Three Days in Berlin

Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million in its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city.^[2] It is the second most populous city and the ninth most populous urban area in the European Union.^[3] Located in northeastern Germany, it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area, comprising 5 million people from over 180 nations.^[4]

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).^[5] After the Second World War, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany while West Berlin became a Western enclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall from 1961-1989.^[6] Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of all Germany.^[7]