Berlin was built along the banks of theSpree river, which flows into theHavel in the western borough ofSpandau. The city includes lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which isMüggelsee. About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests,parks and gardens, rivers, canals, and lakes.[13]
Berlin lies in northeastern Germany, inan area formerly settled by Slavs which thus exhibits many (Germanised) Slavic-derived placenames until today (see below). The wordBerlin also has its roots in the language of theWest Slavs, and may be related to the OldPolabian stemberl-/birl- ("swamp").[29]
The earliesthuman settlements in the area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC.[citation needed] A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to theMaglemosian culture. In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along theSpree andHavel rivers gave rise to theLusatian culture.[30] Starting around 500 BCGermanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After theSemnones left around 200 AD, theBurgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later knownHevelli andSprevane, reached the region.
In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of theMargraviate of Brandenburg, founded byAlbert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of ahouse foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations inBerlin Mitte.[31] 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 andKöpenick in 1209.[32] 1237 is considered the founding date of the city.[33] The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from thestaple right on the two importanttrade routes, one was known asVia Imperii, and the other trade route reached fromBruges toNovgorod.[14] In 1307 the two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated.[34]In 1326 the territory of Berlin was raided bypaganLithuanians during theRaid on Brandenburg.
Members of theHohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings ofPrussia, and eventually asGerman emperors. In 1443,Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a newroyal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of the town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" (German:Berliner Unwille).[35] Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, whenJohn Cicero came to power.[36] Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a freeHanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially becameLutheran.[37]
TheThirty 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.[38]Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his fatherGeorge William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance.[39] With theEdict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the FrenchHuguenots.[40]
By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of the Huguenot immigration.[41] Many other immigrants came fromBohemia,Poland, andSalzburg.[42]
Berlin became the capital of theGerman Empire in 1871 and expanded rapidly in the following years.
Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been inpersonal union with theDuchy of Prussia. In 1701, the dual state formed theKingdom of Prussia, asFrederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, crowned himself as kingFrederick I in Prussia. Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom,[43] replacingKönigsberg. 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".[34]
TheIndustrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs includingWedding,Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin.[48] In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly foundedGerman Empire.[49] In 1881, it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.[50]
In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for theGerman Expressionist movement.[51] In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end ofWorld War I in 1918, arepublic was proclaimed byPhilipp Scheidemann at theReichstag building. In 1920, theGreater 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 theWeimar era, Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of theRoaring 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,[52] being awarded theNobel Prize for Physics in 1921.[53]
In 1933,Adolf Hitler and theNazi Partycame to power. Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced inVienna, and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had a monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority througharchitecture. Adolf Hitler andAlbert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city intoWorld Capital Germania; these were never implemented.[54]
NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in the country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. AfterKristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearbySachsenhausen concentration camp. Starting in early 1943, many were deported toghettos likeŁódź, and toconcentration andextermination camps such asAuschwitz.[55]
DuringWorld War II, Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons,forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of theSachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,[57] a camp forSinti and Romani people (seeRomani Holocaust),[58] and theStalag III-Dprisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities.
During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945Battle 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.[59] After theend of World War II 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 toAllied-occupied Germany the sectors of theAllies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formedWest Berlin, while theSoviet Union formedEast Berlin.[60]
TheBerlin Wall (painted on the western side) was a barrier that divided the city from 1961 to 1989.
All four Allies of World War II 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, theSoviet Union imposed theBerlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. TheBerlin 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.[61] In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded inWest Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while theMarxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed inEast 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.
The founding of the two German states increasedCold 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 center. The West German government established itself inBonn.[62] In 1961, East Germany began to build theBerlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff atCheckpoint 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 on 26 June 1963, in front of theSchöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining the US support for West Berlin.[63] 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, aFour-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.[64]
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, theBerlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, theEast Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany werereunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development and still impacts urban planning decisions.[65]
Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim.[66] 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, andEberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.[67] 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 areunified Berlin[68] (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, theBundestag (German Parliament)voted to move the seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship ofGerhard Schröder.[69]
In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence offar-right politics in Germany.[74]
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at the end of October, and flights to and fromTegel Airport ending in November.[75] Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from theCOVID-19 pandemic, plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the formerSchönefeld Airport, beginning in March 2021.[76] The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020, the Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5.[77]
A partial opening by the end of 2020 of theHumboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructedBerlin Palace, was postponed until March 2021.[78] On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project.[79]
The legal basis for a combined state of Berlin andBrandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of theBasic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law.[80] However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments.[81]
In 1996, there was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.[82] Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches.[83] Though Berlin voted in favor by a small margin, largely based on support in formerWest Berlin, Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital.[82]
Satellite image of BerlinThe outskirts of Berlin are covered with woodlands and numerous lakes.
Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flattopography, part of the vastNorthern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. TheBerliner Urstromtal (an ice ageglacial valley), between the lowBarnim Plateau to the north and theTeltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the lastWeichselian glaciation. TheSpree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in the west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the riverHavel, 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 theGroßer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through theGroßer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.[84]
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 Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassedTeufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War.[85] TheMüggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and the lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation.[86]
Berlin has anoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb)[87] bordering on ahumid continental climate (Dfb). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest.[88][89]
Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for manyoceanic climates. 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 cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, withheat stored by the city's buildings and pavement. Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.[90] Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March.[91] The hottest month in Berlin was July 1757, with a mean temperature of 23.9 °C (75.0 °F) and the coldest wasJanuary 1709, with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F).[92] The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall.[93]
Climate data for Berlin (Brandenburg), 1991–2020, extremes 1957–2024
Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentricmetropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during the 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings areGründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin ofmodern architecture.[98][99]
Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space,[13] with theGroßer Tiergarten, one of the largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city.
TheFernsehturm (TV tower) atAlexanderplatz inMitte 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-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here, theKarl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in theSocialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is theRotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is theNeptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological group ofTritons,personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, andNeptune on top of it. Nearby is theNikolaiviertel, the reconstructed oldest settlement area in the city.
TheBrandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. TheReichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architectNorman 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.
TheEast 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.
TheGendarmenmarkt is aneoclassical square in Berlin, the name of which derives from the headquarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century. Two similarly designed cathedrals border it, theFranzösischer Dom with its observation platform and theDeutscher Dom. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.
Unter den Linden is a tree-lined east–west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berlin Palace, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street, and part ofHumboldt University is there.Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during theGolden Twenties. It combines 20th-century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
The area aroundHackescher Markt is home to fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes theHackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. The nearbyNew Synagogue is the center of Jewish culture.
TheStraße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as the central east–west axis. Its name commemorates theuprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately halfway from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which theSiegessäule (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.
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.
TheFunkturm Berlin is a 150-meter-tall (490 ft) 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.
TheOberbaumbrücke over the Spree river is Berlin's most iconic bridge, connecting the now-combined boroughs ofFriedrichshain andKreuzberg. It carries vehicles, pedestrians, and the U1Berlin U-Bahn line. The bridge was completed in abrick 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 theRed Army from crossing. After the war, the repaired bridge served as acheckpoint 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.
Berlin population pyramid in 2022Berlin's population, 1880–2012
At the end of 2023 the city-state of Berlin had 3.66 million registered inhabitants,[5] in an area of 891.3 km2 (344.1 sq mi).[3] Berlin is themost populous city proper in theEuropean Union. In 2021, the urban area of Berlin had a population of over 4.6 million inhabitants.[6] As of 2019[update], thefunctional urban area was home to about 5.2 million people.[104] The entireBerlin-Brandenburg capital region has a population of more than 6 million in an area of 30,546 km2 (11,794 sq mi).[105][3]
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.
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 million households were counted in the city, of which 54 percent were inhabited by a single person. 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.[106]
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, after the revocation of theEdict of Nantes in France, the city responded with theEdict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. TheGreater 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 180,000Turkish andTurkish German residents,[107] making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.[108] In the 1990s theAussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the formerSoviet Union. Today ethnicGermans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community.[109] The last decade experienced an influx from various Western countries and some African regions.[110] A portion of the African immigrants have settled in theAfrikanisches Viertel.[111] Young Germans, EU-Europeans and Israelis have also settled in the city.[112]
In December 2019 there were 777,345 registered residents of foreign nationality and another 542,975 German citizens with a "migration background"(Migrationshintergrund, MH),[107] meaning they or one of their parents immigrated to Germany after 1955. Foreign residents of Berlin originate from about 190 countries.[113] 48 percent of the residents under the age of 15 have amigration background in 2017.[114] Berlin in 2009 was estimated to have 100,000 to 250,000 unregistered inhabitants.[115] Boroughs of Berlin with a significant number of migrants or foreign born population areMitte,Neukölln andFriedrichshain-Kreuzberg.[116] The number of Arabic speakers in Berlin could be higher than 150,000. There are at least 40,000 Berliners with Syrian citizenship, third only behind Turkish and Polish citizens. The2015 refugee crisis made Berlin Europe's capital of Arab culture.[117] Berlin is among the cities in Germany that have received the biggest amount of refugees after the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of November 2022, an estimated 85,000 Ukrainian refugees were registered in Berlin,[118] making Berlin the most popular destination of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.[119]
Berlin has a vibrantexpatriate community involving, among others, precarious immigrants, seasonal workers, and refugees. Therefore, Berlin sustains a broad variety of English-based speakers. Speaking a particular type of English does attract prestige andcultural capital in Berlin.[120]
German is the official and predominant spoken language in Berlin. It is aWest Germanic language that derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of theIndo-European language family. German is one of 24 languages of the European Union,[121] and one of the threeworking languages of theEuropean Commission.
Berlinerisch or Berlinisch is not a dialect linguistically. It is spoken in Berlin and thesurrounding metropolitan area. It originates from aBrandenburgish variant. The dialect is now seen more like asociolect, largely through increased immigration and trends among the educated population to speakstandard German in everyday life.
The most commonly spoken foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, Polish, English, Persian, Arabic, Italian, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, Kurdish, Serbo-Croatian, French, Spanish and Vietnamese. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and Serbo-Croatian are heard more often in the western part due to the large Middle Eastern and former-Yugoslavian communities. Polish, English, Russian, and Vietnamese have more native speakers in East Berlin.[122]
On the report of 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.[124]
The largest religious denomination recorded in 2010 was theProtestantregional church body—theEvangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO)—aunited church. EKBO is a member of theProtestant Church in Germany (EKD) and of theUnion of Protestant Churches in the EKD (UEK). According to the EKBO, their membership accounted for 18.7 percent of the local population, while theRoman Catholic Church had 9.1 percent of residents registered as its members.[125] About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations (mostlyEastern Orthodox, but also various Protestants).[126] 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.[107] The government keeps a register of members of these churches for tax purposes, because it collectschurch 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.
About 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions. Of the estimated population of 30,000–45,000 Jewish residents,[130] approximately 12,000 are registered members of religious organizations.[126]
Berlin is the seat of theRoman Catholic archbishop of Berlin andEKBO'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 theBulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe, and the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Berlin (Patriarchate of Moscow).
Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall), seat of the Senate and Mayor of Berlin
Since theGerman reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city-states of Germany among the present 16 federal states of Germany. TheAbgeordnetenhaus von Berlin (House of Representatives) functions as the city and state parliament, which has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is theSenate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate consists of theGoverning Mayor of Berlin (Regierender Bürgermeister), and up to ten senators holding ministerial positions, two of them holding the title of "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor.[134]
The total annual budget of Berlin in 2015 exceeded €24.5 ($30.0) billion including a budget surplus of €205 ($240) million.[135] The German Federal city state of Berlin 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.[136][137] The federal state of Berlin runs a real estate portal to advertise commercial spaces or land suitable for redevelopment.[138]
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the City of Berlin (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Minister President of the State of Berlin (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of the Governing Mayor is in theRotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2023, this office has been held byKai Wegner of the Christian Democrats.[140] He is the first conservative mayor in Berlin in more than two decades.[141]
Berlin is subdivided into 12 boroughs or districts (Bezirke). Each borough has several 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 neighborhoods, colloquially calledKiez. At present, Berlin consists of 96 subdistricts, which are commonly made up of several smaller residential areas or quarters.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.
Berlin to this day maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.[142]Town twinning betweenWest Berlin and other cities began with its sister city Los Angeles, California, in 1967.East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time ofGerman reunification.
The relocation of the federalgovernment and Bundestag to Berlin was mostly completed in 1999. However, some ministries, as well as some minor departments, stayed in thefederal cityBonn, the former capital of West Germany.Discussions about moving the remaining ministries and departments to Berlin continue.[145]
Berlin hosts in total 158 foreign embassies[146] as well as the headquarters of many think tanks, trade unions, nonprofit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations. Frequent official visits and diplomatic consultations among governmental representatives and national leaders are common in contemporary Berlin.
In 2018, the GDP of Berlin totaled €147 billion, an increase of 3.1% over the previous year.[3] Berlin's economy is dominated by theservice sector, with around 84% of all companies doing business in services. In 2015, the total labor force in Berlin was 1.85 million. The unemployment rate reached a 24-year low in November 2015 and stood at 10.0%.[148] 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.[149]
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.[150]
Research and development have economic significance for the city.[151] Several major corporations likeVolkswagen,Pfizer, andSAP operate innovation laboratories in the city.[152]The Science and Business Park in Adlershof is the largest technology park in Germany measured by revenue.[153] Within theeurozone, Berlin has become a center for business relocation and internationalinvestments.[154]
Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For several years Berlin has been recognized as a major center ofbusiness founders.[157] In 2015, Berlin generated the most venture capital for youngstartup companies in Europe.[158]
Among the 10 largest employers in Berlin are the City-State of Berlin,Deutsche Bahn, largest railway company in the world,[156] the hospital providersCharité andVivantes, the Federal Government of Germany, the local public transport providerBVG,Siemens andDeutsche Telekom.[159]
According to figures from theInternational Congress and Convention Association in 2015, Berlin became the leading organizer of conferences globally, hosting 195 international meetings.[166] Some of these congress events take place on venues such as CityCube Berlin or the Berlin Congress Center (bcc).
TheMesse 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 meters (1,722,226 sq ft). Several large-scale trade fairs like the consumer electronics trade fairIFA, where the first practical audiotape recorder and the firstcompletely electronic television system were first introduced to the public,[167][168][169][170] theILA Berlin Air Show, theBerlin Fashion Week (including thePremium Berlin and thePanorama Berlin),[171] theGreen Week, theFruit Logistica, the transport fairInnoTrans, the tourism fairITB and the adult entertainment and erotic fairVenus are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Thecreative 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,[173] TV, radio, andvideo games.
In 2014, around 30,500 creative companies operated in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, predominantlySMEs. 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.[174]
Berlin is an important European andGerman film industry hub.[175] 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.[151] The historicBabelsberg Studios and the production companyUFA are adjacent to Berlin inPotsdam. The city is also home of theGerman Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie), founded in 2003, and theEuropean Film Academy, founded in 1988.
The new building ofAxel Springer SE which is headquartered in Berlin
Berlin is home to many magazine, newspaper, book, and scientific/academic publishers and 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 asDer Spiegel, andDie Zeit reinforce the capital's position as Germany's epicenter for influential debate. Therefore, many international journalists, bloggers, and writers live and work in the city.[citation needed]
Berlin is the central location to several international and regional television and radio stations.[176] The public broadcasterRBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcastersMTV Europe andWelt. German international public broadcasterDeutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city, includingZDF andRTL.
Berlin is also the headquarter of major German-language publishing houses likeWalter de Gruyter,Springer, the Ullstein Verlagsgruppe (publishing group),Suhrkamp, andCornelsen are all based in Berlin. Each of which publishes books, periodicals, and multimedia products.[citation needed]
According toMercer, Berlin ranked number 19 in the Quality of Living City Ranking in 2024.[177]
Also in 2024, according toMonocle, Berlin occupied the position of the 17th-most-livable city in the world.[178]Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Berlin number 21 of all global cities forlivability.[179] In 2019 Berlin was also number 8 on the Global Power City Index.[180] In the same year Berlin was honored for having the best future prospects of all cities in Germany.[181]
Berlin's transport infrastructure provides a diverse range of urban mobility.[182]
A total of 979 bridges cross 197 km (122 miles) the inner-city waterways. Berlin roads total 5,422 km (3,369 miles) of which 77 km (48 miles) are motorways (known asAutobahn).[183] In 2013 only 1.344 million motor vehicles were registered in the city.[183] 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.[184]
Berlin is well known for its highly developedbicycle lane system.[185] It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1,000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13 percent of total traffic in 2010.[186]
Cyclists in Berlin have access to 620 km of bicycle paths including approximately 150 km of mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km of off-road bicycle routes, 60 km of bicycle lanes on roads, 70 km of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km of marked bicycle lanes on roadside pavements or sidewalks.[187] Riders are allowed to carry their bicycles onRegionalbahn (RE), S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, on trams, and on night buses if a bike ticket is purchased.[188]
Taxicabs in Berlin are yellow or beige. In 2024, around 8,000taxicabs were in service.[189] Like in most of Europe, app-basedsharing cab services are available but limited.[190]
TheSpree and theHavel rivers cross Berlin. There are no frequent passenger connections to and from Berlin by water. Berlin's largest harbour, theWesthafen, is located in the district ofMoabit. It is a transhipment and storage site for inland shipping with a growing importance.[192]
There is an increasing quantity ofintercity bus services. Berlin city has more than 10 stations[193] that run buses to destinations throughout Berlin. Destinations in Germany and Europe are connected via the intercity bus exchangeZentraler Omnibusbahnhof Berlin.
BVG / Transportation as well as recreational ferries
Public transport in Berlin has a long and complicated history because of the 20th-century division of the city, where movement between the two halves was not served. Since 1989, the transport network has been developed extensively. However, it still contains early 20th century traits, such as the U1.[195]
Berlin is served by one commercial international airport:Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), located just outside Berlin's south-eastern border, in the state of Brandenburg. It began construction in 2006, with the intention of replacingTegel Airport (TXL) andSchönefeld Airport (SXF) as the single commercial airport of Berlin.[196] Previously set to open in 2012, after extensive delays and cost overruns, it opened for commercial operations in October 2020.[197] The planned initial capacity of around 27 million passengers per year[198] is to be further developed to bring the terminal capacity to approximately 55 million per year by 2040.[199]
Before the opening of the BER in Brandenburg, Berlin was served by Tegel Airport and Schönefeld Airport. Tegel Airport was within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport was located at the same site as BER. Both airports together handled 29.5 million passengers in 2015. In 2014, 67 airlines served 163 destinations in 50 countries from Berlin.[200]Tegel Airport was a focus city forLufthansa andEurowings while Schönefeld served as an important destination for airlines likeGermania,easyJet andRyanair. Until 2008, Berlin was also served by the smallerTempelhof Airport, which functioned as a city airport, with a convenient location near the city center, allowing for quick transit times between the central business district and the airport. The airport grounds have since been turned into a city park.[citation needed]
From 1865 to 1976, Berlin operated an expansivepneumatic postal network, reaching a maximum length of 400 kilometers (roughly 250 miles) by 1940. The system was divided into two distinct networks after 1949. The West Berlin system remained in public use until 1963, and continued to be utilized for government correspondence until 1972. Conversely, the East Berlin system, which incorporated theHauptelegraphenamt—the central hub of the operation—remained functional until 1976.[citation needed]
Berlin's two largest energy provider for private households are the Swedish firmVattenfall and the Berlin-based companyGASAG. Both offer electric power and natural gas supply. Some of the city's electric energy is imported from nearby power plants in southernBrandenburg.[201]
As of 2015[update] the fivelargest 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 thesepower stations generateelectricity anduseful 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 urbanAutobahn, use overhead lines. TheBerlin 380-kV electric line is the backbone of the city's energy grid.
Berlin has a long history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology.[202] The modern history of medicine has been significantly influenced by scientists from Berlin.Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, whileRobert Koch developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis.[203] For his life's work Koch is seen as one of the founders of modern medicine.[204]
TheCharité complex (Universitätsklinik Charité) is the largestuniversity hospital in Europe, tracing back its origins to the year 1710. More than half of all German Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine, includingEmil von Behring, Robert Koch andPaul Ehrlich, have worked at the Charité. The Charité is spread over four campuses and comprises around 3,000 beds, 15,500 staff, 8,000 students, and more than 60 operating theaters, and it has a turnover of two billion euros annually.[205]
Berlin has installed several hundred free publicWireless 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.[206]
TheUMTS (3G) andLTE (4G) networks of the three major cellular operatorsVodafone,Telekom Deutschland andO2 enable the use of mobile broadband applications citywide.
As of 2014[update], Berlin had 878 schools, teaching 340,658 students in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere.[151] The city has a 6-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students continue to theSekundarschule (a comprehensive school) orGymnasium (college preparatory school). Berlin has a special bilingual school program in theEuropaschule, in which children are taught the curriculum in German and a foreign language, starting in primary school and continuing in high school.[208]
The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in Germany and Europe. Historically, 67 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.[212] A record number of 175,651 students were enrolled in the winter term of 2015/16.[213] Among them around 18% have an international background.
Berlin is one of the knowledge and innovation communities (KIC) of theEuropean Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).[221] The KIC is based at the Center for Entrepreneurship at TU Berlin and has a focus in the development of IT industries. It partners with major multinational companies such asSiemens,Deutsche Telekom, andSAP.[222]
One of Europe's successful research, business and technologyclusters is based atWISTA inBerlin-Adlershof, with more than 1,000 affiliated firms, university departments and scientific institutions.[223]
In addition to the university-affiliated libraries, theStaatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are on Potsdamer Straße and onUnter den Linden. There are also 86 public libraries in the city.[151]ResearchGate, a global social networking site for scientists, is based in Berlin.
Berlin is known for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation.[28][224] The diversity and vivacity of the metropolis led to a trendsetting atmosphere.[225] 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.[226]
The expanding cultural performance of the city was underscored by the relocation of theUniversal Music Group who decided to move their headquarters to the banks of the River Spree.[227] In 2005, Berlin was named "City of Design" byUNESCO and has been part of theCreative Cities Network ever since.[228][25]
Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. TheGemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while theNeue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built byLudwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th-century European painting. TheHamburger Bahnhof, inMoabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. The expandedDeutsches Historisches Museum reopened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history spanning more than a millennium. TheBauhaus Archive is a museum of 20th-century design from the famousBauhaus school.Museum Berggruen houses the collection of noted 20th century collectorHeinz Berggruen, and features an extensive assortment of works byPicasso,Matisse,Cézanne, andGiacometti, among others.[231] TheKupferstichkabinett Berlin (Museum of Prints and Drawings) is part of theStaatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums) and theKulturforum at Potsdamer Platz in the Tiergarten district of Berlin's Mitte district. It is the largest museum of the graphic arts in Germany and at the same time one of the four most important collections of its kind in the world.[232] The collection includesFriedrich Gilly's design for the monument to Frederick II of Prussia.[233]
The cityscape of Berlin displays large quantities of urbanstreet art.[238] It has become a significant part of the city's cultural heritage and has its roots in the graffiti scene ofKreuzberg of the 1980s.[239] TheBerlin Wall itself has become one of the largest open-air canvasses in the world.[240] The leftover stretch along the Spree river inFriedrichshain remains as theEast Side Gallery. Berlin today is consistently rated as an important world city for street art culture.[241]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.
TheBerlinale is the world's largest international spectator film festival.
Berlin's nightlife has been celebrated as one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind.[242][243] In the 1970s and 80s, theSO36 inKreuzberg was a center forpunk music and culture. TheSOUND and theDschungel gained notoriety. Throughout the 1990s, people in their 20s from all over the world, particularly those inWestern and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene a premier nightlife venue. After thefall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground andcounterculture gatherings.[244] The central boroughs are home to many nightclubs, including theTresor and theBerghain. TheKitKatClub 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, including nearAlexanderplatz. Several venues have become a popular stage for theNeo-Burlesque scene.
Berlin has a long history of gay culture, and is an importantbirthplace 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.[245][246] 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 areBerlin Pride, theChristopher Street Day,[247] theLesbian and Gay City Festival in Berlin-Schöneberg, theKreuzberg Pride.
The annualBerlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) with around 500,000 admissions is considered to be the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.[248][249] The Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures), a multi-ethnic street parade, is celebrated everyPentecost weekend.[250] Berlin is also well known for the cultural festivalBerliner Festspiele, which includes the jazz festivalJazzFest Berlin, andYoung Euro Classic, the largest international festival ofyouth orchestras in the world. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, includingTransmediale andChaos Communication Congress. The annualBerlin Festival focuses on indie rock, electronic music and synthpop and is part of the International Berlin Music Week.[251][252] 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 centered, but various private fireworks displays take place throughout the entire city. Partygoers in Germany often toast the New Year with a glass ofsparkling wine.
Berlin is home to 44 theaters and stages.[151] TheDeutsches Theater in Mitte was built in 1849–50 and has operated almost continuously since then. TheVolksbühne atRosa-Luxemburg-Platz was built in 1913–14, though the company had been founded in 1890. TheBerliner Ensemble, famous for performing the works ofBertolt Brecht, was established in 1949. TheSchaubühne was founded in 1962 and moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurfürstendamm in 1981. With aseating capacity of 1,895 and a stage floor of 2,854 square meters (30,720 sq ft), theFriedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin Mitte is the largest show palace in Europe. For Berlin's independent dance and theatre scene, venues such as the Sophiensäle in Mitte and the three houses of theHebbel am Ufer (HAU) in Kreuzberg are important. Most productions there are also accessible to an English-speaking audience. Some of the dance and theatre groups that also work internationally (Gob Squad,Rimini Protokoll) are based there, as well as festivals such as the international festivalDance in August.
The city's main venue for musical theater performances are the Theater am Potsdamer Platz andTheater des Westens (built in 1895). Contemporary dance can be seen at theRadialsystem V. TheTempodrom is host to concerts and circus-inspired entertainment. It also houses a multi-sensory spa experience. TheAdmiralspalast in Mitte has a vibrant program of variety and music events.
Invented in Berlin, currywurst and modern döner are icons of German popular culture and cuisine.
Thecuisine and culinary offerings of Berlin vary greatly. 23 restaurants in Berlin have been awarded one or moreMichelin stars in theMichelin Guide of 2021, which ranks the city at the top for the number of restaurants having this distinction in Germany.[257] Berlin is well known for its offerings of vegetarian[258] andvegan[259] 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.[260][261]
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 popularstreet food like theCurrywurst (which gained popularity with postwar construction workers rebuilding the city),Buletten and theBerliner donut, known in Berlin asPfannkuchen (German:[ˈp͡fanˌkuːxn̩]ⓘ).[262][263] German bakeries offering a variety of breads and pastries are widespread. One of Europe's largestdelicatessen markets is found at theKaDeWe, and among the world's largest chocolate stores isRausch.[264][265]
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 thelahmajoun andfalafel, which have become common fast food staples. The modern fast-food version of thedoner kebab sandwich whichevolved in Berlin in the 1970s, has since become a favorite dish in Germany and elsewhere in the world.[266] 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.
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.[267] It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bearKnut.[268] 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 theBritzer Garten, and theGärten der Welt (Gardens of the World) in Marzahn.[269]
TheTiergarten park in Mitte, with landscape design byPeter Joseph Lenné, is one of Berlin's largest and most popular parks.[270] In Kreuzberg, theViktoriapark provides a viewing point over the southern part of inner-city Berlin.Treptower Park, beside the Spree inTreptow, features a largeSoviet War Memorial. The Volkspark inFriedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city, with monuments, a summer outdoor cinema and several sports areas.[271]Tempelhofer Feld, the site of the formercity airport, is the world's largest inner-city open space.[272]
Berlin is also well known for its numerous cafés, street musicians, beach bars along the Spree River, flea markets, boutique shops andpop-up stores, which are a source for recreation and leisure.[273]
The annualBerlin Marathon – a course that holds the most top-10 world record runs – and theISTAF are well-established athletic events in the city.[280] TheMellowpark in Köpenick is one of the biggest skate and BMX parks in Europe.[281] A fan fest at Brandenburg Gate, which attracts several hundreds of thousands of spectators, has become popular during international football competitions, such as theUEFA European Championship.[282]
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who is often hailed as the "father of modern gymnastics", invented thehorizontal bar,parallel bars,rings, and thevault around 1811 in Berlin.[283][284][285] Jahn'sTurners movement, first realized atVolkspark Hasenheide, was the origin of modernsports clubs.[286] In 2013, around 600,000 Berliners were registered in one of the more than 2,300 sport and fitness clubs.[287] The city of Berlin operates more than 60 public indoor and outdoor swimming pools.[288] Berlin is the largest Olympic training center in Germany, with around 500 top athletes (15% of all German top athletes) being based there. Forty-seven elite athletes participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Berliners would achieve seven gold, twelve silver, and three bronze medals.[289]
Several professional clubs representing the most important spectator team sports in Germany are based in Berlin. The oldest and most popular first-division team based in Berlin is the football clubHertha BSC.[290] The team represented Berlin as a founding member of theBundesliga in 1963. Other professional team sport clubs include:
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