Name	Berlin
Image photo	Berlin skyline 2009wl2.jpg
State coa	Coat of arms of Berlin.svg
Coa size	70
Map	Berlin in Germany and EU.png
Map size	270
Map text	Location within European Union and Germany
Flag	Flag_of_Berlin.svg
Area	891.85
Population	3440441
Pop ref
Pop date	31 March 2010
Pop metro	5000000
Elevation	34 - 115
Gdp	90.1
Gdp year	2009
Website	berlin.de / 3D Berlin
Leader title	Governing Mayor
Leader	Klaus Wowereit
Leader party	SPD
Ruling party1	SPD
Ruling party2	Die Linke
Votes	4
Divisions	12 boroughs
Nuts	DE3
State	Berlin
Vorwahl	030
Kfz	B
Iso region	DE-BE
Plz	10001–14199
Coordinates display	display=inline, title
Date	September 2010

Berlin (; ) is the capital city of Germany, and is one of the sixteen states of Germany. It has a population of 3.4 million people, Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area, comprising 5 million people from over 190 nations. Geographically embedded in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's territory is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was successively the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945). Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany while West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of all Germany hosting 147 foreign embassies.

Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, congress and convention venues. Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the EU. The urban and historical legacy has made it a popular setting for international film productions. The city is recognized for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, public transportation networks and a high quality of living. Berlin has evolved into a global focal point for young individuals and artists attracted by a liberal lifestyle and modern zeitgeist.

History

The name Berlin is of unknown origin, but may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- "swamp".

The earliest evidence of settlements in today's Berlin central areas is a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192. The first written mention of towns in the area of present-day Berlin dates from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197, and Köpenick in 1209, though these areas did not join Berlin until 1920. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244. His successor, Frederick II Irontooth, established Berlin as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and finally as German emperors. In 1448 citizens rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the construction of a new royal palace by Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. In 1451 Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.

Seventeenth to nineteenth centuries

(1712–1786) was one of Europe's enlightened monarchs.]]

The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 had devastating consequences for Berlin. A third of the houses were damaged and the city lost half of its population. Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots. More than 15,000 Huguenots went to Brandenburg, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1700, approximately 20 percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence on the city was immense. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.

With the coronation of Frederick I in 1701 as king (in Königsberg), Berlin became the new capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (instead of Königsberg); this was a successful attempt to centralize the capital in the very outspread Prussian Kingdom, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1740 Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Berlin became, under the rule of the philosophically oriented Frederick II, a center of the Enlightenment. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city. In 1815 the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.

The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including Wedding, Moabit, and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. On 1 April 1881 it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.

Twentieth century

(Potsdamer Platz, 1945).]]

At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. This new area encompassed Spandau and Charlottenburg in the west, as well as several other areas that are now major municipalities. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin became internationally renowned as a center of cultural transformation, at the heart of the Roaring Twenties.

On 30 January 1933 (Machtergreifung), Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 170,000 before 1933. After the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, thousands of the city's German Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz. During the Second World War, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943–45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Among the hundreds of thousands who died during the Battle for Berlin, an estimated 125,000 were civilians. After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.

in 1986, painted on the western side. People crossing the so-called "death strip" on the eastern side were at risk of being shot.]]

All four allies retained shared responsibility for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet controlled territory. The allies successfully overcame the blockade by the Berlin airlift, which flew in food and other supplies to the city from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany, and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but for all practical purposes, it was assimilated to the Federal Republic of Germany without actually being a part of it. West Berlin issued its own postage stamps which were often the same as West German postage stamps but with the additional word 'Berlin' added. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.

The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory. East Germany, however, proclaimed East Berlin (which it described only as "Berlin") as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the Western powers. Although half the size and population of West Berlin, it included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government, meanwhile, established itself provisionally in Bonn.

The tensions between east and west culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and other barriers around West Berlin by East Germany on 13 August 1961 and were exacerbated by a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany.

(main station), Charité hospital, Berliner Dom, City hall, TV tower at Alexanderplatz, Spree river, East Side Gallery, O2 World.]]

Berlin was completely divided. It was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other only through strictly controlled checkpoints. For most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access across East Germany to West Berlin and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.

In 1989, pressure from the East German population broke free across the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, which was subsequently mostly demolished. Not much is left of it today; the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall. Democracy and market economy changed East Germany and East Berlin.

On 3 October 1990 the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin became the German capital according to the unification treaty. In June 1991 the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the (West) German capital back from Bonn to Berlin. In 1999, the German parliament and government began their work in Berlin.

Geography

Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about west of the border with Poland in an area with marshy terrain, and is surrounded by the federal state of Brandenburg. The Berlin–Warsaw Urstromtal (ice age melt water flow), between the low Barnim plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last ice age. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree meets the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.

in foreground and skyscrapers of Potsdamer Platz up to the right.]]

Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim plateau, while most of the boroughs Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Urstromtal and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge. Both hills have an elevation of about . The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.

Climate

Berlin has a humid continental climate according to the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a temperate climate.

Summers are warm with average high temperatures of and lows of . Winters are cold with average high temperatures of and lows of . Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.

Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through March, but snow cover does not usually remain for long. The recent winter of 2009/2010 was an exception as there was a permanent snow cover from late December till early March.

Cityscape

by night]]

The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin​—​the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany​—​initiated ambitious construction programs, each with its own distinctive character. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II and many of the old buildings that escaped the bombs were eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East. Much of this destruction was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.

In the eastern part, many Plattenbauten can be found, reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas with fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools. Berlin's unique recent history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings.

Architecture

The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at . Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its high observation floor. Starting here the Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Joseph Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. The previously built-up part in front of it is the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological scene.

.]] The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. It has recently undergone a restoration.

The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German euro coins (10 cent, 20 cent, and 50 cent). The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.

at dusk.]] The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin whose name dates back to the Napoleonic occupation of the city, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Französischer Dom with its observation platform and the German Cathedral. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.

The Berlin Cathedral, a Protestant cathedral and the third church on this site, is located on the Spree Island across from the site of the Stadtschloss and adjacent to the Lustgarten. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. Like many other buildings, it suffered extensive damage during the Second World War. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.

Unter den Linden is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Roaring Twenties. It combines 20th century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down. To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.

The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. Oranienburger Straße and the nearby New Synagogue were the center of Jewish culture before 1933. Although the New Synagogue is still an anchor for Jewish history and culture, Oranienburger straße and surrounding areas are increasingly known for the shopping and nightlife.

is the largest existing palace in Berlin.]]

The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.

The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Near by on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.

West of the center, Schloss Bellevue is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War and largely destroyed, has been rebuilt and is the largest surviving historical palace in Berlin.

The Funkturm Berlin is a tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators, and has a restaurant and an observation deck above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.

Government

is the site of the German parliament.]]

Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the President of Germany, whose official residence is Schloss Bellevue. Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, it has been one of the three city states, together with Hamburg and Bremen, among the present sixteen states of Germany.

The Bundesrat ("federal council") is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords. Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The European Union invests in several projects within the city of Berlin. Infrastructure, education and social programs are co-financed with budgets taken from EU cohesion funds.

City state

The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.

The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the Federal State (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2001 this office has been held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. The city's government is based on a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and Die Linke.

The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city state. Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculates an increasing budget surplus in 2008. The total budget includes an estimated amount of €5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesländer. Mainly due to reunification-related expenditures, Berlin as a German state has accumulated more debt than any other city in Germany, with the most current estimate being €60 ($84)bn in December 2007.

Boroughs

Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke), but before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform there were 23. Each borough is subdivided into a number of localities (Ortsteile), which represent the traditional urbanized areas that inhabitants identify with. Some of these have been rearranged several times over the years. At present the city of Berlin consists of 95 such localities. The localities often consist of a number of city neighborhoods (usually called Kiez in the Berlin dialect) representing small residential areas.

Each borough is governed by a Borough Council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five Councilors (Bezirksstadträte) and a Borough Mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The Borough Council is elected by the Borough Assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the Council of Mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's Governing Mayor, which advises the Senate.

The localities have no government bodies of their own, even though most of the localities have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920. The subsequent position of locality representative (Ortsvorsteher) was discontinued in favor of borough mayors.

Sister cities

Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities. Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies.

There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are: 1991 Moscow, Russia |valign="top"| 1991 Budapest, Hungary 1992 Brussels, Belgium 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia 1993 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 1993 Mexico City, Mexico 1994 Beijing, China |valign="top"| 1994 Tokyo, Japan 1994 Buenos Aires, Argentina 1995 Prague, Czech Republic 2000 Windhoek, Namibia 2000 London, United Kingdom |}

Demographics

As of March 2010, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,440,441 registered inhabitants The city's population density was 3,848 inhabitants per km² (9,966/sq mi). The urban area of Berlin stretches beyond the city limits and comprises about 3.7 million people while the metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region is home to about 4.3 million in an area of . The Larger Urban Zone was home to over 4.9 million people in an area of 17,385 km² in the year 2004. making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.

In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze made immigration from the former Soviet Union possible. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community. The current decade experiences an increasing influx from various Western countries. Especially young EU-Europeans are settling in the city.

In December 2008, 470,051 residents (13.9% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from 195 different countries. An estimated 394,000 citizens (11.7%) are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany. The largest groups of foreign national are those from Turkey (111,285), Poland (43,700), Serbia (22,251), Italy (14,964), Russia (14,915), the United States (14,186), France (13,113), Vietnam (12,494), Croatia (10,752), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10,556), and the United Kingdom (10,196).

The most spoken non-indigenous languages in Berlin are Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, English, Serbo-Croatian, Greek and other Asian languages. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and Serbo-Croatian can be heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle-Eastern and Yugoslavian immigrant communities, whereas Vietnamese, Russian and Polish have more native speakers residing in the eastern part of Berlin.

Religion

, a Protestant cathedral.]]

More than sixty percent of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation and Berlin is said to be the atheist capital of Europe. The largest denominations are the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (a united church within the Evangelical Church in Germany) with 19.4% of the population as of 2008, and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.4%. 2.7% of the population adhere to other Christian denominations and 8.8% are Muslims. Approximately 80% of the 12,000 Jews now residing in Berlin have come from the former Soviet Union.

Berlin is seat of both a Roman Catholic bishop (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin) and a Protestant bishop (Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia). The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.

There are 36 Baptist congregations, 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church and an Anglican church in Berlin.

Berlin has 76 mosques, 11 synagogues, and two Buddhist temples. There are also a number of humanist and atheist groups in the city.

Economy

In 2009, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% (-3.5% in Germany) and totaled €90.1 (~$117) billion. Berlin's economy is today dominated by the service sector, around 80% of all companies are operating in this field. The unemployment rate steadily decreased in the last decade and reached a 13 year-low in 2008; it was at 14.2% (German average: 7.9%).

Among the Fortune Global 500 and the 30 German DAX companies, Siemens (sharing its seat with Munich) controls a headquarter in Berlin. The state-owned firm Deutsche Bahn has its headquarters in Berlin as well. A multitude of German and international companies established secondary departments or service offices in the city. Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the railway company Deutsche Bahn, the hospital company Charité, the local public transport company BVG, the service provider Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group. Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Schering Pharma and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second most important German airline Air Berlin and the rail company Deutsche Bahn are headquartered in Berlin. In Germany, Universal Music is headquartered in Berlin as well.

Fast-growing sectors are communications, life sciences, mobility and services with information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology and environmental services, transportation and medical engineering. The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have established economic significance, and the Berlin Brandenburg region ranks among the top three innovative regions in the EU.

Tourism

Berlin is among the top three convention cities in the world and is home to Europe's biggest convention center in the form of the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC). Berlin has established itself as the third most-visited city destination in the European Union.

Education

outside the Humboldt University]]

The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in the European Union. The city has four universities and 27 private, professional and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering students a wide range of disciplines. 135,327 students were registered at the 31 universities and colleges in 2008/09. The three largest universities account for around 100,000 students. These are the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with 35,000 students, the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin) with around 35,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin with 30,000 students. The Universität der Künste has about 4,300 students.

The city has a high concentration of research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. A total number of 62,000 scientists are working in research and development.

The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin which was founded in 1689 for the benefit of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction. The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school located in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of Diplomats and the expat community. There are also four schools ("Humanistische Gymnasien") teaching Latin and Classical Greek, which are traditionally renowned for highest academic standards. Two of them are state schools (Steglitzer Gymnasium in Steglitz and Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf), one is Protestant (Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Wilmersdorf) and one Jesuit (Canisius-Kolleg in the "Embassy Quarter" in Tiergarten).

Berlin is one of the co-location centres of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (Future information and communication society and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Culture

is a World Heritage Site.]]

Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation. The diversity and vivacity of the Zeitgeist Metropolis led to an ever-changing and trendsetting image among major cities. The city has a very diverse art scene, and is home to around 420 art galleries. Young Germans and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as a center of youth and popular culture in Europe.

Signs of this expanding role was the 2003 announcement that the annual Popkomm, Europe's largest music industry convention, would move to Berlin after 15 years in Cologne. Shortly thereafter, the Universal Music Group and MTV also decided to move their European headquarters and main studios to the banks of the River Spree in Friedrichshain. In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title of "City of Design" by UNESCO. The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters there as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, TVB, N24 and Sat.1. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin. Additionally, most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city. American radio programming from National Public Radio NPR is also broadcast on the FM dial.

is the largest publicly attended film festival worldwide.]]

Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Junge Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarters of two major German-language publishing houses: Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publishes books, periodicals, and multimedia products.

Berlin is an important center in the European and German film industry. It is home to more than one thousand film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year.

Nightlife, festivals

Berlin has one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe. Throughout the 1990s, twentysomethings from surrounding countries, particularly those in Eastern and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene the premier nightlife destination of Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were renovated. Many had not been rebuilt since the Second World War. Illegally occupied by young people, they became a fertile ground for all sorts of underground and counterculture gatherings. It is also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs Tresor, WMF, Ufo, E-Werk, the infamous KitKatClub and Berghain. The Linientreu, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, has been well known since the 1990s for techno music. The LaBelle discothèque in Friedenau became famous as the location of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. Berlin is notable for the length of its parties. Clubs are not required to close at a certain time on the weekends; consequently, many parties last well into the morning, if not all weekend. Berghain features the Panorama Bar, so named because the bar opens its shades at daybreak, allowing party-goers a panorama view of Berlin after dancing through the night.

SO36 in Kreuzberg originally focused largely on punk music but today has become a popular venue for dances and parties of all kinds. SOUND, located from 1971 to 1988 in Tiergarten and today in Charlottenburg, gained notoriety in the late 1970s for its popularity with heroin users and other drug addicts as described in Christiane F.'s book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.

The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every Pentecost weekend, and the Christopher Street Day, which is Central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event and is celebrated the last weekend of June, are openly supported by the city's government. Berlin is also well known for the techno carnival Love Parade, club transmediale and the cultural festival Berliner Festspiele, which include the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress.

Museums, galleries

presents an exhibition on two millennia of German–Jewish history.]]

Berlin is home to 153 museums. and the Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of the collections they house.

Apart from the Museum Island, there are a wide variety of other museums. The Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the thirteenth to the 18th centuries, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, located in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Bauhaus Archive is an architecture museum.

of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum.]]

The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a brachiosaurus), and a preserved specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.

In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Indian Art, the Museum of East Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War) and the Brücke Museum (an art museum). In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi), is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum. The museum, which is a private venture, exhibits a comprehensive array of material about people who devised ingenious plans to flee the East. The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.

Performing arts

conducting the renowned Berlin Philharmonic.]]

Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters. it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan. The current principal conductor is Simon Rattle. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin, since the Philharmonic was based in West Berlin. Its current principal conductor is Lothar Zagrosek. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.

Cuisine

was invented in Berlin]]

Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. 12 restaurants have been awarded by the Michelin guide, the highest number in Germany.

Traditional foods are embedded in Northern German eating habits and include rustic and hearty dishes using pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers and potatoes.

Typical Berliner dishes include Currywurst invented in 1949, Eisbein, the Berliner (pastry) known as a , and Leber (liver) Berliner Art.

Turkish and Arab immigrant workers have brought their culinary traditions to the city, for example the döner kebab, Falafel and Lahmacun which have become a common fast-food staple. The modern fast-food version of the Döner was invented in Berlin in 1971.

Recreation

is the most visited zoo in Europe and presents the most diverse range of species in the world.]]

Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. It is the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut, born in December 2006. Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 in the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of Lichtenberg, is Europe's largest zoo in terms of square meters.

Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world.

The Tiergarten is Berlin's largest park located in Mitte and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné. In Kreuzberg the Viktoriapark provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin. Treptower Park beside the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city. Its summit is man-made and covers a Second World War bunker and rubble from the ruins of the city; at its foot is Germany's main memorial to Polish soldiers.

Berlin is known for its numerous beach bars along the river Spree. Together with the countless cafés, restaurants and green spaces in all districts, they create an important source of recreation and leisure time.

Sports

hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup final.]] is known as a flat and fast course.]]

Berlin has established a high profile reputation as a host city of international sporting events. Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. The IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in the Olympiastadion in August 2009. The annual Berlin Marathon and the annual ÅF Golden League event ISTAF for athletics are also held here. The WTA Tour holds the Qatar Total German Open annually in the city. Founded in 1896, it is one of the oldest tennis tournaments for women. The FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near Alexanderplatz to present a beach volleyball Grand Slam every year.

Open Air gatherings of several hundred thousands spectators have become popular during international football competitions like the World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship. Fans of the respective national football squads are coming together to watch the match on huge videoscreens. The event is known as the Fan Mile and takes place at the Brandenburg Gate every two years.

Several major clubs representing the most popular spectator sports in Germany have their base in Berlin.

Infrastructure

Transportation

is the largest crossing station in Europe and has operated since 2006.]]

Berlin has developed a highly complex transportation infrastructure providing very diverse modes of urban mobility. 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, of roads run through Berlin, of which are motorways ("Autobahn"). With 358 cars per 1000 inhabitants in 2008 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a German state and as a major European city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.

Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest crossing station in Europe. Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Nuremberg, Hamburg, Freiburg and more. It also runs the Airport express, as well as trains to international destinations like Moscow, Vienna, and Salzburg.

Berlin is known for its highly developed bike lane system. It is estimated, there are 710 bicycles per 1000 inhabitants. Around 500,000 daily riders accounting for 13% of total traffic in 2008. The Senate of Berlin aims to increase the number to 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Riders have access to of bike paths including approx. mandatory bicycle paths, off-road bicycle routes, of bike lanes on the roads, of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, of combined pedestrian/bike paths and of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks. The and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background:#d8e2ef; color:navy;" |System ! style="background:#d8e2ef; color:navy;" |Stations/ Lines/ Net length ! style="background:#d8e2ef; color:navy;" |Passengers per year ! style="background:#d8e2ef; color:navy;" |Operator/ Notes |- |S-Bahn |166 / 15 / |376 million |DB/ Mainly overground rail system. Some suburban stops. |- |U-Bahn |173 / 10 / |457 million |BVG/ Mainly underground rail system. 24hour-service on weekends. |- |Tram |398 / 22 / |171 million | BVG/ Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs. |- |Bus |2627 / 147 / |407 million |BVG/ Extensive services in all boroughs. 46 Night Lines |- |Ferry |6 lines | |BVG/ All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket. Tegel lies within the city limits and is the European hub of Air Berlin. Whereas Schönefeld handles mainly low-cost-aviation and is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg.

Berlin's airport authority aims to transfer all of Berlin's air traffic in June 2012 to a newly built airport at Schönefeld, to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport. City authorities aim to establish a European aviation hub with a gateway to Asia.

Utilities

Berlin's power supply is mainly provided by the Swedish firm Vattenfall and relies more heavily than other electricity producers in Germany on lignite as an energy source. Because burning lignite produces harmful emissions, Vattenfall has announced a commitment to shift towards reliance on cleaner, renewable energy sources. Former West Berlin's electricity supply was provided by thermal power stations. To facilitate buffering during load peaks, accumulators were installed during the 1980s at some of these power stations. These were connected by static inverters to the power grid and were loaded during times of low power consumption and unloaded during times of high consumption.

In 1993 the power connections to the surrounding areas, which had been capped in 1951, were restored. In the western districts of Berlin, nearly all power lines are underground cables; only a 380 kV and a 110 kV line, which run from Reuter substation to the urban Autobahn, use overhead lines. The Berlin 380-kV electric line was constructed when West Berlin's electrical system was a totally independent system and not connected to those of East or West Germany. This has now become the backbone of the whole city's power system.

Carmaker Daimler AG and utility RWE AG are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in Berlin called "E-Mobility Berlin."

Health system

main building]]

Berlin has a long tradition as a city of medicine and medical technology. The history of medicine has been widely influenced by scientists from Berlin. Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, while Robert Koch discovered the vaccinations for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis bacillus.

The Charité hospital complex is today the largest university hospital in Europe tracing back its origins to the year 1710. The Charité is spread over four sites and comprises 3,300 beds, around 14,000 staff, 8,000 students, over 60 operating theatres with an annual turnover of over one billion euros. It is a joint institution of the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University of Berlin, including a wide range of institutes and medical competence centers. Among them are the German Heart Center, one of the most renowned transplantation centers, the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics. Scientific research is complemented by many industry research departments of companies such as Siemens, Schering or Debis.

Quotations

was born in Berlin-Schöneberg]] "Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein" ("Berlin is a city condemned always to become, never to be.")(Karl Scheffler, author of Berlin: Ein Stadtschicksal, 1910) "Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" ("I still have a suitcase in Berlin")(Marlene Dietrich, 1951 song by the actress and singer born in Berlin-Schöneberg.) "Ich bin ein Berliner". ("I am a citizen of Berlin") (John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, 1963 while visiting Berlin) "The greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine."(David Bowie, singer, on 1970s Berlin) "Berlin wird leben und die Mauer wird fallen." ("Berlin will live and the wall will fall.")(Willy Brandt, Former Governing Mayor of West Berlin and chancellor of Germany, 10 November 1989) "Berlin ist arm, aber sexy." ("Berlin is poor, but sexy.") (Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor, in a press interview, 2003)

References

Bibliography

External links

Official Website Berlin.de

Official Berlin Business Portal

Official Website of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area

Regional directory

Berlin Tourist Information

Monthly English-language magazine for Berlin

English-language city guide for Berlin

Berlin photo gallery Images of Berlin and its most popular monuments.

Category:States of Germany Category:German state capitals Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:Members of the Hanseatic League Category:States and territories established in 1237 Category:Populated places established in the 13th century Category:City-states Category:European Capitals of Culture

Name	Sebastian Vettel
Caption	Vettel at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix
Nationality	German
Date of birth	July 03, 1987
2010 team	Red Bull Racing
2010 car number	5
2011 team	Red Bull Racing
2011 car number	1
Races	62
Championships	1 ()
Hat tricks	1
Wins	10
Podiums	19
Points	381
Poles	15
Fastest laps	6
First race	2007 United States Grand Prix
First win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
Last win	2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Last race
Last season	2010
Last position	1st (256 pts)

Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won in the 2010 season. In the same year he, along with teammate Mark Webber, helped Red Bull win the World Constructors' Championship.

Vettel was born in Heppenheim, Germany. He began racing karts in 1995, and rose quickly through the junior series before being brought into Formula One by BMW Sauber. By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix at the 2007 US Grand Prix when he replaced the injured Robert Kubica and the youngest driver to score points in the same race. After moving to Toro Rosso, Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a race at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to secure pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year. In 2009, he joined Red Bull Racing and finished the season as the youngest ever runner-up behind Jenson Button, before winning the title in 2010 and becoming the youngest driver ever to win the championship.

Early and personal life

Vettel was born in Heppenheim, West Germany in July 1987. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school; he also mentioned that his childhood heroes were "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson but realised that he couldn't as he didn't have the voice. He has one younger brother, Fabian and two older sisters Melanie and Stefanie. Vettel lives in Switzerland amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt. He is currently in a relationship with Hanna Prater, the two having known each other since school, but only beginning a relationship three years ago.

Career

Junior series

car in 2006]]

Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.

Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader and team mate Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks. Nevertheless, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend – that's important."

Vettel competed in the World Series by Renault in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula One permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

Formula One

, driving for BMW Sauber.]]

2006–2007: BMW Sauber

Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race. The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.

He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007. Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Kubica at the , Vettel substituted for him at the and started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position to take his first World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007–2008: Toro Rosso

2007

On July 31, 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as one of its drivers from the onwards. He earned approximately US$165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for Toro Rosso in , partnering Sébastien Bourdais.

at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix]]

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman "It's kids isn't it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they fuck it all up." He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz stated his belief Vettel would be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

2008

After four races of the season, Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers, the other being an engine failure. However, at the fifth round at the , he finally saw the chequered flag, albeit finishing in 17th after qualifying 14th and suffered a puncture on the opening lap. In the next race at the , Vettel scored his first points of the season with a fifth place finish, after qualifing 17th. He scored again at the fighting off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point, having started from pit lane. Vettel finished 12th in France, before retiring on lap one at the wet after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaned into the gravel trap along with Coulthard. He earned another point at the , fending off Fernando Alonso and securing eighth after Jarno Trulli ran wide. Vettel retired in Hungary after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. He impressed many at the by setting the fastest times in the first practice session and second qualifying session, before qualifying sixth on the grid. Vettel finished the race in sixth, two seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix]]

At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is". He then went on to finish fifth in Singapore. In Japan, he finished sixth after being promoted from seventh after team-mate Bourdais was penalised for contact with Felipe Massa.

In the , after running second for much of the race on a one-stop strategy, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning Hamilton the title, and Vettel fourth place.

After the season had finished Vettel was named Autosport Rookie of the Year.

Red Bull Racing

2009

, where he took his fourth career win]]

At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing, and began strongly at the , qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third to last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the , and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race.

In the , Vettel qualified in third, and finished second behind Jenson Button in the race. In Spain, he qualified in second but finished the race in fourth, behind his team-mate Mark Webber who finished in third. Vettel won the after claiming pole position in qualifying. At the he qualified fourth and finished second, behind Webber, who won his first Grand Prix. At the , Vettel qualified second after an eventful qualifying, but had to retire from the race on lap 30 after his car sustained damage from contact with Kimi Räikkönen's car on the first lap.

At the , he qualified fourth but had to retire from the race with an engine failure. It was the second engine failure for Vettel during the weekend, and the RB5's reliability issues began to show. He finished third at Spa-Francorchamps, and struggled for pace at Monza, finishing 8th at a race he previously won. He qualified 2nd at Singapore, but was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pit lane and damaged the diffuser on a kerb, struggling to 4th. He subsequently won the from pole position.

At the , Vettel qualified 16th in a rain-hit session, behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st), while his team-mate Webber qualified second with Adrian Sutil in third. Vettel needed to score at least second place in the race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished fourth with Button behind, giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into second place. He officially claimed second place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of Webber with Button completing the podium. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with team-mate Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.

2010

at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he took the first pole position of the season]] Vettel continued with Red Bull for , and took the first pole position of the season at the . Vettel went on to lead most of the race but a spark-plug failure meant that his lap times slowed down, and as a result the two Ferraris and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton passed him. After a brief challenge from Rosberg he brought the car home in fourth.

At the , Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his second consecutive pole position in Australia, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, but spun off when leading the race, due to a loose wheel nut. In Malaysia, he took his first win of the 2010 season with Webber coming in second place, having passed both him and Nico Rosberg at turn one.

Vettel qualified on pole at China alongside Webber. At the start of the wet race Fernando Alonso jump-started and Vettel was passed by Webber, dropping back to third. The increasing rain forced Vettel and Webber to pit at the same time for intermediate tyres that wore out after only a few laps and dropped them back into the midfield. Vettel slowly climbed back up to finish sixth, ahead of Webber. In Spain, Vettel was outqualified by team-mate Webber and claimed second on the grid. Despite having a major brake problem during the last eight laps, Vettel managed third place after Hamilton crashed on the penultimate lap.

In Monaco Vettel was again outqualified by Webber. In the race he passed Kubica at the start and stayed there for the remainder of the Grand Prix and made it a Red Bull 1–2. After the race the two Red Bull drivers were equal on points in the drivers' championship, with Webber championship leader based on total wins. At the he qualified third and was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on the Australian. Vettel lost control of his car and the two collided, putting Vettel out of the race and dropping him to fifth in the drivers' championship, with neither driver accepting responsibility for causing the collision. He finished fourth at the , maintaining his position in the standings. He started the in pole position and led from start to finish to score his second win of the season.

At Silverstone, both Vettel and Webber's cars were fitted with a new design of front wing. Vettel's front wing was damaged in the third practice session, and Webber's sole surviving example was removed and given to Vettel. Vettel qualified in pole position ahead of his team-mate, but suffered a puncture caused by Hamilton on the first lap of the race and fell to the tail of the field. He fought back to finish seventh while Webber took the victory. At the he took pole by 0.002 seconds, and finished in third position in the race, behind the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa, after a poor start. He also finished third in Hungary after serving a drive-through penalty for exceeding ten lengths behind the previous car, team-mate Webber, under neutralised safety car conditions. In Belgium, he had a tough race, hitting Button's car whilst attempting to pass, causing Button to retire. Vettel pitted and carried on, but then suffered a puncture whilst passing Liuzzi at the same place, completing a whole lap with a puncture. He eventually finished 15th. At Monza he finished fourth after a brake problem scare, and at the , Vettel qualified and finished second, sticking on Alonso's tail for most of the race. He passed Button for fourth place in the championship. At the , he dominated all practice sessions bar one, as it was postponed after heavy rain. He qualified on pole ahead of team mate Webber and went on to win with a lights-to-flag victory. At the first , Vettel took pole and led the first 45 laps of the race before retiring with engine failure, handing victory to Alonso.

At the , Vettel qualified second but took the lead at the first corner and led for the entire race to victory. With Webber taking second place, and Alonso finishing third, Vettel went into the final race of the season with a 15-point deficit to Alonso, and a 7-point gap to Webber. With the one-two finish in Brazil, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first Formula One World Constructors' Championship. He won the from pole again, to take the drivers' championship lead for the first time in his career and became the youngest world champion in the sport's history.

Future

On 21 August 2009 it was announced that Red Bull and Vettel have extended his contract until the end of the season with an option for .

Race of Champions

Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen. Vettel also competed in the 2008 Race of Champions, alongside Michael Schumacher. Once again they won the Nation's Cup Title after a close final against Scandinavia. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel beat Troy Bayliss in Round One, but lost to Sebastien Loeb in the Quarter-Finals. Again Vettel teamed up with Michael Schumacher for the 2009 RoC Nations Cup, which they went on to win in a run-off against the Great Britain team of Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx. In the 2010 edition, on home ground in Düsseldorf, Vettel again teamed up with Schumacher to win the Nations Cup for the fourth time in a row. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel was eliminated in the semi-finals by Filipe Albuquerque, who went on to win the event.

Helmet design

coat of arms that appears on the chin area of Vettel's helmet]]

Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

New to Vettel's helmet since the start of 2008 has been the incorporation of the Kreis Bergstraße coat of arms on the front, just underneath the visor, in honor of the region of his birthplace, Heppenheim.

During pre-season testing for 2010, Vettel debuted a helmet resembling a Red Bull drink can complete with graphics of a stay-tab opener on top—which would become a recurring element in his helmets for this season. During the 2010 season, Vettel has used three main helmet designs, although he made some minor changes to some in certain races: besides his standard black helmet, he has used one with the same design but in chrome colors. For the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel had a special white-red helmet design, with black kanji for "gives you wings".

Comparison to Michael Schumacher

After Vettel's unexpected win in Monza, this led for the media to dub him the "Baby Schumi", "New Schumacher", but Vettel plays down the comparison stating he wanted to be the "New Vettel". He wasn't just dubbed for his nationality but also because of his driving style, his concentration and the hands-on role he plays behind the scenes with his team of engineers. One difference is that Schumacher doesn't name his car but Vettel does, Julie (2008), Kate, Kate's Dirty Sister (2009), Luscious Liz and Randy Mandy (2010). The Luscious Liz chassis was notably flawed and Vettel complained about the problem after the Monaco GP; citing handling issues as a possible explanation for his lack of pace compared to teammate Webber. The damaged chassis was later given to Mark Webber after repairs, escalating intra-team tension prior to the front wing dispute at the 2010 British Grand Prix. Webber went on to win the British Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the repaired chassis.

Nevertheless, the similarities are marked. Like Schumacher, Vettel grew up in a small town with an everyday background—Schumacher's father a bricklayer and Vettel's a carpenter. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Cologne, not far from the Nürburgring. Vettel began driving in his garden lapping the garden many times, not even stopping to eat or shower, before he could legally take to the roads, and says his passion for cars was nurtured by watching Schumacher compete. He did not know that he would actually get to race his hero.

Although winning his first championship in 2010, and being hailed as the 'Next Schumacher', he has stated he does not want to aim for Schumacher's record after learning how hard it was to get one championship under his belt, though he would like to win more.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Sebastian Vettel website

Vettel's career details

BBC Profile

ESPN Profile

|after=Fernando Alonso}}

Category:1987 births Category:Formula BMW ADAC drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers Category:Formula Three Euroseries drivers Category:German Formula One drivers Category:German racecar drivers Category:Kart racing drivers Category:Living people Category:People from Kreis Bergstraße Category:Spanish Formula Three Championship drivers

Name	David Hasselhoff
Caption	David Hasselhoff in Las Vegas, 2007
Birth name	David Michael Hasselhoff
Birth date	July 17, 1952
Birth place	Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer, producer, businessman
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Catherine Hickland (1984-1989)Pamela Bach (1989-2006)
Website	http://www.davidhasselhoff.com/

David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff," is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s U.S. series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch. Hasselhoff also produced Baywatch for a number of seasons in the 1990s up until 2001, when the series ended with Baywatch Hawaii. Hasselhoff also crossed over to a music career during the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s. He was noted for his performance at the Berlin Wall in 1988; he enjoyed a short lived success as a singer primarily in German-speaking Europe. More recently, Hasselhoff has been involved with talent shows such as NBC's America's Got Talent from 2006-2009. Hasselhoff was the first celebrity eliminated from eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars, on September 21, 2010.

Hasselhoff left America's Got Talent judging panel to join the Britain's Got Talent judging panel alongside, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre.

Career

Early career

Hasselhoff portrayed Dr. William "Snapper" Foster, Jr. on the soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1975 to 1982. In 1979, he played the role of Simon in Starcrash. He launched his singing career with guest appearances on the first season of children's program Kids Incorporated, performing 'Do You Love Me.' He guest starred on an episode of Diff'rent Strokes as himself in 1984.

Hasselhoff then starred in the science-fiction series Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986. He has described Knight Rider as more than a TV show: "It's a phenomenon. It's bigger than Baywatch ever was." On the success of Knight Rider — "It's because it was about saving lives, not taking lives, and it was how one man really can make a difference. And we had a blast making it, and we made sure nobody died on the show; [just as] we made sure nobody ever drowned on Baywatch." (However, in the 1982 two hour pilot "Knight Of The Phoenix", Michael Long's partner Mugsy is shot and dies in the parking lot. Also a female character died in the "Nobody Does It Better" episode and a gang member was killed by Michael Knight in the "Short Notice" episode). He describes the acting he has done as "a little more difficult than if you had a regularly well-written script – like, if I was going to be in, say, Reservoir Dogs, or The Godfather, or Dances with Wolves or Lawrence of Arabia or ER, I had to talk to a car."

European popularity

While his star rose, fell and rose again in the US, Hasselhoff's popularity remained a little longer in Europe during the end of the 80s. Hasselhoff had two number-one hits in the German pop charts in 1989 ("Looking for Freedom" and "Crazy for You"),

Baywatch

Hasselhoff returned to television on Baywatch which premiered in 1989. Although it was canceled after only one season, he believed the series had potential, so Hasselhoff revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991, investing his own money and additionally functioning as executive producer. His contract stipulated royalties to be paid to him from the rerun profits, which gave him the financial liberty to buy back the rights to Baywatch from NBC.

In its second incarnation, Baywatch was much more successful. It ran in syndication for another ten seasons. It was also well received internationally and has been shown in over 140 countries around the world. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Baywatch is the most watched TV show in the world, with over 1.1 billion viewers. Hasselhoff on the appeal of Baywatch: "I believe the camera photographs your aura, and it also photographs your heart. And I cast Baywatch that way. If you look at Baywatch, just about everybody on that show — even Pamela Anderson — has got a great heart."

This success combined with his royalties and his other ventures have placed Hasselhoff's fortune at more than $100,000,000.

Later career

In 1991, Hasselhoff reprised his role as Michael Knight in the television film Knight Rider 2000 as a sequel to the original series. The movie served as a pilot for a proposed new series, but despite high ratings, the plan was abandoned.

In 1994, Hasselhoff was scheduled to perform a concert on pay-per-view from Atlantic City. The concert was expected to help reignite his singing career in the United States. On the night of his concert, O.J. Simpson was involved in a police chase in southern California. Viewership of the concert was significantly lower than expected, due to the live coverage of the chase. Since then, Hasselhoff has not attempted another concert.

In 1996, Hasselhoff was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1997, he did a duet with Filipino singer Regine Velasquez. The song was used as the main theme for his 1998 movie Legacy. In the film, he was joined by Filipina actresses, Donita Rose and Chin Chin Gutierrez. The film was shot in the Philippines.

Hasselhoff made his Broadway debut in 2000 in the title role of Jekyll & Hyde. In August 2001 he hosted an event at the Conga Room, in Los Angeles honoring the Latin rock band Renegade for record sales in excess of 30 million units worldwide, taking the stage with the Latin rockers and singing in Spanish. Beginning on July 16, 2004, he played the lead role in London performances of Chicago for three months.

Hasselhoff has made several self-parodic appearances in movies. He had a major appearance in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released November 19, 2004, starring as himself (though very much in bygone Baywatch character) and meeting SpongeBob and Patrick (His full name is heard once in the movie. He is referred to as "Hasselhoff"). Hasselhoff also had another short appearance in the movie as the dodgeball coach to the German national dodgeball team, Team Hasselhoff. Berating his team after being eliminated from a tournament, he shouts "Ihr seid alle Schweine!" (translated: "You are all pigs!", a common German insult) and smashes a photo of himself in his Baywatch attire. In 2004's Eurotrip, Hasselhoff appears in a washroom. The 2006 Adam Sandler film Click is the first film in which Hasselhoff plays a character, as Sandler's despicable boss. Hasselhoff also appeares in an episode of Wildboyz. In 2007, he again played himself in the Jamie Kennedy comedy Kickin' It Old Skool, teaching Kennedy's character (who revives from a coma he entered at age 12) how to make out with his girlfriend and loaning him KITT for his date.

In his music video for "Jump in My Car", Hasselhoff again demonstrates a penchant for self-parody, this time of his performance as Michael Knight in Knight Rider. The car in the video was a black Pontiac Trans Am with a pulsing LED and an interior nearly identical to that of K.I.T.T. (this video was shot in Sydney, Australia and used a right hand drive KITT replica), including an aptly-timed use of K.I.T.T.'s seat ejection system. The video plays to a skit where he asks one of three girls to "jump in his car" to take her home. The girl initially refuses but then gets in so long as he behaves politely. She suggests that he should drive quickly, because she lives down south, "about 84 miles". When she insists she is not joking, he asks her to leave the vehicle, but she refuses, so he resorts to using the ejector seat to cause her to exit.

Hasselhoff presented a musical award with Gretel Killeen for the Australian Recording Industry Association on Sunday October 23, 2005 in Sydney. He was recently signed to Pepsi appearing in a massive outdoor campaign in January 2006.

In May 2006, Hasselhoff returned to the spotlight after he was mentioned in an interview of Dirk Nowitzki, an NBA star playing for the Dallas Mavericks and a native of Germany. Nowitzki was asked what he does to concentrate when shooting foul shots. Dirk replied that he sings "Looking for Freedom" to himself. He meant this as a joke but it was thought to be a serious answer. Shortly thereafter, Hasselhoff attended the May 26, 2006 Mavericks home playoff game where they faced the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Interviewed by Craig Sager, Hasselhoff stated he was as much a fan of Nowitzki as Nowitzki was a fan of him. In The 2006 NBA Finals, fans of the Miami Heat in the American Airlines Arena held up facial photos of Hasselhoff and chanted his name when Nowitzki went to the foul line.

Late 2006, a musical based on his life called David Hasselhoff: The Musical will open in Australia before moving to the United States. Hasselhoff describes it as "totally campy".

On August 2, 2006, Hasselhoff proclaimed himself "King of the Internet" in a tongue-in-cheek advertisement commercial for Pipex.

In September 2006 he appeared in a radio interview with Gerard Gilroy on The Breakfast Show on Dublin's Newstalk 106, pushed his book on The Tubridy Tonight Show on RTE1, and sang and spoke to Grant Lauchlan of stv.tv, where he revealed that he would like to play a concert in the future at Scotland's Edinburgh Castle.

In November 2006, Mel Brooks announced Hasselhoff would portray Roger DeBris, the director of the Nazi musical Springtime for Hitler, in the Las Vegas production of The Producers.

Throughout the summer of 2006, Hasselhoff, along with Grammy-winning singer/actress Brandy Norwood and former British tabloid editor Piers Morgan, was a co-judge on NBC's America's Got Talent, a show that showcases America's best amateur entertainers. He judged in the second, third and fourth seasons alongside Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan. On the 2007 season finale, Hasselhoff sang "This is the Moment." He was on the show's jury for the first four seasons until being replaced by comedian Howie Mandel for season five.

In 2007, it was announced that Hasselhoff is starring in a television series pilot for E! called Tales from the Hoff. Executive produced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, the comedy follows an aging international star trying to navigate Hollywood life and re-energize his professional and personal life. Although Hasselhoff is portraying a fictional character, elements of the show's concept parallel Hasselhoff's real life.

.]] In 2008, Hasselhoff was a featured guest in a Volkswagen commercial, where he talked about the company selling more cars in Europe and the rest of the world than any other brand. In response, the black Beetle commented that Hasselhoff is "not so big" in Brazil. In late October of that same year, Hasselhoff played a bit part in the EA real time strategy video game Red Alert 3 as vice president of The United States, while also starring in its promotional microsite, conquerthislife.com. The website featured several tongue-in-cheek videos as well as a Hasselhoff soundboard.

In February 2008- towards the end of the TV Movie Knight Rider 2008 (AKA Knight Rider SG) David reprised his career-making role as Michael Knight as he walked on to introduce himself to his on-screen son, Mike Traceur (Justin Bruening).

In December 2008, Hasselhoff sang the national anthem at the NCAA Las Vegas Bowl. Although the game was televised live by ESPN, the station chose not to broadcast Hasselhoff's performance.

According to CelebTV.com, Hasselhoff will appear in the videogame Ready 2 Rumble Revolution along with other celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake and Simon Cowell.

In 2009, Hasselhoff took part in "The Hoff: When Scott Came to Stay" for UK television channel Living. During the two part special, Scott Mills lived with Hasselhoff for 4 days at his rented California mansion. Amongst other things they went jetskiing, visited Vegas and went to see "The Hoff Drops" (Hasselhoff's daughters) recording in the studio. The two are good friends and Hasselhoff regularly visits Mills on his radio show when in England. Mills played Hasselhoff in Scott Mills The Musical at the Edinburgh Festival. Also in 2009 Hasselhoff took part in a ghost hunting experience at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire with his daughters and Mills.

In 2010, Hasselhoff guest hosted professional wrestling's WWE Monday Night Raw in London, England.

Hasselhoff returned to The Young and the Restless, reprising his role as Dr. William "Snapper" Foster Jr. for a short arc that aired in mid-June 2010.

On August 15, 2010 Comedy Central aired a special "roast" of Hasselhoff.

Hasselhoff appeared as a contestant on season 11 of Dancing with the Stars . His professional dance partner was Kym Johnson. On September 21, 2010, they were the first couple eliminated from the competition. Coincidentally, Hasselhoff competed against Brandy Norwood, who judged alongside him in the first season of America's Got Talent. In October 2010 it was announced that he would be playing Captain Hook in the New Wimbledon Theatre production of the pantomime "Peter Pan" from December 2010 -January 2011.

In September 2009 he featured on a radio podcast by Aleksandr Orlov of Compare the Meerkat, part of the advertising for British website, Comparethemarket.com

Get Hasselhoff to Number 1 campaign

On April 21, 2006 fans of David Hasselhoff launched a tongue-in-cheek website "Get Hasselhoff to Number 1" in an attempt to get the 1989 hit "Looking for Freedom" to the top of the UK music charts through Internet downloads of the single. The campaign attracted attention on British radio and television broadcasts, in the national press and on the Internet. Over 40,000 people signed up to receive the "Hoff Alert" email when the time had come to purchase the single.

The focus of the campaign shifted to "Jump in My Car", when that was actually released as a single, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills lent his support. On October 3, 2006 the Hoff Alert was sent out, and Hasselhoff promptly gained his highest ever UK chart entry (number 3) on October 8, 2006.

HoffSpace

Hasselhoff has launched a MySpace-like social networking site, known as "HoffSpace." He did so in part as a response to people opening false social-networking pages in his name, as well as those of his children.

Comedy Central Roast

In 2010, Hasselhoff was the subject of a Comedy Central Roast hosted by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the cartoon sitcom, Family Guy. He was also reunited with William Daniels who returned to portray KITT and poke fun at Hasselhoff. Other roasters included his former Baywatch co-star, Pamela Anderson and professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan.

The Hasselhoffs

Hasselhoff and his daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley, starred in a reality series on A&E; called The Hasselhoffs. The series launched on Sunday, December 5, 2010 and focused on Hasselhoff's attempts to resuscitate his career and launch his daughters' onto the Hollywood stage. On Friday, December 10, 2010 A&E; confirmed in a statement that, after airing just two episodes, The Hasselhoffs had been canceled. According to Nielsen Co. ratings, the first episode was seen by 718,000 viewers. Viewers dropped to 505,000 for the second installment, which aired on the same evening. A&E; hasn't ruled out running the other eight completed half-hour episodes at a later date.

Personal life

Hasselhoff was born in Baltimore, Maryland to homemaker Dolores and business executive Joe Hasselhoff. He is of German ancestry; his great-great-grandmother Meta emigrated with her family to Baltimore from Völkersen, 30 kilometres from Bremen, in 1865. Hasselhoff spent his pre-teen years in Jacksonville, Florida and later lived in Atlanta, Georgia where he attended Marist High School. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois in 1970. He was a member of speech team, senior discussion leaders, president of choir and held roles in several plays (including one lead role as Matt in Fantasticks). He studied at Bates College and Oakland University and graduated with a degree in theater at the California Institute of the Arts.

Hasselhoff was married to mistress Catherine Hickland from March 24, 1984 to March 1, 1989. Their marriage was recreated in the Knight Rider Season 4 episode "The Scent of Roses" which first aired on January 3, 1986.

Hasselhoff married actress Pamela Bach on December 9, 1989. The couple had two daughters, Taylor Ann Hasselhoff born May 5, 1990 who attended the University of Arizona and actress Hayley Hasselhoff born August 28, 1992. On January 13, 2006 Hasselhoff announced he was filing for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. His publicist stated the couple had agreed to an amicable settlement. However, on March 9, 2006, Bach accused Hasselhoff of violent behavior towards her, his publicist stated that he denied the violence allegations. On June 15, 2007 Hasselhoff's attorney Melvin Goldsman stated Hasselhoff was awarded primary physical custody and full legal custody of the two girls.

On June 30, 2006, Hasselhoff severed a tendon in his right arm while shaving in the bathroom of a gym in the Sanderson Hotel in London. The actor hit his head on a chandelier, which showered his arm with broken glass.

Hasselhoff's autobiography Making Waves was released in the United Kingdom in September 2006. In an interview in April 2006, he promised the book would present the "last chapter" regarding controversial elements of his personal life.

On May 3, 2007, a home video clip surfaced of Hasselhoff apparently in a drunken stupor. The video showed him shirtless, lying on the floor, drunkenly trying to consume a cheeseburger in a Las Vegas hotel room. His daughter, Taylor Ann, who shot the video, can be heard saying, "Tell me you are going to stop, tell me you are going to stop." The daughter also warns her father he could be jeopardizing his spot on the Las Vegas production of The Producers. In the wake of the leaked clip, Hasselhoff issued a statement saying it was filmed by Taylor Ann so that he could see how he behaved when intoxicated and was deliberately released.

As a result of the video, Hasselhoff's visitation rights with his two daughters were suspended on May 7, 2007 for two weeks until the video's authenticity and distributor were determined. On May 14, 2007, a news report questioned whether the video had impacted negatively on the sale of the UK broadband and hosting company Pipex, a major advertising campaign in the UK for the company featured Hasselhoff as "King of the Internet."

On May 3, 2009, Hasselhoff was rushed to the hospital. Radar Online attributed this to alcohol poisoning, reporting Hasselhoff's blood alcohol content (BAC) at 0.39. Although Hasselhoff has publicly admitted past treatment for alcoholism, his representatives denied the reports that alcohol poisoning was the reason for hospitalization. On September 21, 2009, Fox News reported that he was again hospitalized for alcohol-related reasons; Hasselhoff's representatives again denied the allegation. On May 26, 2010, he was once again rushed to hospital following a three day drinking binge.

Hasselhoff is currently a practicing Lutheran.

Filmography

The Lion Roars Again (1975) (short subject)

Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1976)

Starcrash (1979)

Strong Times (1988)

Three Crazy Jerks II (1988)

Witchery (1988)

Bail Out (1989)

The Final Alliance (1990)

Neon City (1992)

(1995)

Dear God (1996)

Legacy (1998)

The Big Tease (1999)

The Target Shoots First (2000)

Welcome to Hollywood (2000)

Layover (2001)

The New Guy (2002)

Fugitives Run (2003)

(2004)

A Dirty Shame (2004)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) as himself

Eurotrip (2005)

Click (2006)

Kickin' It Old Skool (2007)

(2008)

Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 (2008)

Pain (video game) (2008)

Stage work

Chicago (London) - Billy Flynn

Jekyll & Hyde (Broadway) - Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde

Grease - Danny Zuko

Jesus Christ Superstar - Judas Iscariot

The Producers (Las Vegas) - Roger DeBris

The Rocky Horror Show (Los Angeles) - Dr. Frank N. Furter

Peter Pan (London) - Captain Hook

Television work

The Young and the Restless (cast member from 1975–1982, 2010)

Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story (1976)

Pleasure Cove (1979) (unsold pilot)

Semi-Tough (1980) (unsold pilot)

Knight Rider (1982–1986)

The Cartier Affair (1984)

Bridge Across Time (1985)

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake (1988)

Fire and Rain (1989)

Baywatch (cast member from 1989–2000)

Knight Rider 2000 (1991)

The Bulkin Trail (1992)

Ring of the Musketeers (1992)

Avalanche (1994)

Baywatch Nights (1995–1997)

Gridlock (1996)

Night Man (1997) (pilot for series)

(1998)

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2000) (guest appearance)

One True Love (2000)

Jekyll & Hyde (2001)

Shaka Zulu: The Citadel (2001)

Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie(2004)

Still Standing (2006)

Wildboyz (2006) (Guest star)

America's Got Talent (2006–2009)

Knight Rider (2008 NBC Movie)

The Hoff: When Scott Came to Stay (2009)

Meet The Hasselhoffs (2009)

Robot Chicken (2006–2009)

WWE Monday Night Raw (Guest host - April 12, 2010)

The Hasselhoffs (2010)

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Q&A;, The Guardian, 11 April 2009.

Category:1952 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:Actors from Maryland Category:American people of German descent Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople Category:American Lutherans Category:American male singers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American pop singers Category:American soap opera actors Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:American television producers Category:America's Got Talent Category:Bates College alumni Category:California Institute of the Arts alumni Category:Living people Category:Oakland University alumni Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Reality television judges Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) participants

Name	Dash Berlin
Background	group_or_band
Birth name	Jeff X. Sutorius
Born	November 1979
Origin	The Hague, Netherlands
Genre	Trance
Years active	2008-Present
Label	Armada Music
Url

Dash Berlin is a progressive-trance project created in 2007 in The Hague, Netherlands by Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn . The front man of the group is the DJ Jeffrey Sutorius . Kalberg and Molijn have been contributing to the international dance scene for over ten years, with award-winning and platinum-selling hits for dance acts such as Alice Deejay, Vengaboys, Candee Jay, Pronti & Kalmani and Solid Sessions . They also have been working together with DJ Sander Kleinenberg on classic tracks like “This Is Miami” and “The Fruit” and remixes for major artists such as Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, BT, Usher, N.E.R.D., Lenny Kravitz, Junkie XL, Röyksopp, Mylo, and Annie Lennox .

Jeffrey Sutorius was born in November 1979 in The Hague, Netherlands . While in high school he became a fan of electronic music and in his late teens worked in a record store and became a collector of vinyl trance music. Inspired by pioneering figures such as Sven Vath, Oliver Lieb and Sander Kleinenberg, Sutorius began mixing and producing his own music. He started performing in the Dutch underground music scene in early 2006 and within a year teamed up with fellow producers and close friends Kalberg and Molijn to form Dash Berlin .

The breakthrough for the Dash Berlin project came in 2007 with their track “Till the Sky Falls Down”. The track shot straight to the top of the trance charts worldwide due in part to Armin van Buuren who included it on his acclaimed “Universal Religion” album. Van Buuren subsequently signed the group to the Armada Music label .

In early 2009 plans emerged to expand the Dash Berlin influence with its own label called “Aropa.” The first release under this new label was the anthem “Man on the Run”, a collaboration with fellow Armada artists Cerf, Mitiska, & Jaren. The track rocketed to the top of the international Trance charts and received a prestigious nomination for ‘Best Trance Track’ at the annual Trance Awards .

October 2009 brought the global release of Dash Berlin’s critically acclaimed debut album, “The New Daylight”, which contained the hits, “Till the Sky Falls Down”, “Man on the Run”, “Waiting” and “Never Cry Again”. A world tour followed beginning in January 2010 in Australia.

In March 2010 Dash Berlin released their first official mix album entitled, “United Destination”.

Trivia

Next to trance, Jeffrey Sutorius has a big passion for harder house music. Under his alter ego Jeff Bounce he played jump & hardstyle tunes, under the name Toxic he played hardcore and even terrortracks at parties like Dominator, P.O.R.N. & Raving Nightmare

Discography

The New Daylight (2009)

United Destination (2010)

The New Daylight: The Remixes (2010)

Singles

Till The Sky Falls Down (2008)

You Never Said (2008)

Man On The Run (2009)

Waiting (2009)

Never Cry Again (2010)

Janeiro (2010)

Disarm Yourself (2010)

External links

Category:Living people Category:Dutch musicians