Berlin is the capital city and one of 16 states of Germany. With a
population of 3.4 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city.
Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is
one of the most visited tourist destinations in the EU. The city is
recognised for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife,
contemporary arts, extensive public transportation networks and a high
quality of living.
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. There is also the
Bauhaus-Archive, which is an architecture museum.
The Museum für Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin
Hauptbahnhof, and it has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a
brachiosaurus).
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. 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.
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 and 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.
The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film
Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival, called the
Berlinale. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in
February since 1978. With over 430,000 admissions it is the largest
publicly attended film festival in the world.
