Berlin

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coat of Arms

Berlin is the capital of Germany. It is also the biggest city in Germany. About 3,400,000 people live there. (In the year 1943 there were over 4,500,000 people).

The city is in the eastern part of Germany. It is about 70 km west of Poland. Berlin has an area of 891 km². The river Spree runs through Berlin.

Berlin is home to many famous buildings, like the Siegessäule, the Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag and the boulevard Unter den Linden. On the boulevard are the Humboldt University and the State Opera of Berlin. The mayor of the city is Klaus Wowereit (SPD).

Berlin was divided into West Berlin and East Berlin when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The wall divided the city until 1989 when people decided to destroy the wall.

1 Boroughs of Berlin
2 Sights
3 History of Berlin
4 Gallery
5 Sister cities
6 See also
7 Other websites

[edit] Boroughs of Berlin

map of the berlin boroughs

Main article: Boroughs of Berlin

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Lichtenberg-Hohenschönhausen
Marzahn-Hellersdorf
Mitte (Central)
Neukölln
Pankow
Reinickendorf
Spandau
Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Tempelhof-Schöneberg
Treptow-Köpenick

[edit] Sights

Alexanderplatz
Berliner Dom
Brandenburg Gate
Fernsehturm (the TV tower - the highest building in the city)
Potsdamer Platz
Reichstag building
Rotes Rathaus
Straße des 17. Juni (Street of the 17th of June)
Siegessäule (Statue of Victory)
Unter den Linden
Berlin Hauptbahnhof
etc

[edit] History of Berlin

1244 The first writings about a place called Berlin.
1451 The Hohenzollern family moved to Berlin as the place to rule their country
1618–48 After the Thirty Years' War in Germany, the number of Berlin's people dropped to only 6000
1701 Berlin became capital of Prussia.
1709 Berlin and its neighbor city Cölln (not Köln/Cologne) are combined to form the new Berlin.
1806 The army of Napoleon Bonaparte moved into Berlin.
1871 Berlin became capital of the German Empire.
1920 The Old Berlin and some neighbour towns are combined into "Greater Berlin" (Groß-Berlin).
1945 The town is divided into four sectors, used by the allies of World War II. There is a Soviet Sector, an American Sector, a British Sector and a French Sector.
1949 After foundation of the two Germanies, the town is still divided. There is now West Berlin and East Berlin.
1961 The Berlin Wall was built by the communist government of East Germany between the two halves of Berlin.
1990 After Unification of Germany, the Berlin Wall is torn down, and there is only one Berlin again. The new Berlin becomes the capital of one Germany.