Berlin is the capital and the biggest city of Germany. It has a population of about 3.5 million and extends over 889 square kilometers. It is located in central Europe, longitude 13:25 E, latitude 52:32 N, 34 m above sea level, at the rivers Spree and Havel. The local time zone is Central European Time (MEZ or MET, one hour in advance of GMT, i.e., MEZ = GMT+1) with daylight savings time in the summer (MESZ = GMT+2).
Historical Note[]
Berlin was the capital of Prussia until 1945 and the capital of Germany between 1871 and 1945 and again since the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990. (The German parliament, called Bundestag, and the German government moved from Bonn to Berlin in 1999.) Between 1949 and 1990, it was divided into East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic, and West Berlin. It was divided by the Berlin Wall between August 13, 1961, and November 9, 1989.
* Berlin (berlin.de, in German) * Berlin City Map (searchable) * Parliament and government quarter (planning; map) * History of the city of Berlin (in German) * History of the city of Berlin (chronology) (short version, in German) * The Berlin Wall (short documentation, in English and in German) * Education in Berlin (in German) * Berlin as capital (in German)
Sights[]
Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate, built 1788-1791 by C. G. Langhans, with Schadow's quadriga on its top), the place Gendarmenmarkt with Deutschem and Französischem Dom (German and French cathedral) and Konzerthaus ("Schauspielhaus", concert hall), the historic Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai quarter) with the oldest church of Berlin, the Nikolai-Kirche, the Deutsche Staatsoper (opera house) Unter den Linden, the Pergamon museum, the Zeughaus, the Siegessäule (Victory Column, 69 m), the Funkturm ("Langer Lulatsch", radio tower, 150 m) and the Fernsehturm (TV tower, 368 m, at Alexanderplatz), the Reichstagsgebäude (house of parliament, built 1884-1894 by P. Wallot), Schloß Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Castle) and Schloß Bellevue (Bellevue Castle, seat of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany), Kongreßhalle (congress hall, now called "Haus der Kulturen der Welt"), ICC (International Congress Center), the ruin and the new church Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, the Olympia stadium (from 1936). Universities in Berlin Berlin has three big universities:
* Freie Universität Berlin * Technische Universität Berlin * Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Colleges in Berlin[]
Berlin also has a number of colleges and polytechnical schools known as "Fachhochschulen".
* Technische Fachhochschule Berlin
* Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin
* Fachhochschule für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpädagogik Berlin (Alice-Salomon-Fachhochschule)
* Fachhochschule für Verwaltung und Rechtspflege Berlin
* Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft
o Berufsakademie Berlin
* Evangelische Fachhochschule für Sozialarbeit
* Katholische Fachhochschule Berlin
* Universität der Künste (UdK)
* Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" (HfM)
* Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch"