per km2. Berlin is the most populous city proper in the EU. The urban area of Berlin had about 4.1 million people in 2014 in an area of 1,347 km2 (520 sq mi), making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union.[84][failed verification] The urban agglomeration of the metropolis was home to about 4.5 million in an area of 5,370 km2 (2,070 sq mi).[citation needed] As of 2019[update] the functional urban area was home to about 5.2 million people in an area of approximately 15,000 km2 (5,792 sq mi).[85][failed verification] The entire Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has a population of more than 6 million in an area of 30,546 km2 (11,794 sq mi).[86][1]
In 2014, the city state Berlin had 37,368 live births (+6.6%), a record number since 1991. The number of deaths was 32,314. Almost 2.0 million households were counted in the city. 54 percent of them were single-person households. More than 337,000 families with children under the age of 18 lived in Berlin. In 2014 the German capital registered a migration surplus of approximately 40,000 people.[87]
Nationalities[edit]
Residents by Citizenship (31.12.2019)[2] | |
Country | Population |
---|---|
Total registered residents | 3,769,495 |
![]() |
2,999,676 |
![]() |
98,940 |
![]() |
56,573 |
![]() |
39,813 |
![]() |
31,573 |
![]() |
30,824 |
![]() |
26,640 |
![]() |
24,264 |
![]() |
22,694 |
![]() |
20,023 |
![]() |
20,109 |
![]() |
19,072 |
![]() |
16,251 |
![]() |
15,045 |
![]() |
14,625 |
![]() |
13,930 |
![]() |
13,410 |
![]() |
13,301 |
![]() |
13,293 |
![]() |
11,886 |
![]() |
12,291 |
Other Middle East and Asia | 80,604 |
Other Europe | 78,613 |
Africa | 33,362 |
Other Americas | 24,696 |
Oceania and Antarctica | 5,326 |
Stateless or Unclear | 23,399 |
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, after 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 and increased 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. Berlin is home to at least 180,000 Turkish and Turkish German residents,[2] 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.[88] The last decade experienced an influx from various Western countries and some African regions.[89] A portion of the African immigrants have settled in the Afrikanisches Viertel.[90] Young Germans, EU-Europeans and Israelis have also settled in the city.[91]
In December 2018, there were 748,472 registered residents of foreign nationality and another 528,498 German citizens with a "migration background" (Migrationshintergrund, MH),[2] meaning they or one of their parents immigrated to Germany after 1955. Foreign residents of Berlin originate from about 190 different countries.[92] 48 percent of the residents under the age of 15 have migration background.[93] Berlin in 2009 was estimated to have 100,000 to 250,000 non-registered inhabitants.[94] Boroughs of Berlin with a significant number of migrants or foreign born population are Mitte, Neukölln and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.[95]
There are more than 20 non-indigenous communities with a population of at least 10,000 people, including Turkish, Polish, Russian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Serbian, Italian, Bosnian, Vietnamese, American, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Chinese, Austrian, Ukrainian, French, British, Spanish, Israeli, Thai, Iranian, Egyptian and Syrian communities.
Languages[edit]
German is the official and predominant spoken language in Berlin. It is a West Germanic language that derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. German is one of 24 languages of the European Union,[96] and one of the three working languages of the European Commission.
Berlinerisch or Berlinisch is not a dialect linguistically, but has features of Lausitzisch-neumärkisch dialects. It is spoken in Berlin and the surrounding metropolitan area. It originates from a Mark Brandenburgish variant. The dialect is now seen more as a sociolect, largely through increased immigration and trends among the educated population to speak standard German in everyday life.
The most-commonly-spoken foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, English, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Vietnamese, and French. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbo-Croatian are heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle Eastern and former-Yugoslavian communities. English, Vietnamese, Russian, and Polish have more native speakers in East Berlin.[97]
Religion[edit]
According to the 2011 census, approximately 37 percent of the population reported being members of a legally-recognized church or religious organization. The rest either did not belong to such an organization, or there was no information available about them.[98]
The largest religious denomination recorded in 2010 was the Protestant regional church body – the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) – a United church. EKBO is a member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Union Evangelischer Kirchen (UEK). According to the EKBO, their membership accounted for 18.7 percent of the local population, while the Roman Catholic Church had 9.1 percent of residents registered as its members.[99] About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations (mostly Eastern Orthodox, but also various Protestants).[100] According to the Berlin residents register, in 2018 14.9 percent were members of the Evangelical Church, and 8.5 percent were members of the Catholic Church.[2] The government keeps a register of members of these churches for tax purposes, because it collects church tax on behalf of the churches. It does not keep records of members of other religious organizations which may collect their own church tax, in this way.
In 2009, approximately 249,000 Muslims were reported by the Office of Statistics to be members of Mosques and Islamic religious organizations in Berlin,[101] while in 2016, the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel estimated that about 350,000 Muslims observed Ramadan in Berlin.[102] In 2018, more than 420,000 registered residents, about 11% of the total, reported having a migration background from Islamic countries.[2][103] Between 1992 and 2011 the Muslim population almost doubled.[104]
About 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions. Of the estimated population of 30,000–45,000 Jewish residents,[105] approximately 12,000 are registered members of religious organizations.[100]
Berlin is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Berlin and EKBO's elected chairperson is titled the bishop of EKBO. Furthermore, Berlin is the seat of many 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.[106] 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, four Churches of Christ, Scientist (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 11th), six congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church, and an Anglican church in Berlin. Berlin has more than 80 mosques,[107] ten synagogues,[108] and two Buddhist temples.
Government[edit]
City state[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Rotes_Rathaus.jpg/220px-Rotes_Rathaus.jpg)
Since the reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city states in Germany among the present 16 states of Germany. The House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) functions as the city and state parliament, which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the title of "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor. The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2015 exceeded €24.5 ($30.0) billion including a budget surplus of €205 ($240) million.[109] The state owns extensive assets, including administrative and government buildings, real estate companies, as well as stakes in the Olympic Stadium, swimming pools, housing companies, and numerous public enterprises and subsidiary companies.[110][111]
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.[112] Since the 2016 state election, there has been a coalition between the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Left Party.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the City of Berlin (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Minister President of the Federal State of Berlin (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of the Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2014 this office has been held by Michael Müller of the Social Democrats.[113]
Boroughs[edit]
Berlin is subdivided into 12 boroughs or districts (Bezirke). Each borough has a number of subdistricts or neighborhoods (Ortsteile), which have roots in much older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920. These subdistricts became urbanized and incorporated into the city later on. Many residents strongly identify with their neighbourhoods, colloquially called Kiez. At present, Berlin consists of 96 subdistricts, which are commonly made up of several smaller residential areas or quarters.
Each borough is governed by a borough council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five councilors (Bezirksstadträte) including the borough's mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). However, the individual boroughs are not independent municipalities, but subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough's mayors make up the council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), which is led by the city's Governing Mayor and advises the Senate. The neighborhoods have no local government bodies.
Twin towns – sister cities[edit]
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.[114] Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with its sister city Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification but 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 Western World, 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 Beirut, Belgrade, São Paulo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Oslo, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, New York City 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, and Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are:[114]
- 1967 Los Angeles, United States
- 1987 Paris, France
- 1988 Madrid, Spain
- 1989 Istanbul, Turkey
- 1991 Warsaw, Poland[115]
- 1991 Moscow, Russia
- 1992 Brussels, Belgium
- 1992 Budapest, Hungary[116]
- 1993 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- 1993 Mexico City, Mexico
- 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia
- 1994 Beijing, China
- 1994 Tokyo, Japan
- 1994 Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 1995 Prague, Czechia[117]
- 2000 Windhoek, Namibia
- 2000 London, United Kingdom
Apart from sister cities, there are also several city and district partnerships that Berlin districts have established. For example, the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has a partnership with the Israeli city of Kiryat Yam.[118]
Capital city[edit]
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has their official residence in Bellevue Palace.[119] Berlin is the seat of the German Chancellor (Prime Minister), housed in the Chancellery building, the Bundeskanzleramt. Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government's relocation 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. The total annual federal budget managed by the German government exceeded €310 ($375) billion in 2013.[120]
The Federal Chancellery building, seat of the Chancellor of Germany
Schloss Bellevue, seat of the President of Germany
The relocation of the federal government and Bundestag to Berlin was mostly completed in 1999, however some ministries as well as some minor departments stayed in the federal city Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions about moving the remaining ministries and departments to Berlin continue.[121] The ministries and departments of Defence, Justice and Consumer Protection, Finance, Interior, Foreign, Economic Affairs and Energy, Labour and Social Affairs , Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Food and Agriculture, Economic Cooperation and Development, Health, Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Education and Research are based in the capital.
Berlin hosts in total 158 foreign embassies[122] as well as the headquarters of many think tanks, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations. Due to the influence and international partnerships of the Federal Republic of Germany, the capital city has become a significant centre of German and European affairs. Frequent official visits, and diplomatic consultations among governmental representatives and national leaders are common in contemporary Berlin.
Economy[edit]
In 2018, the GDP of Berlin totaled €147 billion, an increase of 3.1% over the previous year.[1] Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 84% of all companies doing business in services. In 2015, the total labour force in Berlin was 1.85 million. The unemployment rate reached a 24-year low in November 2015 and stood at 10.0% .[124] From 2012 to 2015 Berlin, as a German state, had the highest annual employment growth rate. Around 130,000 jobs were added in this period.[125]
Important economic sectors in Berlin include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.[126]
Research and development have economic significance for the city.[127] Several major corporations like Volkswagen, Pfizer, and SAP operate innovation laboratories in the city.[128] The Science and Business Park in Adlershof is the largest technology park in Germany measured by revenue.[129] Within the Eurozone, Berlin has become a center for business relocation and international investments.[130][131]
Year[132] | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unemployment rate in % | 15.8 | 16.1 | 16.9 | 18.1 | 17.7 | 19.0 | 17.5 | 15.5 | 13.8 | 14.0 | 13.6 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 11.1 | 10.7 | 9.8 | 9.0 | 8.1 |
Companies[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/DBBuildingBerling150809.jpg/170px-DBBuildingBerling150809.jpg)
Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For several years Berlin has been recognized as a major center of business founders.[133] In 2015 Berlin generated the most venture capital for young startup companies in Europe.[134]
Among the 10 largest employers in Berlin are the City-State of Berlin, Deutsche Bahn, the hospital providers Charité and Vivantes, the Federal Government of Germany, the local public transport provider BVG, Siemens and Deutsche Telekom. The two largest banks headquartered in the capital are Investitionsbank Berlin and Landesbank Berlin.
Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Health Care and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies in the city.
Siemens, a Global 500 and DAX-listed company is partly headquartered in Berlin. The national railway operator Deutsche Bahn, the MDAX-listed firms Axel Springer SE and Zalando, and the SDAX listed company Rocket Internet have their main headquarters in the central districts.[135] Among the largest international corporations who operate a German or European headquarter in Berlin are Bombardier Transportation, Gazprom Germania, Coca-Cola, Pfizer and Total S.A..
Tourism and conventions[edit]
Berlin had 788 hotels with 134,399 beds in 2014.[136] The city recorded 28.7 million overnight hotel stays and 11.9 million hotel guests in 2014.[136] Tourism figures have more than doubled within the last ten years and Berlin has become the third most-visited city destination in Europe. Some of the most visited places in Berlin include: Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburger Tor, the Berlin wall, Alexanderplatz, Museumsinsel, Fernsehturm, the East-Side Gallery, Schloss-Charlottenburg, Zoologischer Garten, Siegessäule, Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, Mauerpark, Botanical Garden, Französischer Dom, Deutscher Dom and Holocaust-Mahnmal. The largest visitor groups are from Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the United States.
According to figures from the International Congress and Convention Association in 2015 Berlin became the leading organizer of conferences in the world hosting 195 international meetings.[137] Some of these congress events take place on venues such as CityCube Berlin or the Berlin Congress Center (bcc).
The Messe Berlin (also known as Berlin ExpoCenter City) is the main convention organizing company in the city. Its main exhibition area covers more than 160,000 square metres (1,722,226 square feet). Several large-scale trade fairs like the consumer electronics trade fair IFA, the ILA Berlin Air Show, the Berlin Fashion Week (including the Premium Berlin and the Panorama Berlin),[138] the Green Week, the Fruit Logistica, the transport fair InnoTrans, the tourism fair ITB and the adult entertainment and erotic fair Venus are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/European_Film_Academy_-_European_Film_Awards_logo.svg/220px-European_Film_Academy_-_European_Film_Awards_logo.svg.png)
The creative arts and entertainment business is an important part of Berlin's economy. The sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software,[139] TV, radio, and video games.
In 2014, around 30,500 creative companies operated in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, predominantly SMEs. Generating a revenue of 15.6 billion Euro and 6% of all private economic sales, the culture industry grew from 2009 to 2014 at an average rate of 5.5% per year.[140]
Berlin is an important centre in the European and German film industry.[141] It is home to more than 1,000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year.[127] The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are adjacent to Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the German Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie), founded in 2003, and the European Film Academy, founded in 1988.
Media[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Axel-Springer-Neubau_Berlin%2C_1._Juli_2019_01.jpg/220px-Axel-Springer-Neubau_Berlin%2C_1._Juli_2019_01.jpg)
Berlin is home to many magazine, newspaper, book and scientific/academic publishers, as well as their associated service industries. In addition around 20 news agencies, more than 90 regional daily newspapers and their websites, as well as the Berlin offices of more than 22 national publications such as Der Spiegel, and Die Zeit re-enforce the capital's position as Germany's epicenter for influential debate. Therefore, many international journalists, bloggers and writers live and work in the city.
Berlin is the central location to several international and regional television and radio stations.[142] 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 including ZDF and RTL.
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, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical and La Gazette de Berlin a French-language newspaper.
Berlin is also the headquarter of major German-language publishing houses like Walter de Gruyter, Springer, the Ullstein Verlagsgruppe (publishing group), Suhrkamp and Cornelsen are all based in Berlin. Each of which publish books, periodicals, and multimedia products.
Quality of life[edit]
According to Mercer, Berlin ranked number 13 in the Quality of living city ranking in 2019.[143]
According to Monocle, Berlin occupies the position of the 6th most livable city in the world.[144] Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Berlin number 21 of all global cities.[145] Berlin is number 8 at the Global Power City Index.[146]
In 2019, Berlin has the best future prospects of all cities in Germany, according to HWWI and Berenberg Bank.[147] According to the 2019 study by Forschungsinstitut Prognos, Berlin was ranked number 92 of all 401 regions in Germany. It is also the best ranked region in former East Germany after Jena, Dresden and Potsdam.[148][149]
Infrastructure[edit]
Transport[edit]
Road[edit]
Berlin's transport infrastructure is highly complex, providing a diverse range of urban mobility.[150] A total of 979 bridges cross 197 km (122 mi) of inner-city waterways. 5,422 km (3,369 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 77 km (48 mi) are motorways (Autobahn).[151] In 2013, 1.344 million motor vehicles were registered in the city.[151] With 377 cars per 1000 residents in 2013 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a Western global city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita. In 2012, around 7,600 mostly beige colored taxicabs were in service. Since 2011, a number of app based e-car and e-scooter sharing services have evolved.
Rail[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Berlin_Hauptbahnhof%2C_S%C3%BCdfassade%2C_160505%2C_ako.jpg/220px-Berlin_Hauptbahnhof%2C_S%C3%BCdfassade%2C_160505%2C_ako.jpg)
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 of the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated railway station in Europe.[152] Deutsche Bahn runs high speed Intercity-Express trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and others. It also runs an SXF airport express rail service, as well as trains to several international destinations like Vienna, Prague, Zürich, Warsaw, Budapest and Amsterdam.
Intercity buses[edit]
Similarly to other German cities, there is an increasing quantity of intercity bus services. The city has more than 10 stations[153] that run buses to destinations throughout Germany and Europe, being Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof Berlin the biggest station.
Public transport[edit]
The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and the Deutsche Bahn (DB) manage several extensive urban public transport systems.[154]
System | Stations / Lines / Net length | Annual ridership | Operator / Notes |
---|---|---|---|
S-Bahn | 166 / 16 / 331 km (206 mi) | 431,000,000 (2016) | DB / Mainly overground rapid transit rail system with suburban stops |
U-Bahn | 173 / 10 / 146 km (91 mi) | 563,000,000 (2017) | BVG / Mainly underground rail system / 24h-service on weekends |
Tram | 404 / 22 / 194 km (121 mi) | 197,000,000 (2017) | BVG / Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs |
Bus | 3227 / 198 / 1,675 km (1,041 mi) | 440,000,000 (2017) | BVG / Extensive services in all boroughs / 62 Night Lines |
Ferry | 6 lines | BVG / Transportation as well as recreational ferries |
Travelers can access all modes of transport with a single ticket
Airports[edit]
Berlin has two commercial international airports. Tegel Airport (TXL) is within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport (SXF) is just outside Berlin's south-eastern border, in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 29.5 million passengers in 2015. In 2014, 67 airlines served 163 destinations in 50 countries from Berlin.[155] Tegel Airport is a focus city for Lufthansa and Eurowings. Schönefeld serves as an important destination for airlines like Germania, easyJet and Ryanair.
The new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) began construction in 2006, with the intention of replacing the existing airports as the single commercial airport of Berlin.[156] Previously set to open in 2012, after extensive delays and cost overruns it was as of 2018[update] tentatively estimated to open by October 2020,[156] with an expanded Schönefeld Airport remaining in service until 2026.[157] The planned initial capacity of around 27 million passengers per year[158] is to be further developed to bring the terminal capacity to approximately 55 million per year by 2040.[159]
Cycling[edit]
Berlin is well known for its highly developed bicycle lane system.[160] It is estimated Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2010.[161] Cyclists have access to 620 km (385 mi) of bicycle paths including approximately 150 km (93 mi) of mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km (118 mi) of off-road bicycle routes, 60 km (37 mi) of bicycle lanes on roads, 70 km (43 mi) of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km (62 mi) of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km (31 mi) of marked bicycle lanes on roadside pavements (or sidewalks).[162] Riders are allowed to carry their bicycles on Regionalbahn, S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, on trams, and on night buses if a bike ticket is purchased.[163]
Rohrpost (pneumatic postal network)[edit]
From 1865 until 1976 Berlin had an extensive pneumatic postal network, which at its peak in 1940, totalled 400 kilometres length. After 1949 the system was split in two separated networks. The West Berlin system in operation and open for public use until 1963, and for government use until 1972. The East Berlin system which inherited the Hauptelegraphenamt, the central hub of the system, was in operation until 1976
Energy[edit]
Berlin's two largest energy provider for private households are the Swedish firm Vattenfall and the Berlin-based company GASAG. Both offer electric power and natural gas supply. Some of the city's electric energy is imported from nearby power plants in southern Brandenburg.[164]
As of 2015[update] the five largest power plants measured by capacity are the Heizkraftwerk Reuter West, the Heizkraftwerk Lichterfelde, the Heizkraftwerk Mitte, the Heizkraftwerk Wilmersdorf, and the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg. All of these power stations generate electricity and useful heat at the same time to facilitate buffering during load peaks.
In 1993 the power grid connections in the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region were renewed. In most of the inner districts of Berlin 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 is the backbone of the city's energy grid.
Health[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/2016_Charite_Hospital.jpg/220px-2016_Charite_Hospital.jpg)
Berlin has a long history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology.[165] 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.[166]
The Charité complex (Universitätsklinik Charité) 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, 7,000 students, and more than 60 operating theaters, and it has a turnover of over one billion euros annually. The Charité is a joint institution of the Freie Universität 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 and Bayer. The World Health Summit and several international health related conventions are held annually in Berlin.
Telecommunication[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/St_oberholz.jpg/220px-St_oberholz.jpg)
Since 2017, the digital television standard in Berlin and Germany is DVB-T2. This system transmits compressed digital audio, digital video and other data in an MPEG transport stream.
Berlin has installed several hundred free public Wireless LAN sites across the capital since 2016. The wireless networks are concentrated mostly in central districts; 650 hotspots (325 indoor and 325 outdoor access points) are installed.[167] Deutsche Bahn is planning to introduce Wi-Fi services in long distance and regional trains in 2017.
The UMTS (3G) and LTE (4G) networks of the three major cellular operators Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2 enable the use of mobile broadband applications citywide.
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute develops mobile and stationary broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. Focal points are photonic components and systems, fiber optic sensor systems, and image signal processing and transmission. Future applications for broadband networks are developed as well.
Education[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Hauptgeb%C3%A4ude_der_Humboldt-Universit%C3%A4t_mit_Alexander_von_Humboldt_Denkmal_-_Berlin.jpg/220px-Hauptgeb%C3%A4ude_der_Humboldt-Universit%C3%A4t_mit_Alexander_von_Humboldt_Denkmal_-_Berlin.jpg)
As of 2014[update], Berlin had 878 schools, teaching 340,658 children in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere.[127] The city has a 6-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students continue to the Sekundarschule (a comprehensive school) or Gymnasium (college preparatory school). Berlin has a special bilingual school program in the Europaschule, in which children are taught the curriculum in German and a foreign language, starting in primary school and continuing in high school.[168]
The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, which was founded in 1689 to teach the children of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction.[169] The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of diplomats and the English-speaking expatriate community. 82 Gymnasien teach Latin[170] and 8 teach Classical Greek.[171]
Higher education[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Freie_Universitaet_Berlin_-_Gebaeudekomplex_Rost-_und_Silberlaube.jpg/260px-Freie_Universitaet_Berlin_-_Gebaeudekomplex_Rost-_und_Silberlaube.jpg)
The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centres of higher education and research in Germany and Europe. Historically, 40 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with the Berlin-based universities.
The city has four public research universities and more than 30 private, professional, and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines.[172] A record number of 175,651 students were enrolled in the winter term of 2015/16.[173] Among them around 18% have an international background.
The three largest universities combined have approximately 100,000 enrolled students. There are the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) with 33,000 students, the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin, FU Berlin) with about 33,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) with 33,000 students. The FU and the HU are part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The Universität der Künste (UdK) has about 4,000 students. The Berlin School of Economics and Law has an enrollment of about 10,000 students and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics) of about 13,000 students.
Research[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Berlin_Adlershof_Photonics_Center_2016.jpg/220px-Berlin_Adlershof_Photonics_Center_2016.jpg)
The city has a high density of internationally renowned research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, the Leibniz Association, the Helmholtz Association, and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities.[174] In 2012, around 65,000 professional scientists were working in research and development in the city.[127]
Berlin is one of the knowledge and innovation communities (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).[175] The KIC is based at the Centre for Entrepreneurship at TU Berlin and has a focus in the development of IT industries. It partners with major multinational companies such as Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, and SAP.[176]
One of Europe's successful research, business and technology clusters is based at WISTA in Berlin-Adlershof, with more than 1,000 affiliated firms, university departments and scientific institutions.[177]
In addition to the university-affiliated libraries, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are on Potsdamer Straße and on Unter den Linden. There are also 86 public libraries in the city.[127] ResearchGate, a global social networking site for scientists, is based in Berlin.
Culture[edit]
Berlin is known for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation.[21][178] The diversity and vivacity of the metropolis led to a trendsetting atmosphere.[179] An innovative music, dance and art scene has developed in the 21st century.
Young people, international artists and entrepreneurs continued to settle in the city and made Berlin a popular entertainment center in the world.[180]
The expanding cultural performance of the city was underscored by the relocation of the Universal Music Group who decided to move their headquarters to the banks of the River Spree.[181] In 2005, Berlin was named "City of Design" by UNESCO and has been part of the Creative Cities Network ever since.[182][19]
Galleries and museums[edit]
As of 2011[update] Berlin is home to 138 museums and more than 400 art galleries.[127] [183] The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben.[21] As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the Altes Museum was built in the Lustgarten. The Neues Museum, which displays the bust of Queen Nefertiti,[184] Alte Nationalgalerie, Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there.
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, in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. The expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history spanning more than a millennium. The Bauhaus Archive is a museum of 20th century design from the famous Bauhaus school. Museum Berggruen houses the collection of noted 20th century collector Heinz Berggruen, and features an extensive assortment of works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, and Giacometti, among others.[185]
The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history.[186] The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin's natural history museum) exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a Giraffatitan skeleton). A well-preserved specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex and the early bird Archaeopteryx are at display as well.[187]
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. The Brücke Museum features one of the largest collection of works by artist of the early 20th-century expressionist movement. In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security, is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved. A private museum venture exhibits a comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East. The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.[188]
The cityscape of Berlin displays large quantities of urban street art.[189] It has become a significant part of the city's cultural heritage and has its roots in the graffiti scene of Kreuzberg of the 1980s.[190] The Berlin Wall itself has become one of the largest open-air canvasses in the world.[191] The leftover stretch along the Spree river in Friedrichshain remains as the East Side Gallery. Berlin today is consistently rated as an important world city for street art culture.[192] Berlin has galleries which are quite rich in contemporary art. Located in Mitte, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, KOW, Sprüth Magers; Kreuzberg there are a few galleries as well such as Blain Southern, Esther Schipper, Future Gallery, König Gallerie.
Nightlife and festivals[edit]
Berlin's nightlife has been celebrated as one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind.[193] In the 1970s and 80s the SO36 in Kreuzberg was a centre for punk music and culture. The SOUND and the Dschungel gained notoriety. Throughout the 1990s, people in their 20s from all over the world, particularly those in Western and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene a premier nightlife venue. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city centre of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters[citation needed] and became a fertile ground for underground and counterculture gatherings. The central boroughs are home to many nightclubs, including the Watergate, Tresor and Berghain. The KitKatClub and several other locations are known for their sexually uninhibited parties.
Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time during the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning, or even all weekend. The Weekend Club near Alexanderplatz features a roof terrace that allows partying at night. Several venues have become a popular stage for the Neo-Burlesque scene.
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Hanukkah%2C_Brandenburg_Gate_%28Berlin%29.jpg/220px-Hanukkah%2C_Brandenburg_Gate_%28Berlin%29.jpg)
Berlin has a long history of gay culture, and is an important birthplace of the LGBT rights movement. Same-sex bars and dance halls operated freely as early as the 1880s, and the first gay magazine, Der Eigene, started in 1896. By the 1920s, gays and lesbians had an unprecedented visibility.[194][195] Today, in addition to a positive atmosphere in the wider club scene, the city again has a huge number of queer clubs and festivals. The most famous and largest are Berlin Pride, the Christopher Street Day,[196] the Lesbian and Gay City Festival in Berlin-Schöneberg, the Kreuzberg Pride and Hustlaball.
The annual Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) with around 500,000 admissions is considered to be the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.[197][198] The Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures), a multi-ethnic street parade, is celebrated every Pentecost weekend.[199] Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival, Berliner Festspiele, which includes the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress. The annual Berlin Festival focuses on indie rock, electronic music and synthpop and is part of the International Berlin Music Week.[200][201] Every year Berlin hosts one of the largest New Year's Eve celebrations in the world, attended by well over a million people. The focal point is the Brandenburg Gate, where midnight fireworks are centred, but various private fireworks displays take place throughout the entire city. Partygoers in Germany often toast the New Year with a glass of sparkling wine.
Performing arts[edit]
Berlin is home to 44 theaters and stages.[127] The Deutsches Theater in Mitte was built in 1849–50 and has operated almost continuously since then. 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. The Schaubühne was founded in 1962 and moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurfürstendamm in 1981. With a seating capacity of 1,895 and a stage floor of 2,854 square metres (30,720 square feet), the Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin Mitte is the largest show palace in Europe.
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 musical director is Daniel Barenboim. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in operettas and is also at Unter den Linden. The Deutsche Oper opened in 1912 in Charlottenburg.
The city's main venue for musical theater performances are the Theater am Potsdamer Platz and Theater des Westens (built in 1895). Contemporary dance can be seen at the Radialsystem V. The Tempodrom is host to concerts and circus inspired entertainment. It also houses a multi-sensory spa experience. The Admiralspalast in Mitte has a vibrant program of variety and music events.
There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world;[202] it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan.[203] Simon Rattle is its principal conductor.[204] The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin. Ivan Fischer is its principal conductor. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.[205] The Kookaburra and the Quatsch Comedy Club are known for satire and stand-up comedy shows.
Cuisine[edit]
The cuisine and culinary offerings of Berlin vary greatly. Twelve restaurants in Berlin have been included in the Michelin Guide of 2015, which ranks the city at the top for the number of restaurants having this distinction in Germany.[206] Berlin is well known for its offerings of vegetarian[207] and vegan[208] cuisine and is home to an innovative entrepreneurial food scene promoting cosmopolitan flavors, local and sustainable ingredients, pop-up street food markets, supper clubs, as well as food festivals, such as Berlin Food Week.[209][210]
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 fare include popular street food like the Currywurst (which gained popularity with post-war construction workers rebuilding the city), Buletten and the Berliner doughnut, known in Berlin as Pfannkuchen.[211][212] German bakeries offering a variety of breads and pastries are widespread. One of Europe's largest delicatessen markets is found at the KaDeWe, and among the world's largest chocolate stores is Fassbender & Rausch.[213]
Berlin is also home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Turkish and Arab immigrants brought their culinary traditions to the city, such as the lahmajoun and falafel, which have become common fast food staples. The modern fast food version of the doner kebab sandwich which evolved in Berlin in the 1970s, has since become a favorite dish in Germany and elsewhere in the world.[214] Asian cuisine like Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Korean, and Japanese restaurants, as well as Spanish tapas bars, Italian, and Greek cuisine, can be found in many parts of the city.
Recreation[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Berlin_Elefantentor_09-2017.jpg/220px-Berlin_Elefantentor_09-2017.jpg)
Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844. It is the most visited zoo in Europe and presents the most diverse range of species in the world.[215] It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut.[216] The city's other zoo, Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, was founded in 1955.
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 collections of botanical life in the world. Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, and the Gärten der Welt (Gardens of the World) in Marzahn.[217]
The Tiergarten park in Mitte, with landscape design by Peter Joseph Lenné, is one of Berlin's largest and most popular parks.[218] In Kreuzberg, the Viktoriapark provides a viewing point over the southern part of inner-city Berlin. Treptower Park, beside the Spree in Treptow, features a large Soviet War Memorial. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city, with monuments, a summer outdoor cinema and several sports areas.[219] Tempelhofer Feld, the site of the former city airport, is the world's largest inner-city open space.[220]
Potsdam is on the southwestern periphery of Berlin. The city was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, until 1918. The area around Potsdam in particular Sanssouci is known for a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks. The Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin are the largest World Heritage Site in Germany.[221]
Berlin is also well known for its numerous cafés, street musicians, beach bars along the Spree River, flea markets, boutique shops and pop up stores, which are a source for recreation and leisure.[222]
Sport[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20200402233511im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Berlin_marathon.jpg/220px-Berlin_marathon.jpg)
Berlin has established a high-profile as a host city of major international sporting events.[223] The city hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup final.[224] The IAAF World Championships in Athletics was held in the Olympiastadion in 2009.[225] The city hosted the Basketball Euroleague Final Four in 2009 and 2016.[226] and was one of the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2015. In 2015 Berlin became the venue for the UEFA Champions League Final.
Berlin will host the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games. This will be the first time Germany has ever hosted the Special Olympics World Games.[227]
The annual Berlin Marathon – a course that holds the most top-10 world record runs – and the ISTAF are well-established athletic events in the city.[228] The Mellowpark in Köpenick is one of the biggest skate and BMX parks in Europe.[229] A Fan Fest at Brandenburg Gate, which attracts several hundred-thousand spectators, has become popular during international football competitions, like the UEFA European Championship.[230]
In 2013 around 600,000 Berliners were registered in one of the more than 2,300 sport and fitness clubs.[231] The city of Berlin operates more than 60 public indoor and outdoor swimming pools.[232] Berlin is the largest Olympic training centre in Germany. About 500 top athletes (15% of all German top athletes) are based there. Forty-seven elite athletes participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Berliners would achieve seven gold, twelve silver and three bronze medals.[233]
Several professional clubs representing the most important spectator team sports in Germany have their base in Berlin. The oldest and most popular division-1 team based in Berlin is the football club Hertha BSC.[234] The team represented Berlin as a founding member of the Bundesliga, Germany's highest football league, in 1963. Other professional team sport clubs include:
Club | Sport | Founded | League | Venue |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hertha BSC[234] | Football | 1892 | Bundesliga | Olympiastadion |
1. FC Union Berlin[235] | Football | 1966 | Bundesliga | Stadion An der Alten Försterei |
ALBA Berlin[236] | Basketball | 1991 | BBL | Mercedes-Benz Arena |
Eisbären Berlin[237] | Ice hockey | 1954 | DEL | Mercedes-Benz Arena |
Füchse Berlin[238] | Handball | 1891 | HBL | Max-Schmeling-Halle |
See also[edit]
- List of fiction set in Berlin
- List of songs about Berlin
- List of people from Berlin
- List of honorary citizens of Berlin
- List of video games set in Berlin
- List of films set in Berlin
Notes[edit]
- ^ 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 (from July to August 1945), "БГ" (=BG; 1945–46, for cars, lorries and busses), "ГФ" (=GF; 1945–46, for cars, lorries and busses), "БM" (=BM; 1945–47, for motor bikes), "ГM" (=GM; 1945–47, for motor bikes), "KB" (i.e.: Kommandatura of Berlin; for all of Berlin 1947–48, continued for West Berlin until 1956), "GB" (i.e.: Greater Berlin, for East Berlin 1948–53), "I" (for East Berlin, 1953–90), "B" (for West Berlin from 1 July 1956, continued for all of Berlin since 1990).
- ^ Because the location of the weather station is furthest from the more densely urbanized region of Berlin and further away from the main UHI, its values will be somewhat higher, especially in the center and immediate regions.[77]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Amt für Statistik Berlin Brandenburg - Statistiken". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Statistischer Bericht: Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner im Land Berlin am 31. Dezember 2019" [Statistical Report: Residents in the state of Berlin on 31 December 2019] (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). pp. 4, 13, 18–22. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "Bevölkerungsanstieg in Berlin und Brandenburg mit nachlassender Dynamik" (PDF). statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de. Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt – in jeweiligen Preisen – 1991 bis 2018". statistik-bw.de.
- ^ Milbradt, Friederike (6 February 2019). "Deutschland: Die größten Städte". Die Zeit (Magazin) (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Leipzig überholt bei Einwohnerzahl Dortmund – jetzt Platz 8 in Deutschland". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Leipzig. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Berlin to be Largest City in Post-Brexit European Union". 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Daten und Fakten zur Hauptstadtregion". www.berlin-brandenburg.de. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ Schulte-Peevers, Andrea; Parkinson, Tom (2004). Gren Berlin. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781740594721. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Niederlagsrecht" [Settlement rights] (in German). Verein für die Geschichte Berlins. August 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "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. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ 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" (PDF). Institute for Urban Strategies at the Mori Memorial Foundation. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ^ "ICCA publishes top 20 country and city rankings 2007". ICCA. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Berlin City of Design" (Press release). UNESCO. Archived from the original on 16 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "Berlin Beats Rome as Tourist Attraction as Hordes Descend". Bloomberg L.P. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ 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.[dead link] See also: "Ranking of best cities in the world". City mayors. Retrieved 18 August 2008. and "The Monocle Quality of Life Survey 2015". Monocle. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
- ^ "Young Israelis are Flocking to Berlin". Newsweek. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ Berger, Dieter (1999). Geographische Namen in Deutschland. Bibliographisches Institut. ISBN 978-3-411-06252-2.
- ^ "Berlin ist älter als gedacht: Hausreste aus dem Jahr 1174 entdeckt" [Berlin is older than thought: house remains from 1174 have been found] (in German). dpa. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ^ a b Rising, David (30 January 2008). "Berlin dig finds city older than thought". NBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Zitadelle Spandau" [Spandau Citadel]. BerlinOnline Stadtportal GmbH & Co. KG. 2002. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "The medieval trading center". BerlinOnline Stadtportal GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ a b Stöver B. Geschichte Berlins. Verlag CH Beck, 2010. ISBN 978-3-406-60067-8
- ^ a b "Stadtgründung Und Frühe Stadtentwicklung" [City foundation and early urban development] (in German). Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein. 2004. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "The Hohenzollern Dynasty". Antipas. 1993. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Komander, Gerhild H. M. (November 2004). "Berliner Unwillen" [Berlin unwillingness] (in German). Verein für die Geschichte Berlins e. V. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "Was den "Berliner Unwillen" erregte" [What aroused the "Berlin unwillingness"]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 26 October 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "The electors' residence". BerlinOnline Stadtportal GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ "Berlin Cathedral". SMPProtein. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "Brandenburg during the 30 Years War". World History at KMLA. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Carlyle, Thomas (1853). Fraser's Magazine. J. Fraser. p. 63. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Plaut, W. Gunther (1 January 1995). Asylum: A Moral Dilemma. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-275-95196-2.
- ^ Gray, Jeremy (2007). Germany. Lonely Planet. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-74059-988-7.
- ^ Cybriwsky, Roman Adrian (23 May 2013). Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-61069-248-9.
- ^ Horlemann, Bernd (Hrsg.), Mende, Hans-Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berlin 1994. Taschenkalender. Edition Luisenstadt Berlin, Nr. 01280.
- ^ Zaide, Gregorio F. (1965). World History. Rex Bookstore, Inc. p. 273. ISBN 978-971-23-1472-8.
- ^ Perry, Marvin; Chase, Myrna; Jacob, James; Jacob, Margaret; Von Laue, Theodore (1 January 2012). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society. Cengage Learning. p. 444. ISBN 978-1-133-70864-3.
- ^ Lewis, Peter B. (15 February 2013). Arthur Schopenhauer. Reaktion Books. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-78023-069-6.
- ^ Harvard Student Agencies Inc. Staff; Harvard Student Agencies, Inc. (28 December 2010). Let's Go Berlin, Prague & Budapest: The Student Travel Guide. Avalon Travel. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-59880-914-5.
- ^ Andrea Schulte-Peevers (15 September 2010). Lonel Berlin. Lonely Planet. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-74220-407-9.
- ^ Stöver, Bernd (2 October 2013). Berlin: A Short History. C.H.Beck. p. 20. ISBN 978-3-406-65633-0.
- ^ Strassmann, W. Paul (15 June 2008). The Strassmanns: Science, Politics and Migration in Turbulent Times (1793–1993). Berghahn Books. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-84545-416-6.
- ^ Jack Holland; John Gawthrop (2001). The Rough Guide to Berlin. Rough Guides. p. 361. ISBN 978-1-85828-682-2.
- ^ "The Jewish Community of Berlin". Holocuast Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ Clodfelter, Michael (2002), Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000 (2nd ed.), McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0-7864-1204-4
- ^ Benz, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang (27 April 2005). "Berlin – auf dem Weg zur geteilten Stadt" [Berlin – on the way to a divided city] (in German). Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "Berlin Airlift / Blockade". Western Allies Berlin. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "Berlin after 1945". BerlinOnline Stadtportal GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
- ^ "Ostpolitik: The Quadripartite Agreement of September 3, 1971". U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany. 1996. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Berlin Mayoral Contest Has Many Uncertainties, The New York Times, 1 December 1990
- ^ Kinzer, Stephan (19 June 1994). "Allied Soldiers March to Say Farewell to Berlin". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ "IS reklamiert Attacke auf Weihnachtsmarkt für sich" [IS recalls attack on Christmas market for itself]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "Satellite Image Berlin". Google Maps. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Triantafillou, Nikolaus (27 January 2015). "Berlin hat eine neue Spitze" [Berlin has a new top] (in German). Qiez. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ Jacobs, Stefan (22 February 2015). "Der höchste Berg von Berlin ist neuerdings in Pankow" [The tallest mountain in Berlin is now in Pankow]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ "Berlin, Germany Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "The different types of vertical greening systems and their relative sustainability" (PDF).
- ^ a b Elkins, Dorothy; Elkins, T. H.; Hofmeister, B. (4 August 2005). Berlin: The Spatial Structure of a Divided City. Routledge. ISBN 9781135835057.
- ^ "Berlin, Germany Climate Summary". Weatherbase. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ Gerstengarbe FW, Werner PC (2009) A short update on Koeppen climate shifts in Europe between 1901 and 2003. Clim Change 92: 99–107
- ^ Alex (10 May 2015). "Climates classification by Wincenty Okołowicz". Vivid Maps. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "weather.com". weather.com. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Climate figures". World Weather Information Service. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ "Temperaturmonatsmittel BERLIN-TEMPELHOF 1701- 1993". old.wetterzentrale.de.
- ^ "Niederschlagsmonatssummen BERLIN-DAHLEM 1848- 1990". old.wetterzentrale.de.
- ^ "Ausgabe der Klimadaten: Monatswerte". Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ^ d.o.o, Yu Media Group. "Berlin, Germany - Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ^ "World Weather Information Service – Berlin". Worldweather.wmo.int. 5 October 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2012. Archived April 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Indices Data - Berlin/Tempelhof 2759". KNMI. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ Long-term Development of Selected Climate Parameters (Edition 2015), Berlin Environmental Atlas. Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ^ "Berlin (10381) – WMO Weather Station". NOAA. Retrieved 30 January 2019. Archived January 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Berliner Extremwerte".
- ^ "Neumann: Stadtschloss wird teurer" [Neumann: Palace is getting more expensive]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). 24 June 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Das Pathos der Berliner Republik" [The pathos of the Berlin republic]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). 19 May 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Construction and redevelopment since 1990". Senate Department of Urban Development. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Ouroussoff, Nicolai (9 May 2005). "A Forest of Pillars, Recalling the Unimaginable". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Demographia: World Urban Areas. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- ^ Population on 1 January by age groups and sex – functional urban areas, Eurostat. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ "Initiativkreis Europäische Metropolregionen in Deutschland: Berlin-Brandenburg". www.deutsche-metropolregionen.org.
- ^ statistics Berlin Brandenburg. www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ Dmitry Bulgakov (11 March 2001). "Berlin is speaking Russians' language". Russiajournal.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ Heilwagen, Oliver (28 October 2001). "Berlin wird farbiger. Die Afrikaner kommen – Nachrichten Welt am Sonntag – Welt Online". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2 June 2011.
- ^ "Zweites Afrika-Magazin "Afrikanisches Viertel" erschienen Bezirksbürgermeister Dr. Christian Hanke ist Schirmherr" (Press release). Berlin: berlin.de. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ "Hummus in the Prenzlauer Berg". The Jewish Week. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ^ "457 000 Ausländer aus 190 Staaten in Berlin gemeldet" [457,000 Foreigners from 190 Countries Registered in Berlin]. Berliner Morgenpost (in German). 5 February 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ "Fast jeder Dritte in Berlin hat einen Migrationshintergrund". www.rbb-online.de.
- ^ Von Andrea Dernbach (23 February 2009). "Migration: Berlin will illegalen Einwanderern helfen – Deutschland – Politik – Tagesspiegel". Tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Zahl der Ausländer in Berlin steigt auf Rekordhoch", retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ European Commission. "Official Languages". Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ "Studie – Zwei Millionen Berliner sprechen mindestens zwei Sprachen – Wirtschaft – Berliner Morgenpost – Berlin". Morgenpost.de. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
- ^ "Zensus 2011 – Bevölkerung und Haushalte – Bundesland Berlin" (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). pp. 6–7. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ "Kirchenmitgliederzahlen am 31.12.2010" [Church membership on 31 December 2010] (PDF) (in German). Evangelical Church in Germany. November 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Die kleine Berlin–Statistik 2010" [The small Berlin statistic 2010] (PDF) (in German). Amt für Statistik Berlin–Brandenburg. December 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Statistisches Jahrbuch für Berlin 2010" [Statistical yearbook for Berlin 2010] (PDF) (in German). Amt für Statistik Berlin–Brandenburg. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Ramadan in Flüchtlingsheimen und Schulen in Berlin". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ "Ramadan in Flüchtlingsheimen und Schulen in Berlin" [Ramadan in refugee camps and schools in Berlin]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 6 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ Schupelius, Gunnar (28 May 2015). "Wird der Islam künftig die stärkste Religion in Berlin sein?". Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ Ross, Mike (1 November 2014). "In Germany, a Jewish community now thrives". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- ^ "Lutheran Diocese Berlin-Brandenburg". Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Berlin's mosques". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ "Berlins jüdische Gotteshäuser vor der Pogromnacht 1938: Untergang einer religiösen Vielfalt" [Berlin's jewish places of worship before the Pogromnacht 1938: Decline of a religious diversity]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 10 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
Von den weit mehr als 100 jüdischen Gotteshäusern sind gerade einmal zehn übrig geblieben. (in english: Of the far more than 100 synagogues, only ten are left.)
- ^ "Berliner Haushalt Finanzsenator bleibt trotz sprudelnder Steuereinnahmen vorsichtig". Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Vermögen" [Assets]. Berlin.de. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Beteiligungen des Landes Berlin" [Holdings of the State of Berlin]. Berlin.de (in German). 5 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Berlin state election, 2006" (PDF). Der Landeswahlleiter für Berlin (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2012. 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.
- ^ a b "City Partnerships". Berlin.de (official web site). Governing Mayor of Berlin, Senate Chancellery, Directorate for Protocol and International Relations. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ "Miasta partnerskie Warszawy". Biuro Promocji Miasta. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ "Budapest – Testvérvárosok" [Budapest – Twin Cities]. Budapest Főváros Önkormányzatának hivatalos oldala [Official site of the Municipality of Budapest] (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ "Partnerská města HMP" [Prague – Twin Cities HMP]. Portál "Zahraniční vztahy" [Portal "Foreign Affairs"] (in Czech). 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ "Städtepartnerschaftsverein Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg e. V." www.berlin.de (in German). 26 April 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ "Bundespräsident Horst Köhler" (in German). Bundespraesident.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Gesetz über die Feststellung des Bundeshaushaltsplans für das Haushaltsjahr 2014". buzer.de. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Der Regierungsumzug ist überfällig". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 26 October 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Germany – Embassies and Consulates". embassypages.com. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- ^ "Berlin – Europe's New Start-Up Capital". Credit Suisse. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ^ "Berlin hat so wenig Arbeitslose wie seit 24 Jahren nicht". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ "In Berlin gibt es so viele Beschäftigte wie nie zuvor". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 28 January 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ "Poor but sexy". The Economist. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Die kleine Berlin Statistik" (PDF). berlin.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ "Immer mehr Konzerne suchen den Spirit Berlins". Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "The Science and Technology Park Berlin-Adlershof". Berlin Adlershof: Facts and Figures. Adlershof. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Global Cities Investment Monitor 2012" (PDF). KPMG. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ "Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundesländern in Deutschland 2018 | Statista". Statista (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Arbeitslosenquote in Berlin bis 2018". Statista.
- ^ "Berlin's 'poor but sexy' appeal turning city into European Silicon Valley". The Guardian. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- ^ Frost, Simon. "Berlin outranks London in start-up investment". euractiv.com. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- ^ "DB Schenker to concentrate control functions in Frankfurt am Main". Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Berlin Welcomes Record Numbers of Tourists and Convention Participants in 2014". visitBerlin. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ Berlin No.1 city and Germany No.2 country in new ICCA rankings, CMW, retrieved 12 January 2017
- ^ "Following the Followers of Fashion". Handelsblatt Global. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
- ^ "Berlin Cracks the Startup Code". Businessweek. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Culture and Creative Industries Index Berlin-Brandenburg 2015". Creative City Berlin. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ^ "Wall-to-wall culture". The Age. Australia. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
- ^ "Media Companies in Berlin and Potsdam". medienboard. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Quality of Living City Ranking | Mercer". mobilityexchange.mercer.com.
- ^ Bishop, Jordan. "Munich Named The Most Livable City In The World". Forbes.
- ^ Buckley, Julia (4 September 2019). "World's most livable city revealed". CNN Travel.
- ^ "Global Power City Index 2019". The Mori Memorial Foundation.
- ^ Germany, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart. "München rutscht ab: Städte-Studie sieht Berlin auf dem Spitzenplatz". stuttgarter-zeitung.de.
- ^ "Berlins Arbeitsmarkt boomt - aber die Armut bleibt groß". www.rbb24.de.
- ^ "Politik national » Nachrichten zu Bund und Ländern | Handelsblatt". www.handelsblatt.com.
- ^ "Mobile capital". Business Location Center. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Straßenverkehr 2013". Amt für Statistik Berlin Brandenburg (in German). Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ "Bahnhof Berlin Hbf Daten und Fakten" (in German). Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ "Berlin: Stations". Travelinho.com.
- ^ "Die kleine Berlin-Statistik 2015" (PDF) (in German). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ "2014 summer flight schedule". FBB. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ a b Schultheis, Emily (6 November 2018). "Whatever happened to Berlin's deserted 'ghost' airport?". BBC. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Neumann, Peter (14 December 2018). "Mehr Geld für Ausbau: Flughafen Schönefeld bleibt bis 2026 – und soll wachsen" [More money for expansion: Schönefeld Airport will remain until 2026 - and will grow]. Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Airport Berlin Brandenburg BER". berlin.de. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "BER: A brief history of how not to build an airport". 24 April 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Bike City Berlin". Treehugger. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Platz da! – für die Radfahrer". Neues Deutschland. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Berlin Traffic in Figures" (PDF). Senate Department of Urban Development. 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ "Mit dem Fahrrad – In Bussen und Bahnen" [By Bicycle – In Buses and Trains] (in German). Senate Department of Urban Development. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "European Green City Index Berlin Germany" (PDF). Siemens. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ^ Kühne, Anja; Warnecke, Tilmann (17 October 2007). "Berlin leuchtet". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "History of the Charité of Berlin". Charité. 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ "Berlin to get free public Wi-Fi in early 2016". telecompaper. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ "Jahrgangsstufe Null". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Geschichte des Französischen Gymnasiums". Französisches Gymnasium Lycée Français Berlin (in German and French). Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
- ^ "Latein an Berliner Gymnasien" (in German). Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "Alt-Griechisch an Berliner Gymnasien" (in German). Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "Metropolis of Sciences". Berlin Partner GmbH. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "HochschulenBerlin mit neuem Studentenrekord". Focus (in German). 25 November 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "Ten institutions that dominated science in 2015". Nature Index. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ "European Institute of Innovation and Technology: Home". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
- ^ "EIT ICT Labs – Turn Europe into a global leader in ICT Innovation". Technische Universität Berlin Centre for Entrepreneurship. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ "Adlershof in Brief". Adlershof.de. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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". Deutschland Online (in German). 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.
- ^ "Berlin's music business booms". Expatica. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Unesco Creative Cities Network". projektzukunft.berlin.de (in German). Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Sprung in die Wolken". Zitty (in German). 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Egypt battling for more relics after Louvre success". Expatica. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (21 December 2000). "Dealer Will Enrich Art of the Berlin He Fled". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ "Exhibitions". Jewish Museum Berlin. Archived from the original on 14 July 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ "The World of Dinosaurs". Naturkundemuseum-berlin.de. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "In Berlin, the Art of Sex". Washingtonpost.com. 18 April 1999. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Berlin – Urban Art – visitBerlin.de EN". Archived from the original on 31 October 2015.
- ^ "One Wall Down, Thousands to Paint". The New York Times. 2 March 2008.
- ^ "Graffiti in the death strip: the Berlin wall's first street artist tells his story". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ "The 26 Best Cities in the World To See Street Art". The Huffington Post. 17 April 2014.
- ^ Wasacz, Walter (11 October 2004). "Losing your mind in Berlin". Metro Times. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
- ^ Krauss, Kenneth (2004). The drama of fallen France: reading la comédie sans tickets. Albany, NY: State University of New York. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7914-5953-9.
- ^ Ross, Alex (26 January 2015). "Berlin Story – The New Yorker". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "Berlin for Gays and Lesbians". 7 October 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "European Film Academy". European Film Academy. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Berlin Film Festival". Berlinale.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "English Summary". Karneval-berlin.de. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ Berlin Festival Archived 14 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine website
- ^ Berlin Music Week website
- ^ Charlotte Higgins and Ben Aris in Berlin (29 April 2004). "Is Rattle's Berlin honeymoon over?". Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ Wakin, Daniel J. (25 September 2005). "Music: Berlin". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2006.[dead link]
- ^ "Berlin Philharmonic elects Sir Simon Rattle". Culturekiosque.com. 24 June 1999. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ D. "Haus der Kulturen der Welt". Hkw.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ Berlin Minimalist Glamor. New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Good Taste Award Winner 2015: Berlin, The New Vegetarian Capital". SAVEUR. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
- ^ "Berlin: Vegan capital of the world?". DW. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Berlin's booming food scene". DW. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Conscious Food Consumption at Berlin's Restlos Glücklich". Food Tank. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Berlin German Foods
- ^ Paterson, Tony (15 August 2009). "Spicy sausage that is worthy of a shrine in Berlin". The Independent.
- ^ "Chocolate Heaven at Fassbender & Rausch". Luxe Adventure Traveler. 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
- ^ James Angelos (18 April 2012). "There's Nothing More German Than a Big, Fat Juicy Döner Kebab". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Grün Berlin" [Green Berlin] (in German). Die Grün Berlin GmbH. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Peter Joseph Lenné, Senate Department of Urban Development". Stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ Paul Sullivan (30 July 2010). "Volkspark Friedrichshain". Slow Travel Berlin. Slow Travel Berlin. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- ^ Stephan, Felix (10 December 2012). "Entfaltung auf dem Rollfeld". zeit.de. Berlin (Germany). Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ "Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin". UNESCO. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ^ Lee, Denny (10 December 2006). "36 Hours in Berlin". Berlin (Germany): Travel.nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Melbourne retains ultimate sports city title". ABC News. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
- ^ "Italy conquer the world as Germany wins friends". Archived from the original on 21 August 2008.
- ^ "12. IAAF Leichtathletik WM berlin 2009". Berlin2009.org. Archived from the original on 20 July 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Euroleague Final Four returns to Berlin in 2016". Euroleague. 11 May 2015.
- ^ "Berlin, Germany selected to host the 2023 Special Olympics World Games". Special Olympics.
- ^ "Berlin Marathon". Scc-events.com. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Mellowpark Campus". urbancatalyst-studio.de. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- ^ "500,000 spectators to watch the game together". Blogs.bettor.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Der Landessportbund Berlin – Mitglieder". LSB. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ "Berlin's swimming pools and bathing spots". New in the City. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- ^ "Sports Metropolis". Be Berlin. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Hertha BSC". Herthabsc.de. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Union Berlin". Fc-union-berlin.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ SPORTWERK 2012. "ALBA Berlin". Albaberlin.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Eisbären Berlin". Eisbaeren.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Füchse Berlin". Fuechse-berlin.de. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
Sources[edit]
- Chandler, Tertius (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census. Edwin Mellen Pr. ISBN 978-0-88946-207-6.
- Gill, Anton (1993). A Dance Between Flames: Berlin Between the Wars. John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-4986-1.
- Gross, Leonard (1999). The Last Jews in Berlin. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-0687-7.
- Large, David Clay (2001). Berlin. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02632-6.
- Read, Anthony; David Fisher (1994). Berlin Rising: Biography of a City. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-03606-0.
- Ribbe, Wolfgang (2002). Geschichte Berlins. Bwv – Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8305-0166-4.
- Roth, Joseph (2004). What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920–33. Granta Books. ISBN 978-1-86207-636-5.
- Taylor, Frederick (2007). The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-06-078614-4.
- Maclean, Rory (2014). Berlin: Imagine a City. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-84803-5.
External links[edit]
![]() |
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Berlin. |
- Berlin.de – Official website
Geographic data related to Berlin at OpenStreetMap