Berlin

Berlin is Germany’s capital and its most populous city, home to 3.7 million people within its official boundaries—more than any other city in the European Union. It also functions as one of Germany’s sixteen states, though by area it ranks as the third-smallest. The city sits entirely within the state of Brandenburg, bordering Brandenburg’s capital, Potsdam, to the southwest. When you count the wider urban area, the population exceeds 5 million, making it Germany’s largest urban zone. The broader Berlin-Brandenburg capital region holds about 6 million residents, placing it second among German metropolitan regions (behind Rhine-Ruhr) and fifth in the EU by gross domestic product.

Berlin grew up along the Spree River, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau. The city also contains lakes in its western and southeastern parts, the biggest being Müggelsee. Roughly a third of Berlin’s total area consists of forests, parks, gardens, rivers, canals, and lakes. First mentioned in records from the 13th century, it arose at the crossing of two important historic trade routes. Over the centuries, Berlin served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (from 1417), the Kingdom of Prussia (from 1701), the German Empire (from 1871), the Weimar Republic (from 1919), and Nazi Germany (from 1933). During the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and the 1848–1849 revolutions, it was a hub for science, art, and philosophy. The Gründerzeit—an industrial boom—brought rapid population growth. By the 1920s, Berlin was the world’s third-largest city by population.

After World War II and the city’s occupation, Berlin was split into West Berlin and East Berlin, divided by the Berlin Wall. East Berlin became the capital of East Germany, while Bonn served as West Germany’s capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin again became the capital of a united Germany. Its location and history have earned it the nickname “the heart of Europe.” Today, Berlin is a global center for culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy relies on high-tech and services, including a wide range of creative industries, startups, research facilities, and media firms. The city is a major continental hub for air and rail travel and has a complex public transit network. Tourism makes it a popular global destination. Key industries include information technology, healthcare, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, automotive manufacturing, and electronics.

Berlin hosts several universities, among them Humboldt University, Technische Universität Berlin, the Berlin University of the Arts, and the Free University of Berlin. The Berlin Zoological Garden is Europe’s most-visited zoo. Babelsberg Studio, the world’s first large-scale movie studio complex, is located here, and many films are set in Berlin. The city boasts three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Museum Island, the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin, and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates. Notable landmarks include the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, Potsdamer Platz, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Berlin also has numerous museums, galleries, and libraries.

The city lies in northeastern Germany, in an area once settled by Slavs, which explains the many Germanized Slavic place names still in use. The name “Berlin” itself comes from the West Slavic language, possibly from an Old Polabian word meaning “swamp.” Of Berlin’s twelve boroughs, five have Slavic-derived names: Pankow, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Köpenick, and Spandau. Across the city’s 96 neighborhoods, 22 bear Slavic-rooted names, including Altglienicke, Alt-Treptow, Britz, Buch, Buckow, Gatow, Karow, Kladow, Köpenick, Lankwitz, Lübars, Malchow, Marzahn, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Rudow, Schmöckwitz, Spandau, Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow, Steglitz, Tegel, and Zehlendorf.

People have lived in the Berlin area for thousands of years. A deer mask from about 9,000 BCE, linked to the Maglemosian culture, has been found here. By around 2,000 BCE, dense settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers marked the Lusatian culture. From about 500 BCE, Germanic tribes established villages on higher ground. After the Semnones left around 200 CE, the Burgundians moved in. In the 7th century, Slavic tribes—later known as the Hevelli and Sprevane—arrived.

In the 12th century, the region came under German control as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. The earliest written mentions of towns in today’s Berlin date from the late 1100s: Spandau in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. German merchants founded two settlements in what is now the city center—Berlin (or Alt-Berlin, at the site of today’s Nikolaiviertel) and Cölln (on the Spree island now called Museum Island). The year 1237 is considered the city’s founding date.

Berlin and Cölln developed close economic and social ties, benefiting from the staple right on two important trade routes: one called the Via Imperii, and another running from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, the two towns formed an alliance with a shared external policy, though they kept separate internal administrations. In 1326, pagan Lithuanians raided Berlin’s territory during the Raid on Brandenburg.

Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918—first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and finally as German emperors. In 1443, Frederick II of Brandenburg began building a new residence in the city.