Information About ™Berlin |
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Berlin is the Capital city and a single State of the Federal Republic Of Germany . It is the country's largest city in area and population, and the second Most Populous city in the European Union . Berlin is one of the most influential centers in European Politics and Culture . The city serves as an important junction of national and continental transportation. Berlin is a major Tourist and Shopping destination and is well known for its diverse range of convention venues and Media outlets. It is home to some of the world's most prominent Universities , Research faculties, Theater s, and Museum s. The rapidly changing metropolis at present enjoys an international reputation for its Festival s, vibrant Nightlife , contemporary Architecture , and Avant-garde arts. Being home to people from over 180 nations, Berlin is a magnet for individuals who are attracted by its Liberal Lifestyle , urban Eclecticism , and Artistic freedom. The city is famous and infamous for its political legacy during the 20th century. Since its founding in the 13th century, Berlin has been the capital of the in 1990). GEOGRAPHY Setting in summer]] Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of the border with Poland . Berlin's Landscape was shaped by Ice Sheet s during the last Ice Age . The city center lies along the river Spree in the Berlin-Warsaw ''Urstromtal'' (ancient river valley), formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last Ice Age. The ''Urstromtal'' lies between the low plateaus of the Barnim, to the north, and the Teltow, to the south. In Berlin's westernmost borough, Spandau , the Spree meets the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is much like a chain of lakes. The largest lakes along the Havel are the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through eastern Berlin's largest lake, Großer Müggelsee . Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus that line the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim, while most of the boroughs Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln are on the Teltow. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin ''Urstromtal'' and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg in the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and the Müggelberge in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick . Both hills have an elevation of about 115 meters (377 feet). The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II . Climate Berlin has a , with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be 4°C higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. HISTORY See Also: History of Berlin The first written mention of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th and early 13th century. ) is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin (across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel ) in one from 1244. Both documents are exhibited in the cathedral museum in the town of Brandenburg . From the beginning, the two cities formed an economic and social unit. In 1307, the two cities were united politically. Over time, the twin cities came to be known simply as Berlin, the larger of the pair. The name Berlin probably stems from the Slavic root ''berl'' (swamp, marshy ground). In 1415 Frederick I became the Elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , which he ruled until 1440. Subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and finally as German emperors. The inhabitants of Berlin did not always welcome these changes. In 1448 they rebelled in the “Berlin Indignation” against the construction of a new royal palace by Elector Frederick II Irontooth . This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. In 1451 Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539 the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . 17–19th century ]] The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 had devastating consequences for Berlin. A third of the houses were damaged, and the city lost half of its population. Frederick 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 Toleration . Over the following decades, Berlin expanded greatly in area and population with the founding of the new suburbs of Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt, today the site of many government offices. In 1671, fifty Jew ish families from Austria were given a home in Berlin. With the Edict Of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William invited the French Huguenot s to Brandenburg. More than 15,000 Huguenots came, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. Around 1700, approximately twenty percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence was great. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . With the coronation of Frederick I in 1701 as king of Prussia, Berlin became the capital of the kingdom. On 1 January 1710, the cities of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt were united as the “Royal Capital and Residence of Berlin”. The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including Wedding , Moabit , and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . 20th century At the end of World War I in 1918, the Weimar Republic was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920 , the Greater Berlin Act united dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into a greatly expanded city. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around 4 million. 1920s Berlin was a very exciting and interesting city. soldiers raising the Soviet flag on the roof of the Reichstag ]] After the National Socialists (Nazis) came to power in 1933, Berlin became the capital of the Third Reich . The Nazis used the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for propaganda purposes. There were also plans to rebuild Berlin as “'' Germania, Capital Of The World ''.” However, these plans were put aside because of World War II . Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which numbered 160,000 before the Nazi seizure of power. After the brutal pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp . The last Jews in Berlin (except for a few married to non-Jews) were marched to the Grunewald railway station over several weeks in early 1943 and shipped in cattle cars to death camps such as Auschwitz . During the war, large parts of Berlin were destroyed by bombs in The 1943–44 Air Raids and, in 1945, by street combat during the Battle Of Berlin . After the End Of The War In Europe in 1945, Berlin was divided into four sectors, analogous to the Occupation Zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States , United Kingdom , and France ) formed West Berlin , while the sector of the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . in 1986, brightly painted on the western side. Those trying to cross the so-called death strip on the eastern side could be shot.]] For Berlin as a whole, all four allies retained shared oversight. However, the growing political differences between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union led the latter, which controlled the territory surrounding Berlin, to impose the Berlin Blockade , an economic blockade of West Berlin, from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949 , which the Allies successfully overcame by airlifting food and other supplies to the city. In 1949 the democratic Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany , while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic (GDR) was proclaimed in East Germany . The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by the territory of the GDR. Due to Berlin's isolation and vulnerability, the Federal Republic established its provisional capital in Bonn . The GDR, however, proclaimed East Berlin, which included most of the historic center, as its capital. The tensions between east and west were exacerabated by a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961 and culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and other barriers around West Berlin by the GDR on 13 August 1961 . West Berlin was now de facto a part of the Federal Republic of Germany, but with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of the GDR. is the site of the German parliament]] The eastern and western sectors of Berlin were now completely separated. It was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other only through strictly controlled checkpoints. For most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible. In 1971, the Four-Power Agreement On Berlin was signed. While the Soviet Union applied the oversight of the four powers only to West Berlin, the Western Allies emphasized in a 1975 note to the United Nations their position that four-power oversight applied to Berlin as a whole. In 1989 pressure from the East German population brought a transition to democracy in the GDR, and Easterners gained free access across the Berlin Wall, which was quickly demolished. In 1990 the two parts of Germany were Reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin became the German capital according to the unification treaty. In 1991, the Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament) decided, after a controversial public discussion, that the city should again be the seat of the German national government. Most branches of the German government relocated from Bonn to Berlin during the subsequent years. On 1 September 1999 the German parliament and government began their work in Berlin. POLITICS is the seat of the German chancellor]] Berlin is the national capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the President Of Germany , whose official residence is Bellevue Palace . Since German reunification on 3 October 1990 it has been one of the three City State s, together with Hamburg and Bremen , among the present sixteen States Of Germany . The Bundesrat ("federal council") is the representation of the Federal States (''Bundesländer'') of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian Herrenhaus (House of Lords). Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Government (r.)]] The city and state Parliament is the House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus''), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (''Senat von Berlin''). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (''Regierender Bürgermeister'') and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (''Bürgermeister'') as deputy to the Governing Mayor. Each of the senators needs the confidence of the Abgeordnetenhaus and each of them can be voted out of office by the house. This happened in 2001, when the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) senators were defeated by a Motion Of No Confidence . The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Party Of Democratic Socialism (PDS) then took control of the city government after the 2001 State Election . The Governing Mayor is simultaneously lord mayor of the city (''Oberbürgermeister der Stadt'') and prime minister of the federal state (''Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes''). The office of Berlin's governing mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Presently (April 2006), this office is held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. The city's government is based on a coalition between the SPD and Die Linke.PDS, a party formed by a merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) (the successor to The Former East German Communist Party ), which renamed itself in 2005 for cooperation with the Labor And Social Justice Party . Subdivisions is part of the Pankow borough]] Berlin is subdivided into twelve Boroughs (''Bezirke'' in German, also sometimes called District s in English), but before Berlin's 2001 Administrative Reform there were 23. Each borough is subdivided into a number of localities (''Ortsteil'' in German, also sometimes called subdistricts or neighborhoods in English), which represent the traditional Urbanized areas that inhabitants identify with. Some of these have been rearranged several times over the years. At present the city of Berlin consists of 96 such localities. The localities often consist of a number of city neighborhoods (usually called '' Kiez '' in German) representing small residential areas. Each borough is governed by a borough council (''Bezirksamt'') consisting of ten councilors (''Stadträte'') and a borough mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister''). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the Council of Mayors (''Rat der Bürgermeister''), led by the city's Governing Mayor, which advises the Senate. The localities have no government bodies of their own, even though most of the localities have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 . The subsequent position of locality representative (''Ortsvorsteher'') was discontinued in favor of borough mayors. Sister cities Almost no partnership between Berlin and another city dates back before 1987, since the partnerships of East Berlin were dissolved at German reunification (though some were subsequently restored), and West Berlin's partnerships were restricted to the borough level.1 Some of the partnerships listed below originate in the Cold War era, reflecting this conflict, with West Berlin partnering with capitals from Western countries, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies. DEMOGRAPHICS As of November 2005, Berlin has 3,396,990 inhabitants Berlin Statistical Office in an area of 891.75 square kilometers (344.31 Mi&2 ). Thus, the population density of the region amounts to 3,809 inhabitants per square kilometer (9,857/square mile). Berlin residents' average age is 41.7 years (as of 2004). A total of 453,977 residents are of foreign origins, coming from 185 different countries. Among them, approximately 38,522 citizens come from the nearest neighboring country, Poland , and 117,624 are from Turkey —Berlin has the largest Turkish population of any city in Europe outside of Turkey. Berlin is the sixth-largest Urban Area In The European Union , and approximately the 80th-largest urban area in the world. As of 2005, around 25% of the population belongs to the Protestant Evangelical Church In Germany , 10% are Roman Catholics , 6% are Muslims , 0.4% are Jews , and more than 50% have no registered religion. See Also: Berlin population statistics ECONOMY Berlin was once a major manufacturing center and the economic and financial hub of Germany. The city suffered economically during the Cold War, when West Berlin was isolated geographically and East Berlin suffered from poor economic decisions made by East Germany’s central planners. Since reunification, the city has relied increasingly on economic activity in the service sectors. Economic history and newly built corporate offices]] Berlin was founded at a point where trade routes crossed the River Spree and quickly became a commercial center. During the early modern period, the city prospered from its role as Prussian capital by manufacturing luxury goods for the Prussian court and supplies for the Prussian military. During the mid-1800s, the Industrial Revolution transformed the city’s economy. Berlin became Germany’s main Rail hub and a center of Locomotive manufacturing. The city became a leader in the manufacture of other kinds of machinery as well, and developed an important Chemical Industry sector. Toward the end of the 19th century, Berlin became a world leader in the then cutting-edge sector of Electrical Equipment manufacturing. As the ''de facto'' center of the German Zollverein , or Customs Union, and later the seat of the Reichsbank , Berlin became Germany’s Bank ing and Financial center as well. Berlin suffered from both the German Hyperinflation Of The 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s. The city’s economy revived as a center of Weapon s production under the Nazis, but it lost a pool of entrepreneurial talent when the Nazis forced Jewish businessmen to sell their holdings and ultimately massacred most who did not flee Germany. World War II severely damaged Berlin’s industrial infrastructure, and Soviet expropriation of machinery and other capital equipment as “ War Reparations ” further damaged Berlin’s industrial base. Soviet restrictions on transport impeded communication with West Germany and ended hopes that Berlin would resume a role as Germany’s financial center; most banks established headquarters in Frankfurt . In East Berlin, central planners rebuilt a manufacturing sector, but one that was not competitive internationally or responsive to market demand. West Berlin’s economy grew increasingly dependent on state Subsidies and on its role as an educational and research center. Berlin’s and Germany’s unification brought the collapse of many of East Berlin’s producers, which could not compete with market-disciplined Western competitors. Massive Unemployment was only partly compensated by the growth of jobs in the construction and infrastructural sectors involved in rebuilding and upgrading East Berlin’s infrastructure. The arrival of the federal government in 1999 brought some economic stimulus to Berlin. Berlin’s Service Sectors have also benefited from improved transportation and communications links to the surrounding region. While some Manufacturing remains in the city ( Siemens and Schering are headquartered here, for instance), the service sectors have become the city’s economic mainstay. Unemployment remains high, however, at 19.0% as of August 2005.http://morgenpost.berlin1.de/content/2005/09/01/wirtschaft/776673.html Economic trends Berlin's economy has shrunk over the past decade. The Gross State Product totaled €77.9 billion in 2004. This compares with €77.4 billion in 1995. Correcting for the effects of inflation, however, this represents an 11% reduction in the size of Berlin's economy over 9 years. In terms of composition, Berlin's gross state product in 2004 was dominated by the service sectors, which made up 76.9% of the economy. The largest service sectors were Real Estate (29.2%) and Government Services (28.3%). Goods-producing sectors accounted for 16.2% of the economy, with manufacturing alone accounting for 10.5% and construction for 2.9%. Agriculture , Forestry , and Fisheries made up 0.1% of the economy. Banking fees made up 3.0% of the city’s economy. Net government transfers and subsidies accounted for the remainder (9.7%) of Berlin's gross state product. Before the reunification of Germany and the two Berlins in 1990, West Berlin received substantial subsidies from the West German state to compensate for its geographic isolation from West Germany. Many of those subsidies were phased out after 1990. The reduced financial support for the city and its gradual economic decline have produced fiscal difficulties for Berlin's city government and forced it to cut funding for various programs. Media ]] Berlin is the home of many Television and Radio stations, national as well as regional. The public broadcasters RBB and Deutsche Welle TV have their headquarters there, and most national broadcasters have a studio in the city. Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily and Springer , each of which publishes books, periodicals, and multimedia products. Berlin is important in the German Film Industry , as it is home to important film and TV production companies like Senator Film . Many international movies and European co-productions have been filmed there. Berlin is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and is host of the Berlin Film Festival . In addition, Babelsberg Studios and the important production company UFA are located just outside Berlin in Potsdam . EDUCATION Berlin is one of Germany's most important centers of higher education and research, with four universities, numerous professional, technical and private colleges, and a large number of research institutes. Higher education, research ]] Around 150,000 students attend the universities and professional/technical colleges. The three largest universities alone account for around 110,000 students. These are the Freie Universität Berlin with 40,840 students, the Humboldt Universität Zu Berlin with 36,423 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin with 31,547 students. Berlin University Of The Arts has about 4,300 students. In addition to these universities, there is a wide range of professional and technical colleges (called '' Fachhochschule n'' in German) training students in a wide range of disciplines, from business and management to the arts. Berlin also has a large concentration of research institutions independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. Together with its universities, these research institutions make Berlin one of the most important centers for research in Europe. See Also: Universities, colleges, and research institutions in Berlin Schools Berlin has a six-year , the Realschule , the Gymnasium , and the Gesamtschule. The secondary school program also totals six years. See Also: Education in Germany CULTURE ]] Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, some of which enjoy international reputation. In addition, cultural diversity and tolerance remain from the time when West Berlin took pride in its role as a "free city" with the motto "something for everyone." Berlin has a rich Art scene, and it is home to hundreds of Art Galleries . The city is host to the Art Forum annual international art fair. Many young Germans and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as an important center of Youth and Pop Culture in Europe. Signs of this expanding role were the 2003 announcement that the annual Popkomm, Europe's largest Music Industry Convention , would move to Berlin after 15 years in Cologne . Shortly thereafter, German MTV also decided to move its headquarters and main studios from Munich to Berlin. Universal Music opened its European headquarters on the banks of the River Spree in an area known as the mediaspree city development project mediaspree . Since 2005 Berlin is listed as a UNESCO - City of Design UNESCO . See Also: 1920s Berlin Nightlife, festivals riots]] Berlin offers one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 many buildings in the former city center of East Berlin (today the district Mitte ) were renovated. Many had not been rebuilt since World War II. Illegally occupied by young people, they became a fertile ground for all sorts of Underground and Counter-culture gatherings. It was also home to many Nightclub s, including Tacheles, Techno clubs '' Tresor '', ''WMF'', ''Ufo'' and ''E-Werk''. Berlin's annual Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade, and carnival Love Parade . Museums, galleries ]] Berlin has a very large number of museums. The comprehensive ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben. As early as 1841 it was designated a “district dedicated to art and antiquities” by a royal decree. Subsequently, several museum buildings were constructed there. These were the Altes Museum (Old Museum) in the Lustgarten, and the Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum , and Bode Museum at the far northern end of the island. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of the collections they house. For example, the Altes Museum and the Pergamon Museum together house the Collection of Classical Antiquities,http://www.museen-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=3&n=1&r=3 Collection of Classical Antiquities site a collection of ancient art and artifacts. The Pergamon Museum also houses the world-renowned Museum of the Ancient Near Easthttp://www.museen-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=23&n=1&r=21 Museum of the Ancient Near East site and the Museum of Islamic Arthttp://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?objID=12&lang=en Museum of Islam Art site. ]] The Museum for Pre-and Early History remains at the Charlottenburg Palace until the Neues Museum is renovated. In the case of the Alte Nationalgalerie http://www.smpk.de/ang/e/s.html Alte Nationalgalerie site,its collection of 19th-century painting and sculpture carries the same name as the building that houses it. However, the Bode Museum, which underwent extensive renovation during the early 2000s, will house the Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Arthttp://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=14&n=1&r=20 Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art site and the Numismatic Collectionhttp://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=en&objectId=9&n=1&r=11 Numismatic Collection site when it reopens in 2006. Outside of the Museum Island, there is a wide variety of museums. The ). The Wall Museum, also known as Museum at Checkpoint Charlie {Link without Title} , displays moments from the history of the divided Berlin. See Also: List of museums and galleries in Berlin Theaters, opera houses, music ]] Theaters in Berlin include the http://www.gorki.de Maxim Gorki Theater website Opera houses include the Deutsche Oper , Staatsoper Unter Den Linden , Komische Oper . The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the pre-eminent orchestras in the world with its current principal conductor Sir Simon Rattle . Sport Artwork in Berlin]] Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics . Berlin will be the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. It also hosts the annual Berlin Marathon and the annual Golden League event ISTAF for athletics. The WTA Tour holds the Qatar Total German Open annually in the city. Founded in 1896, it is one of the oldest Tennis tournaments for women still existing. The FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near Alexanderplatz to present a Beachvolleyball -Grand Slam every year. Berlin is the home of Hertha BSC Berlin , a Football team in the Bundesliga , and the Basketball team ALBA Berlin known as the "Berlin Albatrosses". ALBA Berlin could arguably be the most successful basketball in the recent decade, and has won the national championships from 1997 to 2003. Berlin is also home to the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe , an American Football team, as well as the Eisbären Berlin of the German Ice Hockey League , an Ice Hockey team which was founded in the East German era. Zoos, botanical gardens, parks Zoologischer Garten Berlin , Berlin's oldest Zoo , founded in 1844 ; features the most diverse range of species in the world. Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, another zoo, founded in Friedrichsfelde (part of Lichtenberg ) in 1955 in the manor of Schloss Friedrichsfelde, is the largest zoo in Europe by area. Berlin's Botanical Gardens include the Botanic Museum Berlin, the largest botanical garden in Europe. Tiergarten is Berlin's largest Park and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné . Another park named Viktoriapark contains a hilltop in Kreuzberg , which provides a terrestrial viewpoint over many of the southern regions of Berlin. The Volkspark Friedrichshain is the oldest park in the city opened in 1848. The artificial mountains were added after World War II and are made of rubble from the ruins of the city. Treptower Park along the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle Of Berlin . ARCHITECTURE Even though Berlin does have a number of impressive buildings from earlier centuries, the city's appearance today is mainly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th Century . Each of the national governments based in Berlin—the 1871 German Empire , the Weimar Republic , Nazi Germany , East Germany , and now the reunified Germany —initiated ambitious Construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II , and many of the old buildings that escaped the bombs were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East. Much of this destruction was caused by overambitious Architecture programs, especially to build new residential or business quarters and main roads. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no other city in the world offers Berlin's unusual mix of architecture, especially 20th-century architecture. The city's tense and unique recent history has left it with a distinctive array of sights. Not much is left of the Berlin Wall . The East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the ''Oberbaumbrücke'' ("Upper Turnpike Bridge") over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall. Architectural styles still sometimes reveal whether one is in the former eastern or western part of the city. In the eastern part, many '' Plattenbau ten'' can be found, reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas with fixed ratios of shops, Kindergarten s and School s. Another difference between former east and west is in the design of little red and green men on pedestrian crossing lights ('' Ampelmännchen '' in German); the eastern versions received an opt-out during the standardization of road traffic signs after re-unification, and have survived to become a popular icon in tourist products. They are however starting to appear in western Berlin too. Historical sights ]] The Brandenburg Gate and Unter Den Linden are symbols of Berlin, Prussia , and now Germany . The Brandenburg Gate also appears on German Euro coins. The Reichstag Building is the old and new seat of the German parliament, renovated by Sir Norman Foster . It features a famous glass dome in which you can walk around and watch the parliamentarians from above. Gendarmenmarkt , a Renaissance square in Berlin, is surrounded by two similar designed cathedrals and the concert hall. The Berliner Dom , an historic protestant Cathedral , is located in Berlin as well. A large crypt houses the remains of the Prussia n royal family. The Cathedral Of St. Hedwig in Berlin is named after the Roman Catholic (St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale). The Nikolaiviertel with its church is an historical city core founded in the 13th century which can be found close to Alexanderplatz like the Neptunbrunnen , a famous fountain featuring a mythological scenery. Schloss Bellevue , is now the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg is the largest surviving historical palace in Berlin. Famous sights glass dome]]
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Panorama sites ]]
Boulevards, shopping ]]
INFRASTRUCTURE under construction]] As Germany's largest city, and one of the largest cities in Europe, Berlin developed a complex transportation and energy-supply infrastructure before World War II. After the war, West Berlin was cut off from the surrounding territory and had to develop independent infrastructures. Meanwhile, the government of East Germany built rail lines and highways that allowed traffic between East Berlin and the western part of East Germany to bypass West Berlin. The political reunification of East and West Berlin has led to the reintegration of Berlin's transportation and energy-supply with the infrastructures of the surrounding region. Public transport, rail lines passes Oberbaum Brücke]] Public transport within Berlin is provided by the S-Bahn —operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH—and by the U-Bahn , Straßenbahn , Bus , and ferries—operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe , or BVG Berlin Public Transport(BVG) . The S-Bahn is a mostly aboveground urban railway system. The U-Bahn is the city's mainly underground metro or subway system. The Straßenbahn is a tram (trolley) system that operates almost exclusively in the former East Berlin. Buses provide extensive service linking outlying districts with the city center and the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Almost all means of public transport—U- & S- Bahn, trams, buses and most ferries—can be accessed with the same ticket. Public transportation in Berlin works on a sort of honor system: There is no need to show or scan one's ticket in order to get on a bus, tram, or train. However, plainclothed transit authorities officials frequently conduct random checks in which they board a vehicle and demand that everyone onboard show their ticket. Anyone who does not produce a valid ticket is given a stiff fine. The inner city is crossed from east to west by the elevated main line (''Stadtbahn''), which carries S-Bahn trains as well as regional and long-distance trains. This main line passes through most of the city's long-distance and regional train stations, including Berlin-Charlottenburg , Berlin Zoologischer Garten , Berlin Hauptbahnhof , Friedrichstraße , Alexanderplatz , and Berlin Ostbahnhof . Along the north-south axis, the U-Bahn 9 line carries the largest passenger volume, supplemented by the north-south line of the S-Bahn. The north-south and east-west lines of the S-Bahn cross at Friedrichstraße. ]] The last key component of Berlin's rail network is the S-Bahn ring (''Ringbahn'') that forms a circle around the inner city and crosses the main line at Westkreuz (“west crossing”) and Ostkreuz (“east crossing”). A number of regional and regional express lines connect Berlin with the surrounding region. The city is also served by the freight rail yard at Seddin, south of Potsdam. |