Berlin Information

Berlin is the capital city of Germany, it is also the largest city in the country, with a population of around 4 million within the metropolitan area. It is also on of the 16 constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

From the 1890s to the 1920s, Berlin was the forth largest city in the world after London, New York and Paris. Today it is the 6th largest city in the European Union and roughly the 80th largest in the world.

Berlin is located on the Rivers Spree and Havel in northeastern Germany. It is surrounded by the German federal state of Brandenburg. Berlin was established early in the 13th century, it became the capital of Margravate of Brandenburg. Later in the early 18th century, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871 Berlin became the German Empire's capital and has since been the focal point of Germany's history. Berlin became the official capital of the Federal Republic of Germany after Germany's reunification on the 3rd of October 1990.

After the National Socialists seized power in 1933, Berlin became the capital of the Third Reich. The Nazis used the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin for propaganda. Also, before World War II, there were plans to transform Berlin into "Germania, capital of the World". However, these plans were put aside when war broke out.

Large parts of Berlin was destroyed during the WWII by allied bombing raids. After the Red Army occupation and German surrender in 1945, Berlin was divided into four sections corresponding to the occupation zones. The sectors of the Western Allies (United Kingdom, United States and France) formed West Berlin, East Berlin was formed from the sector occupied by the Soviet Union.

Political differences between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies led to the Soviet Union imposing the Berlin Blockade. The Federal Republic of Germany was created in 1949 in West Germany and the German Democratic Republic setup in East Germany. The separation heightened Cold War tensions between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. The east-west conflict ended with the construction of the Berlin Wall built around West Berlin by the GDR in August 1945.

East and West Berlin were completely separated. Westerners were allowed to cross over through strict checkpoints, however easterners were no longer permitted to travel to West Berlin or West Germany at all.

In 1989, after pressure from East Germans, democracy was brought to the East and East Berliners were allowed to cross the Berlin Wall which was soon torn down. In 1990 the east and west parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin became the capital according to the unification treaty.