Germany

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is a happy place

In 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, artists from around the world painted on the gray concrete barricade. The East-Side-Gallery is to this day the world's longest open-air gallery. The art that was spontaneously created still reflects the exuberant joy that spread all over Berlin just after the Berlin Wall came down.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is World Heritage

An island with five museums, surrounded by the river Spree - the "Museumsinsel" was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. Here you can admire art treasures from around the world spanning from a bust of Egyptian queen Nefertiti to the ancient Greek Pergamon Altar. Berlin actually boasts 175 museums in total and some 300 art galleries, so deciding which ones to visit is a real challenge.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is culturally diverse

Cosmopolitan, richly colored and with a zest for life - this is how Berlin presents itself during the Carnival of Cultures festival. Some 190 nationalities call the city their home. And every May they all - new arrivals and established Berliners together - celebrate what is probably the best street party in Berlin.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is a construction site

Since German unification in 1990 the building cranes haven't stopped: the Potsdamer Platz public square was reconstructed, the Reichstag parliament building was given its dome, and the government quarter was built. Currently the City Palace, which is due to be completed in 2019, is slowly taking shape. Though no one yet knows if the new, very delayed airport in Schönefeld will be open by then.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is glamorous

Every February Berlin rolls out the red carpet as movie stars descend on the city. Since 1951, the Berlin Film Festival, known as the Berlinale, has been one of the world's leading festivals. Movie stars love Berlin, even when there isn't a film festival, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emilia Clarke.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is remembrance

The Holocaust Memorial, consisting of 2,711 concrete slabs to commemorate the six million European Jews who were killed by Nazi Germany, is the most visited memorial in Berlin. Other memorials include those dedicated to the Allied forces that liberated Berlin at the end of the Second World War, those killed trying to escape over the Berlin Wall and to the heroes of the Berlin airlift.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is green

There are over 2,500 parks in Berlin, but the New York Times named the small "Prinzessinnengarten" as one of the city’s loveliest green spaces. This former wasteland in the Kreuzberg district has been turned into an organic garden in which over 500 types of vegetables are grown, cared for by hundreds of local volunteers. This is a community project, which has become a tourist attraction.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is nightlife

Berlin's nightlife, known as one of the most exciting in the world, offers something for every taste, from indie rock, via hip hop to house music. Some of the world's best DJs spin vinyl at clubs like Berghain or Watergate. Many come to Berlin just for this - they get on a flight to the city on a Friday evening, then party all weekend before heading home.

10 reasons to love Berlin

Berlin is all heart and a bark

Nearly 100,000 hounds live here, making Berlin the dog capital of Germany. But when Berliners say they're "all heart with a bark" they are not referring to their dogs but themselves. The Berlin people are not known for being friendly, rather for being brusque, a mild form of rudeness known locally as Berliner Schnauze - or Berlin snout. But this verbal bark and growl tends to hide a big heart.

Author: Kerstin Schmidt / sc