This is Berlin, the German capital… Berlin is a city in central/western Europe,
home to about 3.5 million people. The capital of the Federal Republic of Germany,
it is the largest city in what is generally considered Central Europe (and therefore Germany),
fifth largest by city proper in Europe, and first largest in the EU
(again, if you only count the city proper to make Paris and Madrid seem artificially smaller).
Berlin is a city famously full of life and that has most certainly seen its fair share of history,
and it also happens to be where I live (or at least one of the two places I bounce between),
so I thought I’d take the time to briefly explain the city I live in.
Berlin resembles cities like New York, London, and Paris in that it is divided
into boroughs (Bezirke), the 12 boroughs are Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (home to Kurfürstendamm
and the Zoologischer Garten, where you have the normal jungle right in the middle of the concrete
jungle), Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (basically the Brooklyn of Berlin), Lichtenberg (home to the East
Berlin zoo [Tierpark], and the old Stasi prison), Marzahn-Hellersdorf (...), Mitte (the city center
of Berlin, as hinted to by its name and location *in der Mitte* of Berlin), Neukölln (nowadays a
very diverse part of Berlin), Pankow (which you will have heard of if you ride enough public
transit), Reinickendorf (home to a lake named Tegel, and a soon-to-close airport named Tegel),
Spandau (the borough that was most obviously its own city in the past), Steglitz-Zehlendorf
(featuring Wannsee and the Free University of Berlin), Tempelhof-Schöneberg (home to an airport
that’s now a park), and Treptow-Köpenick, which you will probably only really see passing through
on your way to Schönefeld Airport, or the future Brandenburg Airport, but more on that in a bit…
or actually let’s talk about transport right now. Getting into Berlin, Berlin has two small active
airports, one big airport that‘s about to open to replace them, one that‘s already closed, and
a bunch of little airfields no one cares about. Being in Germany, Berlin also has great rail
links with the rest of Europe, with high speed trains with direct connections to major cities
like Zeuthen and Cottbus and Werneuchen, oh and also Prague and Warsaw and Amsterdam, but no one
cares about them. These trains generally stop in the futuristic Hauptbahnhof in Moabit (try
no to get lost in there), though they can also stop at several other stations around the city,
so look at your ticket and plan accordingly. Berlin also has great public transit within
(indeed from a North American perspective it is absolutely amazing because it… exists) Berlin,
like other major German cities, kind of has two metro systems interlinked on top of each-other,
the Untergrund/U-Bahn and the Stadtschnell/S-Bahn. The U-Bahn is more of a traditional metro that
never leaves the city limits, while the S-Bahn is a bit more like a commuter rail system that
also goes outside the city (though don‘t confuse it with the regional trains). Berlin
also of course has buses (including double decker buses), as well as trams (but only in the east)
and all these systems are run by the BVG (except the S-Bahn, which is run by Deutsche Bahn).
Also, you have to buy a paper ticket at the station and show it whenever a plain-clothes
fare inspector says “Fahrkarten, bitte”, oh and remember to stamp it if there’s no date on it!
Berlin is not just a city, but also one of the 16 states of Germany, entirely surrounded by the
state of Brandenburg. Berlin has had a ruckus history that I could easily make a video about,
if I travel back in time about a year because I already made that video. After World War II
Berlin was split between East and West Germany, with West Berlin enclaved within East Germany,
meaning that the Berlin Wall actually went all around West Berlin, and was actually
built by the East to keep their own citizens in, and therefore out of the little enclave,
so it was like a fortress but halfway in reverse. The wall fell in 1989 however, and now Berlin
is much more integrated, to the point where at times you can‘t even tell what side you‘re on,
unless you‘re some nerd who‘s looked at enough maps to basically have their own subconscious GPS
in their head [I must transcend geography]. Berlin doesn’t technically have one central
downtown like most cities (well I mean Mitte does mostly do the job),
but due to the city’s aforementioned split past (and possibly also its huge size) it kind of has
3 centers: West Berlin had Zoologischer Garten and the nearby Ku’damm, East Berlin had
Alexanderplatz, and the former border station of Friedrichstraße fits nicely right between the two,
compounded by its proximity to the government quarter, Unter den Linden, and Museum Island,
as well as several of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. Basically if it’s in Berlin and you’ve
heard of it, it’s very likely near one of these places, landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate,
Reichstag, Jewish Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz, KaDeWe, the Fernsehturm, Berliner Dom,
Rotes Rathaus, or Checkpoint Charlie, which is honestly just this little booth in the middle
of a busy intersection, seriously if you only have a few days here I’d maybe scratch this
off the list for something more worth your time. God, look at these tourists with their
cameras at Checkpoint Charlie… wait a minute. I should probably also mention that Berlin has
over 100 museums, dedicated to everything from ancient history to East Germany to natural history
to German-Russian relations to a now closed one on… Currywurst. That actually segues neatly into
a perhaps important discussion on typical Berlin foods. Berlin is a very international city,
especially with regards to the Turkish community, who number about 5% of the city’s population,
and perhaps that can be seen in the ubiquity of the Döner Kebab. Berlin has largely taken its
own spin on it, and now kebab restaurants are absolutely everywhere. Then we have Currywurst,
basically chopped up sausages drowned in ketchup and topped with curry powder,
simple but delicious. Then for dessert you can get the infamous jelly donut known as a Berliner,
or as it’s known in Eastern Germany “Pfannkuchen”, though people here also call it a Berliner. And
finally you can wash that all down with a bottle of Berliner Kindl.
Perhaps I can also take a little bit to introduce some of Berlin’s most famous
icons that you cannot eat or go inside, like the Buddy Bear, the bear from the coat of arms,
and of course the East German Ampelmännchen, who you can also find in parts of the west nowadays.
In short, Berlin is a city in a superposition of old
and new, grungy and built-up, split and unified, compact and spread out, and poor but sexy. It is a
city beaten up by history nonetheless charging on to a better future. But as politically divided as
Germany was between east and west, it is also culturally divided between north and south,
so how does Berlin compare to Munich? Well I just so happen to have a video about that on my channel
that I happen to be uploading at the exact same time you’re uploading this one, and that
also shouts this video out. Mr. Beat? Wow, it’s almost as if we’re doing a collab right now!
I know, right? And that would probably explain why we’re both uploading on a Saturday. Yeah, well
anyway if you liked learning all about Berlin, maybe also come over to my channel where you can
see how it compares to Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria.
And subscribe to learn something new every Sunday! No wait that’s my line!
Thank you as always for watching. Kind of ironic I make this video now, considering that I’m
literally about to go back to Portland tomorrow. Anyways, be sure to check out Mr. Beat’s video if
you haven’t already, but also consider helping out this channel by giving this video a like if you
liked it, share it with your FBI agent, and… yeah, subscribe to learn something new every Sunday.