Collected for you 40 unusual and interesting facts about Berlin. Sometimes strange, sometimes funny and funny, and sometimes crazy, but always worthy of attention. Important dates, numbers and stories that you probably didn't know, but which show just how unique the city of Berlin is.
1. Flat and even, cold and hot
200 years ago Berlin was a huge lake inhabited by a sweetly named snail Paludina diluviana Kunth. And the city is flat like the very old lake. The highest natural mountain Müggelberg, which "culminates" at a height of 114,7 meters. The record heat of 38,4C was recorded on June 30, 2019, and the coldest day was Monday, February 11, 2013, with a temperature of minus 26C.
2. Crowded city?
Imagine in 1600 there were only 9000 inhabitants in Berlin! The capital of Germany is 8 times larger in area Paris, but has only a fifth of the density (4 inhabitants per km compared to 000 inhabitants per km in Paris). About 21 foreigners of 000 different nationalities live in the city. Every day, an average of 500 people move to Berlin and 000 people leave it.
3. Land of Currywurst
Eat every year in Berlin 70 million currywursts (national dish - fried sausage with spices). Berlin even has a museum dedicated to his love for this dish.
4. Beer paradise?
Berliners drink an average of 100 liters of beer per person per year (but only 20 liters of wine and 4 liters of sparkling wine). There used to be 200 breweries in Berlin. Today, only 50 breweries remain in all of Berlin-Brandenburg.
5. East or West?
Walking around the city, if you do not know whether you are in East or West Berlin, look for tram tracks. If you see them, you are in East Berlin. In West Berlin, trams were abolished after reunification and replaced by the huge underground system we know today. The famous Ampelmann also remains a symbol of East Berlin.
6. The public transport system works!
Public transport in Berlin circles the world 8,7 times daily. But for example, the average annual train delay is about 200 days! (Note, the average Shinkansen delay in Japan is only 6 seconds).
7. Is the Berlin Wall still here?
The Berlin Wall, which cut the city in half and stretched for 156 km, is still visible. There are many places where you can still see the remains of the wall.
8. The largest open-air gallery in the world
East Side Gallery is located 1,3 km from the walls made by artists from around the world. It is the largest open-air art exhibition in the world. Perhaps the most famous work is The Kiss of Brezhnev and Honecker.
By the way, the city authorities annually spend about 35 million euros to remove graffiti from the streets of Berlin.
9. The myth of a hard life ...
According to legend, the sculpture of four horse-drawn chariots at the Brandenburg Gate, Quadriga, was originally directed to the west. In 1806, Napoleon ordered her to be delivered to Paris as a military prize. After the victory over Napoleon in 1814, according to the Berliners, "the carriage is returning." Then everything turned the other way to mock France.
Contrary to rumors, the direction of Quadriga has never changed. It has always been facing east, towards the old city center.
10. City of Bridges
Berlin has more canals than Venice or Amsterdam, and it also has 960 bridges! Most popular bridge oberbaum bridge, which was the border crossing between East and West during the Cold War.
11. Berlin, green city
44% of the territory is occupied by waterways, forests, rivers and parks, which is why Berlin is considered the "greenest" city in Germany. Berlin is also home to the oldest zoo in Germany, as well as the zoo with the largest variety of animals (20 animals and 000 species).
12. Strange thefts
Near Schmöckwitz registered a significant number hydrangea thefts. Cause? After the leaves and petals are dried, the plant will have the same properties as marijuana, by the way, there is a cannabis museum in the capital of Germany.
13. City of Vegetarians?
Known for its sausages, veal sausages and its famous Currywurst, Berlin is still 10% vegetarian (and vegans), which is one of the highest rates in Europe (France: 2%).
14. City famous for its pizza?
Yes, this is correct. Europe's largest frozen pizza factory is located in Berlin, in the Wittenau district. More than 1 million pizzas are produced daily, some are even exported to Italy.
15. Kebabs are made tastier in Berlin.
There are at least 1600 kebab shops in Berlin. Every year, 400 doner kebabs are eaten in Berlin. So there are more barbecues in Berlin than in Istanbul. In October 2017, the world's largest kebab was produced in Berlin - it weighed 423,5 kilograms!
16. 400-year-old Berlin restaurant
Already 400 years old, Zur Letzten Instanz is the oldest restaurant in Berlin and is still open!
17. Berlin is in debt, but does it have many millionaires?
Each Berliner owes 15000 euros, and the Saxon only 1000 euros (this corresponds to the debt of the city of Berlin in the amount of 54 billion euros). This is despite the fact that there are 749 people in the city who earn more than 1 million euros a year, 5 of them live in Lichtenberg, and 174 in Zehlendorf. 20 Berliners are millionaires, which is half that of Hamburg.
18. City rich in museums?
In Berlin around 175 museums. It's definitely enough to keep you busy on long rainy days. In addition to the most famous, there are several more unusual ones. For example, the Museum of Currywurst, hemp, small cats, illusions and even forgotten objects. By the way, renting a museum for a party costs from 8000 to 20000 euros.
19. Michael Jackson at the Adlon Hotel
From the window of my hotel roomAdlonThe pop star held his newborn baby above the void to introduce him to reporters. By the way, here is the most expensive room in the city, which costs 26 000 euro per night. This is the royal suite in the hotel Adlon on Paris Square, opposite the Brandenburg Gate - an apartment with an area of 185 meters.
20. Berlin, we trust David Hasselhoff
Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall David Hasselhoff gave a legendary concert in Berlin. His song "In Search of Freedom" for East Germans became a detonator and contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
21. Berlin, the more the better...
Every weekend around 45 000 people spend time in various clubs in Berlin. But how many are actually dancing? The city is also known for its clubs, here everyone will find something for themselves. In the capital you will find the smallest discotheque in the world, Teledisco, a phone booth with a sound system that can dance up to 4 people! The famous Berghain Club is open for around 50 hours on New Year's Eve! Party lovers can have fun for 3 days without seeing the sunrise!
22. Berlin repeats
The capital of Germany is a specialist in double names: 5% of street names are duplicated. Even worse: in Berlin 12 Waldstraße! It is followed by Lindenstrasse, which occurs there 10 times. By the way, more than 100 places in the world also bear the name of Berlin: in South Africa, in USA, Russia.
23. Upscale kitchen in the TV tower
The kitchen of the restaurant at the top of the TV tower is located at the foot of the tower: every time you order food, it is sent by an elevator to the 368-meter peak.
24. Kurfürstendamm
Знаменитый Kurfürstendamm boulevard does not contain house numbers from 1 to 9!
25. Once the capital - forever the capital!
Berlin was successively the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Wilhelmine Empire, the Weimar Republic, and later the National Socialist regime. After the city was divided into two parts by the infamous "Iron Curtain" for 40 years. From 1949 to 1990 Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. Only after the fall of the Berlin Wall and a very tense decision in the Bundestag on October 3, 1990 did Berlin again become the capital of Germany.
26. Anonymous Graves
There are 13 anonymous graves in the German capital.
27. Rumors: Is Berlin the third largest city in Turkey?
In terms of Turkish population, Berlin becomes the third largest city in Turkey after Istanbul and Ankara. But this is not true. Almost 100 people of Turkish origin (officially registered) live in the German capital. However, Turkey has more than 000 cities with a population of over 70, which puts Berlin in 100st place, not third.
28. City of bachelors?
1 out of 2 Berliners is single! But it's nothing special that makes Berlin different: the city only ranks 20th among the cities in Germany with the highest number of lonely people (after Munich and Cologne).
29. Society for Secret Relations since 1891
Another interesting fact about Berlin. Long before the dark rooms Berghain (night techno club) in a hunting lodge Grunewald there were "sex parties" between aristocrats. On the second Sunday of January 1891, no less than 15 prominent members of the imperial court gathered in the small palace for a special party.
30. “Berlin” etymologically means “bear”
The name of the city "Berlin" could come from a bear. By the way, the symbol of Berlin is just the same bear. However, the origin of the name can be interpreted in another way: in fact, it came from the word "br'lo", which in Old Church Slavonic means "swamp". Unfortunately not that impressive.
30. Nudist culture
Naturism and nudism are well represented in Berlin. If you go for a walk in the Tiergarten or the Müggelsee, you will see places where people take off their clothes to enjoy the sun or the gentle breeze from the trees on their skin.
31. Berlin and its environs
40% of the city's buildings are underground! Between bunkers, tunnels, sewers, secret cellars, and railroad networks, underground structures are twice as large as those on the surface.
32. "Berlin Patient"
The first person to be cured of AIDS was cured at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin. The attending physician decided to combine the treatments and look for bone marrow donors for a person with mutated immune cells who was resistant to HIV (only 0,3% of the world's population). After the transplant, the patient has not shown any signs of infection since 2007 and is still alive today.
33. Fancy Cars
If by the end of the evening your feet hurt or you are without shoes (this happens - no one will judge you), just go to the club fritz club. There you will find a shoe machine! Also, until recently, Galeries Lafayette on Friedrichstrasse had a vending machine where you could buy small gold bars (up to 250 grams).
I hope you enjoy our interesting facts about Berlin. Read more about traveland facts about new york и Washington.
