Fun Facts & Figures About Berlin

These are just some of the many interesting things you’ll hear about on our tours.

PRESENT STATISTICS

  * The capital of Germany again as of 1999, Berlin is Germany’s largest city with about 3.4 million inhabitants.
  * Berlin (the city-state) covers 891 square kilometers (about 556 square miles), making it:
      - Almost 9 times as large as Paris
      - One-third the size of Rhode Island
  * The municipal area has more trees than Paris, more bridges than Venice, 3 airports, 3 opera houses, 2 zoos, 150 concert halls and theaters, and 170+ museums and exhibitions.
  * There’s more recent construction in Berlin than any other European city (and second only to Shanghai worldwide). But, Berlin’s debt level is around €60 billion (more than €17,500 per Berlin inhabitant).
  * Elections in 2001 put the Social Democrats in power, and made Klaus Wowereit, Germany’s first openly gay leading politician, mayor. He famously called Berlin “poor, but sexy.”

Did you know?

  * As flaunted on all the tabloids, it was over a 5th floor balcony railing at the Hotel Adlon (at the Pariser Platz, and seen on the tour) that Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the hysterical crowd.
  * There is annual tax of €150 to own a dog in Berlin.
  * Kaufhaus Des Westens (KaDeWe) - is Europe’s largest department store.
  * The Berlin Thunder American football team won the World Bowl in 2001, 2002 and 2004 but the league was disbanded after 2007.

BERLIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY

  * The Berlin Airlift lasted from June 1948 to September 1949. A total of 278,228 flights were flown carrying 2,326,406 tons of supplies! There were 70 British and American casualties.
  * The Berlin Wall was 155km (96 miles) long and 3.6m (11.86 ft) high with 302 watchtowers. More than 170 people were killed trying to escape.
  * In John F. Kennedy’s famous speech at the Berlin Wall, he stated “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Literally, this translates to “I am a jelly donut” because a ‘Berliner’ is a type of jelly donut. Grammatically speaking, he should have said “Ich bin Berliner”, but hey, he still got the point across that “I am [like] a citizen of Berlin.”
  * In just the final days of WWII, over 100,000 Berliners lost their lives to the Russians in the fight for Berlin.

Did you know?

  * Hitler brought 7,000 prostitutes back to Berlin for the 1936 Summer Olympics, reminiscent of decadent 1920s Berlin.
  * The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
  * The design for the Neue National Gallery was originally intended for the Bacardi Rum headquarters in Cuba, but because of the Cuban Revolution in 1958 ended up in Berlin.
  * The Trabant, the official sedan of East Germany, had a body largely made of resin-based plastic, was initially designed to be a three-wheeled motorbike, and could only go 0 - 60 mph (100 kmph) in 21 seconds.

BERLIN PRIOR TO THE 20TH CENTURY

  * The Hohenzollern dynasty ruled Prussia (with Berlin as its capital) for about 500 years (1414-1919).
  * Berlin lost more than a third of its population during the Thirty Year’s War (1618 - 1648).
  * When Berlin became the capital of unified Germany in 1871, the population boomed and by 1880 the average inhabitants per building lot rose to 60. Averages in Paris were only 20 and in London only 8.
  * In the economic collapse of 1864, 61 banks, 116 industrial enterprises, and 4 railroad companies in Berlin went bankrupt.

Did you know?

  * Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I (1713 - 1740) had a fetish for tall men and a personal army of giant troops. He also spent 80% of tax revenue building the mighty Prussian army, which his son, Friedrich the Great, used extensively.
  * Friedrich II banned imported coffee to boost sales of the local alternative: beer.
  * In 1871, after the unification of Germany, Berlin was the center of the largest military parade of its history and a special “Commemoration Beer” was served. Although exactly the same as the regular brew, restaurants charged a few pennies more because of its historical significance.