 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
Berlin [bɛrˈliːn] is the national capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,387,404 inhabitants (as of September 2004; down from 4.5 million before World War II, and generally on the decline since German reunification in 1990). In 2002 the city's population increased slightly (the first increase since 1993).
Berlin is located on the rivers Spree and Havel in the northeast of Germany. It is enclosed by the German state (Bundesland) of Brandenburg, and it constitutes a state of its own.
Formerly a part of Mark Brandenburg, Berlin has been a separate state since 1950, making it one of the three city states among today's 16 German Bundesländer.
Berlin is governed by a Regierender Bürgermeister ("governing mayor"), who is mayor of the city and head of the Bundesland at the same time. Presently, this office is currently held by Klaus Wowereit (SPD); for earlier mayors, see the list of Mayors of Berlin. The city and state parliament is called the Abgeordnetenhaus or House of Representatives, while the executive branch is the Senat or Senate, with Senators holding ministerial portfolios. The current government consists of a coalition of the social democrat SPD and the socialist PDS.
Berlin is subdivided into 12 boroughs called Bezirke, which have been merged from the previously existing 23 boroughs, effective since January 1, 2001. For a map and a list of the old and new borough names, see Boroughs of Berlin.
Main article: History of Berlin
At about 720 two Slavic tribes settled in the Berlin region.
The Heveller settled at the river Havel with their central settlement in Brennabor which later has bacome the town of Brandenburg. Close to the river Spree in todays borough of Berlin Köpenick the Sprewanen were found.
The Heveller founded another place at the river Havel in about 750. This seems to be the closest settlement to the area which is today known as Berlin and was called Spandow (todays Spandau). Spandau and Köpenick which had been protected with barriers around 825, had been the major settlements and later towns in the area until the early 11th century.
Berlin itself is one of Europe's younger cities with its origin in the 12th century. The city developed out of the two settlements Berlin and Cölln on both sides of river Spree in todays borough Mitte. With the date October 28th, 1237 Cölln is first documentary mentioned, Berlin in 1244. Unfortunatly the great town center fire damaged most written record of those early days in 1830.
Both cities formed a tradeunion in 1307 and participated in the Hanse. Their urban development parallel took place for 400 years until Cölln and Berlin finally unified under the name of Berlin in 1709, including the suburbs Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt.
Not much is left of these ancient communities, although some remainders can be seen in the Nikolaiviertel near the Rotes Rathaus and the Klosterkirche close to todays Alexanderplatz.
The overall impression one gets when visiting Berlin today is one of great discontinuity, visibly reflecting the many ruptures of Germany's difficult history in the 20th century.
Although it was the residence of the Prussian kings, Berlin's population did not greatly expand until the 19th century, mainly after becoming the capital of the German Empire in 1871. It remained Germany's capital during the Weimar Republic and under the Nazis; it was therefore a primary target in the Allied air raids of World War II.
After World War II, Berlin, just like Germany itself, was divided into four sectors by the Allies: one each for the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. The Soviets occupied East Berlin, and the other three occupied West Berlin. Berlin was in the middle of the Soviet sector of Germany and became a natural focal point of the opposing sides in the Cold War. Starting on June 26, 1948, Stalin's "Berlin Blockade" of West Berlin led the western countries to supply it through the Berlin Airlift.
The Soviet sector of Berlin, East Berlin, became the capital of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) when the country was formed from the Soviet sector in 1949. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), formed from the other three sectors, had its capital in Bonn. On August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was constructed, splitting West Berlin from the rest of East Germany.
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. By the time Germany reunified in 1990, the Wall was almost completely demolished, with only small sections of ruins remaining, and once again Berlin was made the capital of a complete, unified Germany.
Even though Berlin does have a number of impressive buildings from earlier centuries, the city today is mainly stamped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the governments which had their respective seat in Berlin — namely the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the GDR, and now the reunified Germany — initiated ambitious construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombardments during World War II, and many of the old buildings that were left were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both the West and the East. Much of this destruction was caused by overambitious architecture programs, especially in order to build new living or business quarters. 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 actual Berlin Wall. The East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall. It is still possible to tell if one is in the former eastern or western part by observing the architecture. In the eastern part, many Plattenbauten can be found, thanks to Eastern ambitions to create complete residential areas with fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools per block. 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 are a popular icon in tourist products.
The art scene in Berlin is extremely rich, and the city offers one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe. Most Berliners take great pride in their city's reputation as one of the most socially progressive cities on the continent.
Berlin's annual Carnival of Cultures, a multi-ethnic street parade, and Chistopher Street Day celebrations, Central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event, are openly supported by the city's government and are visited by millions of Berliners each year.
Despite the city's declining overall population and relatively high unemployment levels, a significant number of young Germans and artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as the premeire center of youth and pop culture in German-speaking Europe.
Signs of this expanding role were the 2003 announcement that the annual Popkomm, the world'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 to Berlin from Munich. Universal Music opened its European headquarters on the banks of the River Spree in an area known as the which is planned to developed into one of Europe's leading centers of media-related industries.
Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics.
|
||||
| View Live Article | This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License | |
||
