Berlin

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This article is about the German city. For other uses, see Berlin (disambiguation).

Berlin

Capital city and state
 From top: view with Nicholas' Quarter, Rotes Rathaus, and
the Television Tower; Brandenburg Gate; Berlin
Cathedral; Charlottenburg Palace; Berlin Victory Column; Oberbaum
Bridge; Potsdam Square; Gendarmenmarkt

Flag

Coat of arms
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

Berlin

Location within Germany

Show map of Germany Show map of Europe Show all

Coordinates:  52°31′12″N 13°24′18″ECoordinates:  52°31′12″N 1

3°24′18″E

Country  Germany
State Berlin

Government
 • Body Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
 • Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD)

Area
[1]

 • City/State 891.7 km2 (344.3 sq mi)

Elevation 34 m (112 ft)

Population
 (31 December 2019)[2]
 • City/State 3,769,495
 • Urban 4,473,101
[3]

 • Metro 6,144,600
[4]
 Demonyms Berliner(s) (English)
Berliner (m), Berlinerin (f) (German)

Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Area code(s) 030

Geocode NUTS Region: DE3
ISO 3166 code DE-BE
Vehicle registration B[note 1]

GRP (nominal) €153 billion (2019)[5]

GRP per capita €42,000 (2019)

GeoTLD .berlin
HDI (2018) 0.950[6]
very high · 4th of 16

Website www.berlin.de/en/

Berlin (/bɜːrˈlɪn/; German: [bɛʁˈliːn] ( listen)[7]) is the capital and largest city of Germany by

both area and population.[8][9] Its 3,769,495 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2019 [2] makes it
the most-populous city of the European Union, according to population within city limits.
One of Germany's 16 constituent states, Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg,
and contiguous with Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital. Berlin's urban area has a population
of around 4.5 million and is the second most populous urban area in Germany after
the Ruhr.[3] The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has about six million inhabitants[10] and
is Germany's third-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-
Main regions.
Berlin straddles the banks of the River Spree, which flows into the River
Havel (a tributary of the River Elbe) in the western borough of Spandau. Among the city's
main topographical features are the many lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs
formed by the Spree, Havel, and Dahme rivers (the largest of which is Lake Müggelsee).
Due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal
climate. About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers,
canals and lakes.[11] The city lies in the Central German dialect area, the Berlin dialect being
a variant of the Lusatian-New Marchian dialects.
First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade
routes,[12] Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701),
the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar
Republic (1919–1933), and the Third Reich (1933–1945).[13] Berlin in the 1920s was the
third-largest municipality in the world.[14] After World War II and its subsequent occupation
by the victorious countries, the city was divided; West Berlin became a de
facto exclave of West Germany, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989) and East
German territory.[15] East Berlin was declared capital of East Germany, while Bonn became
the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again
became the capital of all of Germany.
 Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media and science. [16][17][18][19] Its economy is based
on high-tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative
industries, research facilities, media corporations and convention venues. [20][21] Berlin serves
as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation
network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination.[22] Significant industries also
include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean
tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics.
Berlin is home to world-renowned universities such as the Humboldt Universität zu
Berlin (HU Berlin), the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), the Freie Universität
Berlin (Free University of Berlin), the Universität der Künste (University of the Arts, UdK)
and ESMT Berlin. Its Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe and one of the
most popular worldwide. With the world's oldest large-scale movie studio complex, Berlin is
an increasingly popular location for international film productions.[23] The city is well known
for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts and a very high quality of
living.[24] Since the 2000s Berlin has seen the emergence of a
cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene.[25]
Berlin contains three World Heritage Sites: Museum Island; the Palaces and Parks of
Potsdam and Berlin; and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates. Other landmarks include
the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, Potsdamer Platz, the Memorial to the
Murdered Jews of Europe, the Berlin Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery, the Berlin
Victory Column, Berlin Cathedral and the Berlin Television Tower, the tallest structure in
Germany. Berlin has numerous museums, galleries, libraries, orchestras and sporting
events. These include the Old National Gallery, the Bode Museum, the Pergamon
Museum, the German Historical Museum, the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Natural History
Museum, the Humboldt Forum, the Berlin State Library, the Berlin State Opera, the Berlin
Philharmonic and the Berlin Marathon.[26]

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Etymology
o 1.212th to 16th centuries
o 1.317th to 19th centuries
o 1.420th to 21st centuries
 2Geography
o 2.1Topography
o 2.2Climate
o 2.3Cityscape
o 2.4Architecture
 3Demographics
o 3.1Nationalities
o 3.2Languages
o 3.3Religion
 4Government
o 4.1City state
o 4.2Boroughs
o 4.3Twin towns – sister cities
 o 4.4Capital city
 5Economy
o 5.1Companies
o 5.2Tourism and conventions
o 5.3Creative industries
o 5.4Media
 6Quality of life
 7Infrastructure
o 7.1Transport
 7.1.1Roads
 7.1.2Rail
 7.1.3Intercity buses
 7.1.4Public transport
 7.1.5Airports
 7.1.6Cycling
 7.1.7Rohrpost (pneumatic postal network)
o 7.2Energy
o 7.3Health
o 7.4Telecommunication
 8Education
o 8.1Higher education
o 8.2Research
 9Culture
o 9.1Galleries and museums
o 9.2Nightlife and festivals
o 9.3Performing arts
o 9.4Cuisine
o 9.5Recreation
 10Sport
 11See also
 12Notes
 13References
o 13.1Citations
o 13.2Sources
 14External links

History[edit]
Main article: History of Berlin
Further information: Timeline of Berlin
Etymology[edit]
Berlin lies in northeastern Germany, east of the River Elbe, that once constituted, together
with the River (Saxon or Thuringian) Saale (from their confluence at Barby onwards), the
eastern border of the Frankish Realm. While the Frankish Realm was primarily inhabited
by Germanic tribes like the Franks and the Saxons, the regions east of the border rivers
were inhabited by Slavic tribes. This is why most of the cities and villages in northeastern
Germany bear Slavic-derived names (Germania Slavica). Typical Germanized place
name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -
in, prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch. The name Berlin has its roots in the language
of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the
Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[27] Since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the
German word Bär (bear), a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore
a canting arm.
Of Berlin's twelve boroughs, five bear a (partly) Slavic-derived name: Pankow (the most
populous), Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Spandau (na
med Spandow until 1878). Of its ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a (partly)
Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke, Alt-
Treptow, Britz, Buch, Buckow, Gatow, Karow, Kladow, Köpenick, Lankwitz, Lübars, Malcho
w, Marzahn, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Rudow, Schmöckwitz, Spandau, Stadtrandsiedlung
Malchow, Steglitz, Tegel and Zehlendorf. The neighborhood of Moabit bears a French-
derived name, and Französisch Buchholz is named after the Huguenots.
12th to 16th centuries[edit]

Map of Berlin in 1688

Berlin Cathedral (left) and Berlin Palace (right), 1900

The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house
foundation dated to 1174, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte, [28] and a wooden beam dated
from approximately 1192.[29] The first written records of towns in the area of present-day
Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in
1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920. [30] The central part of Berlin can be
traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,
and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a
document from 1244.[29] 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. [31] The two towns
over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the
two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod.[12] In 1307, they
formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being
separated.[32][33]
In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled
until 1