10 things you didn’t know about Berlin
Monday, 21st September 2009
Berlin is a city like no other in Europe. It has a fascinating and varied history, yet is also one of the most modern and forward-thinking of the contemporary world.
Here are 10 little-known facts about Berlin that may inspire you to visit if you haven’t made it there already...
1. Berlin has been the capital of Germany since 1990, the year after the Berlin Wall fell and Germany was reunified. It was also the capital between 1871 and 1945. The city now has to main centres: Kurfstendamm on the western side and Alexanderplatz on the eastern side.
2. The few bits of the Berlin Wall (Berlinermauer) that remain are covered with graffiti paintings by artists from many different countries. There is also a Berlin Wall museum close to the Brandenburg Gate and where Checkpoint Charlie used to be.
3. Berlin is home to numerous museums, including the Pergammon Museum where you can see a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate from the ancient Babylon. Some of the museums open later on Thursdays, and they’re free for the last four hours.
4. Berlin Central Station (Berlin Hauptbahnhof), the largest railway station in Europe opened in Berlin in 2006. Thousands of trains and hundreds of thousands of passengers pass through it each day.
5. Berlin is home to the largest department store in Europe, the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), which has over 60,000 square metres of floor space.
6. Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten) is the one of the largest in the world with some 14,000 creatures and over 1,500 different species. It is also the birth place of Knut the famous polar bear.
7. Beneath Berlin there are still numerous bunkers and hundreds of kilometres of tunnels built during the Nazi period. Only a few of them are accessible as most have flooded and/or are crumbling.
8. There are thousands of parks throughout Berlin, and on the outskirts of the city you can find forests, lakes and beaches. They are great places to relax, play sports, have a barbeque or to go for a walk or a cycle ride. Popular parks include the Tiergarten, the Volkspark Friedrichshain, Treptower Park, and the Viktoriapark in Kreuzberg.
9. If you stay in the Radission Hotel you might be surprised to see fish swimming by as you go up and down in the glass lifts. This is because the hotel is home to the world’s largest aquarium, and the lifts run through it.
10. Berlin is a great place to hear music of all kinds from classical and opera to rock, pop, jazz and metal. The city has no fewer than three opera houses and numerous orchestras, choirs, bands and other musical groups. There are also hundreds of theatres and cinemas.
Tags: berlin, language course, germany, german
Posted by Simon Ager 2009-09 under Experience Cultures,
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