BERLINOUR CITY

History and Present

History of Berlin

12th -13th century• 1230

The church Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas’s) is built in the area known today as the Nikolaiviertel. The first documentary reference of the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s) dates from 1292.

• 1237Berlin dates its official founding to 1237, the year of the first recorded mention of Cölln. The first documentary reference to Berlin followed in 1244.

• 1280Berlin is given a new town seal depicting, for the first time, two bears.

14th -15th century• 1400Berlin and Cölln have roughly 8,500 inhabitants and 1,100 buildings. The twin cities have three town halls, three hospitals, churches, and monasteries with residences for the clergy and the court of the margrave.• 1411Administration and control of the Mark is given to the Burgrave of Nuremberg, the Hohenzollern Friedrich VI, initiating 500 years of Hohenzollern rule in Berlin. At the Council of Constance in 1415, King Sigismund elevates him to the rank of Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Friedrich I• 1443The foundation stone of what will become Berlin’s City Palace is laidon the “Spree island” in Cölln. Construction and reconstruction continue until 1716, when the building takes its final form.

17th -18th century• 1701On 18 January 1701 in Konigsberg, the elector Friedrich III has himself crowned Friedrich I, King in Prussia. Berlin becomes the royal residence.• 1709 King Friedrich I decrees the unification of the five towns of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt to form t he capital and royal residence of Berlin. The unified city has a population of 55,000.• 1732Until 1739, around 1,200 Bohemians settle in Berlin to escape religious persecution. In 1737 they found Böhmisch- Rixdorf (now Neukölln). Berlin became bigger in the 18th century.

18th -19th century1809New municipal legislation gives Berlin wide powers of self-government. Elected for the first time, a city assembly puts forward a mayoral candidate to be approved by the king.1883New Theatres open. Amongst them the still well known “Deutsches Theater” and a Theater which later becomes the home of Berthold Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble.1891The Berlin mechanical engineer Otto Lilienthal makes the first successful gliding flight in history (25 meters). Lilienthal died in a flying accident in 1896. The Lilienthal memorial at the “Fliegeberg,” his artificial hill in Lichterfelde, and today’s Otto Lilienthal Airport in Tegel commemorate him and his pioneering achievement.

Berlin and the Second World War

1933Adolf Hitler’s rise to power leads to the end of democracy in Germany and Berlin. On March 21, the first concentration camp in the Berlin area was opened. Thousands of people were killed there.The first organized boycotts of Jewish businesses, doctors, and lawyers took place on April 1st.

1934/35All chosen committees of the city were closed. Hitler took over all power in Berlin. The Nazis made many demonstrations and marched through the Brandenburg Gate. Everybody who did not join them was an enemy.

1938On November 9, during the pogrom known as the “Night of Broken Glass” (“Kristallnacht”), members of the SA and the SS set fire to nine of the twelve synagogues in Berlin, destroyed Jewish-owned shops, and arrested 1200 Jewish citizens. Most of those arrested are taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

1939On 1st September Germany declared war against Poland.The Second World War starts in Berlin, too.

1940Enemy aircraft bombed the city for the first time in August. The half city was destroyed till the end of the war. Thousands of people died.

1945On April 21 the Red Army crossed the city boundaries for the first time and the battle for Berlin began. It ended with Hitler’s suicide on April 30 and the surrender of the city on May 2. For Berlin, the war is over.

Results of the war:

The German economy was destroyed. Thousands of people were homeless, injured or dead. America, France, England and the Soviet Union (Russia) divided Germany and Berlin into 4 parts. Later England, America and France created one part. Germany was divided into East Germany and West Germany. Berlin was divided, too.

The Berlin Wall

As a result of the second world war and the cold war East Germany built a wall to West Germany and around West Berlin.People from East Berlin could not go to West Berlin anymore and the people in West Berlin could not leave the town for many years.

The Berlin Wall was built 13th August 1961.The Berlin Wall was 167,8 km Long.

From the east side it was forbidden to go near it.From the west side people painted the wall with pictures and graffiti.

The Wall lasted more than thirty years until the wall fell and the people in Berlin and Germany were united again.

The Wall was through the whole town. The famous Brandenburg Gate was directly on the borderline. For many years nobody was allowed to cross it.

Many famous people like John F. Kennedy came to Berlin and demanded the opening of the wall.

„TODESSTREIFEN“ „DEATH STRIP“

That means that there was a zone where nobody was allowed to go.Who tried to cross it was killed.

Regularly soldiers with dogs and guns patrolled the „Death Strip“ – day and night.

The fall of the Berlin WallIn summer and autumn 1989 the people in East Germany started to demonstrate against the government and demanded a free Germany.

The Berlin Wall fell on 9th November1989 Everybody in Germany was very happy.Thousands of Berliner went to the checkpoints.

The first checkpoint opened at about 10.30 p.m. in the Bornholmer Straße.

Sights of Berlin

Bernauer Straße separates the districts Wedding and Mitte. Until 1989 the Wall ran along here. The documentation centre on the history of the division of Berlin was opened in November 1999. It shows the political background and people’s individual experience of being permanently faced with the wall in the daily life. Very little is left of the original Wall, most of the wall segments are given to museums all over the world or sold.

Berlin Wall Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

It was built 1788-1791 as a victory gate. Berlin once had 18 city gates - this is the only one remaining. Badly damaged in the war, it was rebuilt in 1957. After the wall was built the Gate became a landmark and symbol of the division and reunification of Germany.

Victory ColumnThe 70-metre-high column is crowned by the gilded victory goddess, nicknamed "Goldelse" -Golden Lizzie -by the Berliners. Among other things, she has decorated the cover of certain books. Incidentally, the gun barrels around the column are genuine. Below are the Austrian, then the French and on top the Danish.

House at Checkpoint Charlie

Permanent and special exhibition cover topics in German history after 1945, especially the division of Berlin, the building of the Wall and its influence on daily life. Documentary film shows and especially talks with eyewitnesses give a memorable picture of the relationship between the two parts of Germany during the Cold War.

Olympiastadion

Olympic Stadium Built by Werner March on the Maifeld for the 1936 Olympic Games, the stadium holds up to76,000 spectators. In 1936 the black runner Jesse Owens won the 100-metre race here (a completely un-Aryan result).Berliners hope the local football team Hertha will soon win the cup here. Plenty to see around here for history fans.

Berlin Cathedral

Berlin’s most impressive church building with a bigger floor area than Cologne Cathedral. It was severely damaged in the war and restoration work went on into the 1990s. The magnificent dome gives the building it’s character. In the Hohenzollern Crypt the Prussian kings and Kaisers lie in dust and ashes.

TV-Tower at Alexanderplatz

TV Tower at Alexanderplatz Berlin's tallest building. So that everybody could see the heights socialist building. Today it's three meters taller with a new . Since Berlin lies on the North German plain it's worth going up the tower to see the view over the city from the platform at 203 metres or the revolving café at 207 metres. On the horizon you can imagine the city limits even if you can't see them.

The Reichstag

A symbol of German history. Pictures that went round the world: in 1945 the Soviet flag was hoisted on the Reichstag, in 1995 it was wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude and since 1999 it has been the seat of the German Parliament. The dedication above the entrance reads: "To the German People". The dome built by Sir Norman Foster is not entirely in tune with this, because: anyone, if German of from abroad, can walk around freely inside it until midnight

Ice Hockey Club “Eisbären” Berlin

Home is the “O2 World”

The „Eisbären Berlin“ (Polar Bears Berlin) is one of the most successful ice hockey teams in Germany.

They won the German championship tree times: in 2005, 2006 and 2008.The team played in the Berlin district of Hohenschönhausen but in autumn 2008, the team moved to their new home arena, the O2 World. The old stadium is still being used as a training facility.

The official Eisbären anthem "Hey, wir wollen die Eisbären seh'n" was recorded by the veteran East German band the Puhdys in 1997.

The old stadium The new stadium

Colours Red, white, blueLeague German Eishockey-LigaHead coach Don Jackson

This is the whole team with managers and mascot.

That is the Logo of the Team.

I play ice hockey myself, but I play not at the Eisbären but at F.A.S.S. Berlin. This is a regional league team. My position is defence or forward.

I visit every now and then the Eisbären in the O² World. I know the team, because I played at the “Eisbären Juniors Berlin e.V.” for some years.

Hertha BSC

The full name is Hertha Berlin sport club.The nick name is “the old lady” because Hertha is also a woman´s name.Hertha was founded July 25.1892.The chairman is Werner Gegenbauer and the Manager is Lucien Favre.Hertha is a first league of Germany.They are on the first place in the ranking.Hertha is a German Football club based in Berlin.Hertha BSC was a founding club of the German football association in Leipzig 1990.Hertha is a big sport club with 15000 members.

The colours of the tricots are blue and white.

Here you can see the Olympia Stadium Hertha plays its matches in this.The Olympia Stadium was built in 1934.The Olympia Stadium was rebuilt from 2000 to 2004.The stadium has 74.228 seats.The Olympia Stadium is for the Olympic games and for the football games.

On the picture you can see the players of Hertha and the mascot It's a kind of bear.

This is the mascot Herthino.

I like Hertha because they play well and they look well.I was at a game in the Olympia Stadium where Hertha played against Cologne.Hertha won the game.The mood was very good and funny.We sang and danced

And the mascot Herthino is she best.

One of the mega events in Berlin is the New Year’s Eve Party at Brandenburg Gate

(Brandenburger Tor). People from all over the world cheerfully celebrate the turn of the year, and Berliners together with German guests and visitors from all over the world celebrate this extraordinary event in the

German capital. An overall space of 80,000 square meters with show stages, video

screens, party tents, food and refreshment stands and of course the spectacular midnight

fireworks as the ultimate highlight of the event.

With more than one million guests, 500 journalists from all over the world and 350 national and international TV channels the New Year’s Eve Party in Berlin is one of the

world’s largest events at the turn of the year.

Mega Events in Berlin One of the mega events in Berlin is the New Year’s Eve Party at Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor). People from all over the world cheerfully celebrate the turn of the year, and Berliners together with German guests and visitors from all over the world celebrate this extraordinary event in the German capital. An overall space of 80,000 square meters with show stages, video screens, party tents, food and refreshment stands and of course the spectacular midnight fireworks as the ultimate highlight of the event.With more than one million guests, 500 journalists from all over the world and 350 national and international TV channels the New Year’s Eve Party in Berlin is one of the world’s largest events at the turn of the year.

Mega Events in Berlin

Sporting Events

A big sporting event was the World Cup in 2006 in Germany. In Berlin it was celebrated at the Brandenburg Gate on the Street of the 17th June and in the Olympic stadium (Olympiastadion). But there are many other celebrations. For example the American-Football-Team Berlin Thunder controverter their games in the NFL Europe till 2007. Sometimes there are events without sporting background. Like the church congress. The Olympia stadium owns the biggest stadium chapel in the world.

Parks and Outdoor ActivitiesOne of the biggest Parks in Berlin is the Tiergarten. It‘s located in Berlin-Mitte.With 210 square metres it is the second largest Park in Germany. In German parks it’s allowed to walk out with the dog and to relax and to barbecue. There are many chances to jog and to sunbathe.

Discos, Clubs and Restaurants

In Berlin are many international restaurants. For example Indian Restaurants, Asia Restaurants and Italian Restaurants. You can also find all kind of clubs and discos. Some are open 24 hours. Berlin is very multifaceted. That’s maybe the reason for celebrities to visit Berlin as Barbra Streisand. She said she won’t put a step into Germany because of the history (She comes from a Jewish family). But she came to Berlin and gave a brilliant concert.

Every day there are concerts in Berlin. We have big concert halls and small clubs for Rock-Fans, Rap and R&B-Fans and many more. There is something for everyone.

That was something about the history and about today's life in our city, Berlin.Berlin had a difficult history but today it offers something for everybody. The people in Berlin are open minded and tolerant. We all love to live in Berlin. Berlin is cool and full of life.

Sinah, Lisa, LeonieEric, Melanie, Ben