Berlin

Berlin

Berlin, located in the northeast of Germany, is the capital and largest city of Germany. It is also the political, cultural, transportation and economic center of Germany, with a population of about 3.634 million (September 30, 2018).

Berlin is surrounded by Brandenburg on all sides. The Spree river and Havel river flow through the city. The city center coordinates are 52 ° 31 ′ and 13 ° 2 ′ east longitude. Berlin is one of Germany's 16 federal states, and Hamburg and Bremen are the only three city states in Germany. In 2016, Berlin's GDP reached 268.9 billion US dollars.

After the Second World War, the city was divided into two regions. East Berlin became the capital of East Germany, while West Berlin actually became an enclave of West Germany in East Germany, surrounded by the Berlin Wall. Until the reunification of Germany in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany with 147 foreign embassies.

Berlin has established diplomatic relations with many cities in the world, such as Los Angeles, Paris, London and Madrid.

On December 26, 2019, it will be ranked seventh in the list of top 500 cities in the world in 2019.

The 2023 World Summer Special Olympic Games will be held in Berlin.

Historical evolution

The origin of Berlin can be traced back to the end of the 12th century. It is made up of Berlin on the North Bank of the Spree river and the concentration area where Museum Island is now located. The two settlements existed in the 13th century, and coelln was first proposed on October 28, 1237. In 1307, the two parts were merged and Berlin was born. This day is the birth day of Berlin.

After years of turmoil, Friedrich II declared Potsdam and Berlin as the capitals of his country in 1451. Since then, successive natural disasters, plagues and wars have hindered the development of Berlin. It was not until Friedrich Wilhelm's reign that all aspects of Berlin developed by leaps and bounds. Berlin has been transformed into a city fortress, and the most typical Prussian style building has been built for the first time, that is, the grand buildings on both sides of the existing "avenue under the bodhi tree".

In 1701, Friedrich III was elected king of Friedrich I in Prussia, and Berlin was naturally chosen as the capital. Many famous buildings have sprung up. Berlin (1740-1786) developed into an industrial city in Prussia under the rule of Friedrich Wilhelm I. (Der "soldatenk? Nig") and Friedrich II. (der Gro? E).

The city was ruled by Napoleon from 1808 to 1806. After the defeat of the Leipzig Congress and Napoleon, he sent back the statue of the victory chariot which he had taken away from the Brandenburg gate. In the following decade, there were classical and magnificent buildings designed by Schinkel and artistic parks designed by Lenn é.

Since the middle of the 19th century, Berlin has not only achieved rapid economic development, but also showed a sharp increase in population.

Late World War II

The city of Berlin was devastated by the Allied air strikes and the Soviet Red Army attacks. On November 22, 1943, the British Royal Air Force sent 764 bombers to launch the "Berlin campaign" of large-scale bombing of Berlin, which destroyed the whole area from tilgarten and Charlottenburg in the east to spandaur and Siemens Stadt in the West. From November 1943 to February 1944, the "Berlin campaign" launched 13 large-scale air strikes on Berlin, nine of which were more than 500 in scale, destroying more than 150 electrical, ammunition, communication equipment and bearing factories in one quarter of the urban area, suburbs and urban areas, killing more than 10000 people and making 1.5 million people homeless. 90% of the buildings in the city were destroyed, all the trees were cut down, and the water and electricity system was also destroyed.

On April 16, 1945, the Red Army of the Soviet Union mobilized 22000 cannons and 10 army groups including the Belarusian front army to launch a general attack on Berlin. On May 1, the flag of the Soviet Red Army was planted at the Brandenburg gate and the parliament building. On May 8, Germany surrendered.

During the Cold War

With the victory of the Allied forces in the Second World War, not only Germany, but also Berlin was divided into two parts according to the administrative boundaries of pre war Berlin: East Berlin controlled by the Soviet Union (covering 12 of the 23 pre war zones), and West Berlin controlled by the United States, Britain and France. Berlin became the gathering point of the Soviet American cold war. In 1948, in order to oppose the currency reform carried out by the allies in western Germany and force the allies to withdraw from Berlin, the Soviet Union launched a blockade on Berlin for half a year. The Allies thwarted the Soviet Union's attempt by airlifting Berlin.

On June 17, 1953, workers in East Berlin launched an uprising against the decline of living standards, which was soon suppressed by the Soviet army.

On November 10, 1958, Khrushchev declared that the occupation of Berlin by the four powers was out of date, demanded that the United States, Britain and France withdraw their troops from West Berlin, and said that within six months, West Berlin should become a "free city" in which the Soviet army could freely enter and leave.

From 1945 to 1961, hundreds of thousands of citizens fled to the Federal Republic of Germany through Berlin every year, causing great losses to the Democratic Republic of Germany.

As a large number of East German residents poured into West Berlin and West Germany through the undefended Berlin boundary, the East Germany built the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961. On October 25, American tanks drove to Checkpoint Charlie south of Friedrich street and tried to enter East Berlin. They confronted Soviet tanks 90 meters away for 16 hours. Since then, Berlin has become the forefront of ideological confrontation between the East and the West.

Due to various historical problems and institutional defects, in 1989, the people of Eastern European countries launched a general protest against the socialist and communist regimes. Late at night on November 9, 1989, East Germany was forced to declare the opening of the Berlin Wall.

On June 13, 1990, the German government began to dismantle all the Berlin walls.

On October 3, 1990, when Germany was reunified, Berlin held a grand celebration. The Berlin Wall was torn down.

In 1991, the German parliament voted to move the capital from Bonn to Berlin by 2000. Since then, large-scale reconstruction work has begun in Berlin. A new parliament and the prime minister's office were built to the north of the Capitol. Potsdam square, which used to be a minefield cordon at the foot of Berlin's wall, has become the commercial center of Berlin again. Germany has regained its position as a cultural and economic centre in Europe.

administrative division

As of 2016, Berlin is divided into 12 districts. They are: mitt District, Friedrich Heine crotsberg District, panko District, Charlottenburg wimersdorf District, spandor District, steglitz cerendov District, temperhof schenneberg District, new Keren District, treptok kepenik District, Machan Hellersdorf District, Lichtenberg district and lenikendov district.

geographical environment

Location context

Berlin is located in the Northeast Plain of Germany. The coordinates of the city center are 52 ° 31 ′ N and 13 ° 2 ′ E. Berlin is located at the mouth of Spree river, a tributary of Elbe River, which flows into Havel river. It is 180 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north and 190 kilometers from the Czech Republic in the south, covering a total area of 892 square kilometers.

topographic features

The terrain of Berlin is low and flat, but slightly undulating, with an average altitude of 35 meters. The stratum is Sandy. The Spree river and a large number of lakes and canals intersperse it, providing abundant groundwater for Berlin, and also making the Berlin area lush with forests. The highest natural point is located in croquetsburg, 66 meters above sea level. The Spree river runs through the city and flows westward into the haver river. The latter is winding, forming a string of haver lakes. In the East, there are Miguel lake and other lakes. The lakes become the water source of the city, and several large forests are distributed among them.

climate

Berlin has a mild maritime climate, hot in summer and cold in winter. The average temperature in June, July and August is between 22 ° C and 25 ° C, and the maximum temperature in summer is about 30 ° C.

hydrology

The Spree river originates from the north foot of laoxiti mountain in the southeast, flows northward through wide marshes, forms many lakes, and joins the haver River in Berlin. The river has a total length of 403 kilometers and a drainage area of 10000 square kilometers. Spring is the flood season. The average annual flow near cortebus is 12 m3 / s. It is 153 km below Luben.

natural resources

water resource

Berlin's rivers and lakes cover an area of 4.1 square kilometers, accounting for 4.8% of the city's total area. Abundant water resources, utilization rate of 95%. Berlin's freshwater resources account for about 8% of the country's total.

plant resources

Berlin's urban center is full of carefully trimmed gardens and surrounded by large forests. About 26.5% of Berlin's area is covered by green vegetation such as flowers and trees.

Animal resources

There are few animal resources in Berlin, such as wild boar, fox, hare and beaver.

Mineral resources

Berlin is rich in mineral resources, mainly including salt mine, coal mine, zinc mine, iron mine and manganese mine.

Population nationality

As of 2016, the population of Berlin is about 3.5 million, and most of the residents are German

Chinese PinYin : Bai Lin