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73-582: The Amt of Lüneburg appeared in 1862. At that time the Amt of Lüne moved its seat from Lüne Abbey into the Lüneburg Riding Academy and its name was changed. The district was established after the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866. From 1867 the Ämter of Lüneburg, Bleckede and the town of Lüneburg became parts of the district of Lüneburg, which was exclusively responsible for taxes and

146-735: A 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL , a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured. In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany . Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at

219-501: A Slavic-derived name: Pankow , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Marzahn-Hellersdorf , Treptow-Köpenick , and Spandau . Of Berlin's ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke , Alt-Treptow , Britz , Buch , Buckow , Gatow , Karow , Kladow , Köpenick , Lankwitz , Lübars , Malchow , Marzahn , Pankow , Prenzlauer Berg , Rudow , Schmöckwitz , Spandau , Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow , Steglitz , Tegel and Zehlendorf . The earliest human settlements in

292-475: A camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin . The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After

365-662: A center of the Enlightenment , but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806 , but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg . The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during

438-753: A city district separate from Brandenburg. In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building . In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased

511-507: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, there

584-510: A continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network . Tourism in Berlin makes the city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry , biomedical engineering , biotechnology , the automotive industry , and electronics . Berlin is home to several universities such as the Humboldt University of Berlin , Technische Universität Berlin ,

657-758: A geographical region in Iceland but the name lives on in the names of two public libraries in Iceland that were established during the amt era. The Amts libraries in Akureyri and Stykkishólmur which were established as the designated archives for the North and East Amt and the West Amt respectively. Ambacht can be seen as the Dutch equivalent to amt . Ambachten existed in Holland , Zeeland and Flanders up to about 1800. From 1662 to 1919,

730-417: A microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement . Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and

803-424: A monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture . Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania ; these were never implemented. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in

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876-602: A scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment , Neoclassicism , and the German revolutions of 1848–1849 . During the Gründerzeit , an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered a rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin , divided by

949-413: A small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography , part of

1022-698: A state that was formerly in West Germany . The district is one of the core areas for monuments and archaeological discoveries from prehistory. Ernst Sprockhoff noted 17 sites west of the Ilmenau and 32 east of it. The most outstanding are the sites of the Soderstorf Necropolis and the Oldendorfer Totenstatt . The district is characterised by the Lüneburg Heath ( Lüneburger Heide ) in the south and

1095-849: A supra-municipality or "municipal confederation". Normally, it consists of very small municipalities ( Gemeinden , plural of Gemeinde ). Larger municipalities do not belong to an Amt and are called amtsfreie Gemeinden (independent municipalities); some of these municipalities might also not be governed by or linked with a Kreis (district) and are called kreisfreie Gemeinden , and when they do also not belong to any other Land they are also called Stadtstaaten (plural of Stadtstaat ), i.e. city-states ( Berlin and Hamburg ). These large municipalities (cities, in German Städte , plural of Stadt ) may be further divided into local offices named Ortsämter (plural of Ortsamt ), each of them possibly grouping several suburbs (or small townships in rural areas) of

1168-608: Is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union . Berlin was built along the banks of the Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau . The city incorporates lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee . About one-third of

1241-542: Is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe . Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a British or U.S. county . The Amt (plural: Ämter ) is unique to the German Bundesländer (federal states) of Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg . Other German states had this division in

1314-460: Is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of

1387-541: Is used to offer decentralized services of the municipality within local administrative offices for the residents in neighbouring suburbs. The Ortsteil itself may also be confusingly translated as a "municipality", but it is incorrect because it belongs to a city which is the only effective municipality ( Gemeinde ). The amt (plural, amter ; translated as "county") was an administrative unit of Denmark (and, historically, of Denmark-Norway ). The counties were established by royal decree in 1662 as replacements for

1460-640: The Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera , Charlottenburg Palace , Gendarmenmarkt , Alte Kommandantur , as well as the City Palace . The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz , City West , and Alexanderplatz . Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, with the Großer Tiergarten , one of

1533-843: The Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin . The Berlin Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex and the list of films set in Berlin is long. Berlin is also home to three World Heritage Sites : Museum Island , the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin , and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates . Other landmarks include

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1606-559: The Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie . West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his " Ich bin ein Berliner " speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining

1679-579: The Berlin Wall . East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". The economy of Berlin is based on high tech and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , startup companies , research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as

1752-1055: The Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building , Potsdamer Platz , the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , and the Berlin Wall Memorial . Berlin has numerous museums , galleries, and libraries. [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1237–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1867 [REDACTED] North German Confederation 1867–1871 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany 1990–present Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. Most of

1825-676: The Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte . The first written records of towns in

1898-439: The European Union . The city is also one of the states of Germany , and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg , and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and

1971-715: The Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen , a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons , personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, and Neptune on top of it. The Brandenburg Gate

2044-646: The Wayback Machine and still impacts urban planning decisions. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became

2117-425: The amter were composed of a number of municipalities ( kommuner ). The reform granted the counties wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service and the gymnasium secondary schools. The municipal reform of 1 January 2007 abolished the amter and replaced them with five administrative regions , now mainly charged with running the national health service. In contrast to

2190-416: The amter , the regions hold no authority to levy taxes. The reform re-delegated all other areas of responsibility to either the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 270 to 98. In Germany an Amt was a medieval administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village. It

2263-522: The counties of Norway were called amter . They are now referred to as fylker , a term revived from the Middle Ages. Berlin Berlin ( / b ɜːr ˈ l ɪ n / , bur- LIN ; German: [bɛʁˈliːn] ) is Germany's capital and largest city by area and by population . With over 3.85 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in

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2336-800: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin , while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when

2409-423: The 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding , Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . In 1881, it became

2482-496: The 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture . Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed , including

2555-716: The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany . West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin

2628-628: The Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia . In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia , as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia . Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg . This

2701-750: The Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5. A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace , was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. The legal basis for

2774-455: The US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany. In 1989, with

2847-604: The Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift , conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949,

2920-542: The area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era , Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties . The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts,

2993-403: The area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture . In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture . Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD,

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3066-419: The area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes , one was known as Via Imperii , and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod . In 1307

3139-448: The cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic languages -derived names. Typical Germanization for place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in , prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch . The name Berlin has its roots in the language of the West Slavs , and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs , five bear

3212-403: The city lost half of its population. Frederick William , known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots . By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of

3285-417: The city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens , rivers, canals, and lakes. First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as

3358-512: The coldest was January 1709 , with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F). The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall. Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during

3431-409: The country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź , and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium

3504-430: The end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic , plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport , beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020,

3577-474: The end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development Archived 16 December 2023 at

3650-443: The first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move

3723-457: The former fiefs ( Len ). The amter were originally composed of market towns ( købstæder ) and parishes , and held only small areas of responsibility. There were some changes to the borders of these counties over time, most notably when Roskilde County ( da ) was merged into Roskilde County ( da ) in 1808, and when Skanderborg County ( da ) was periodically merged into Århus County Skanderborg County ( da ). After Southern Jutland

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3796-402: The hospital services of the købstader without paying taxes for them, it became evident that reform was necessary. In 1958, interior minister Søren Olesen set in motion administrative reforms that would culminate in 1970. The municipal reform of 1 April 1970 reduced the number of counties to fourteen and eliminated the administrative distinction between (rural) parish and town. From then on,

3869-408: The humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power . Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna , and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had

3942-403: The largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here,

4015-404: The low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to

4088-809: The lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest. Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates . Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates

4161-429: The military. The history of the region has always been influenced by the town of Lüneburg : see there for more details. In 1993 the municipality of Amt Neuhaus joined Lower Saxony and the District of Lüneburg. This region had always been ruled by Lüneburg before the division of Germany made it a part of East Germany after 1945. It is hence one of the very few municipalities of the former East Germany that are now in

4234-406: The municipality named Ortsteile (plural of Ortsteil ), named from small villages or hamlets or localities. The Ortsteil (suburb or township) may have been a former parish, but today it is meant only for civil purpose and essentially used for planning within the municipality; the Ortsamt (sometimes just named informally but confusingly as an Amt , or informally translated as an "urban district")

4307-495: The past. Some states have similar administrative units called Samtgemeinde ( Lower Saxony ), Verbandsgemeinde ( Rhineland-Palatinate ) or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ( Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia ). An Amt , as well as the other above-mentioned units, is subordinate to a Kreis ( district ) and is a collection of municipalities. The amt is lower than district-level government but higher than municipal government, and may be described as

4380-453: The riverside woodlands along the Elbe . Though most of the district is located south of the river, there is a small portion around the municipality of Amt Neuhaus on the opposite side. The coat of arms displays: Free municipalities [REDACTED] Media related to Landkreis Lüneburg at Wikimedia Commons 53°15′N 10°30′E  /  53.25°N 10.5°E  / 53.25; 10.5 Amt (country subdivision) Amt

4453-401: The seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder . Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin. Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. In

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4526-539: The town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille"). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and

4599-414: The two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated. Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and eventually as German emperors . In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of

4672-403: The vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley ), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in

4745-400: The west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto

4818-411: The west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and

4891-425: Was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became

4964-411: Was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by

5037-425: Was built. During World War II , Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,

5110-440: Was granted only to American, British and French airlines. The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn . In 1961, East Germany began to build

5183-421: Was headed by an Amtmann , usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a territorial lord to administer and dispense justice within the Amt . While Iceland was a territory of the Danish-Norwegian realm, amts (singular: amt ; plural: ömt ) were established in the country on top of the existing counties . From 1684 to 1770, Iceland as whole was a single amt in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway but

5256-543: Was returned to Denmark after the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites , four new counties were created in the area. During the 20th century, the powers of the counties were expanded, when they were granted responsibility for the hospital service. The købstæder , which by this time had been separated from the counties and were overseen by the Interior Ministry , assumed the same responsibility. As the population became increasingly urbanized, and many rural communities came to rely on

5329-482: Was then split into two amts: North and East Amt ( Norður- og Austuramt ) and South and West Amt ( Suður- og Vesturamt ). The latter was in 1787 split into a West Amt ( Vesturamt ) and South Amt ( Suðuramt ). Iceland was thus divided into three amts until 1872, when the South and West amts were again merged. Amts were abolished in 1904, when Iceland gained home rule from Denmark. Amts are not used to denote

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