Line #81 UsefulNotes/Berlin


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BrandenburgerTor_9188.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:It's a gate. And [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic now]] you can even walk through it!]]
3
4	->''"Ich bin ein Berliner!"''
5	-->--'''UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy'''
6
7	Berlin, capital of united UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany 1871]][[UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic -]][[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany 1945]] and again since [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic 1990]] as well as partial capital of UsefulNotes/EastGermany and - depending on whom you ask[[note]]The West German "Basic Law" (i.e. its constitution) did not specify a capital until after reunification and the Soviets insisted that Berlin remained under four power control and was thus not a part of West Germany. While the West German government sat in {{UsefulNotes/Bonn}} for the duration of partition, the West German government on occasion did "capital-y" things in Berlin like electing UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfGermany (a largely ceremonial position) in Berlin[[/note]] - partial ''de jure'' capital of West Germany and a major world city. According to P. J. O'Rourke, "the city that Music/IggyPop moved to because New York wasn't decadent enough." Though P.J. followed it up by saying, "Forget it. We bombed the place flat in WWII, and they rebuilt it as a pretty good imitation of Minneapolis."
8
9	Divided in twain for the duration of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.
10
11	''Berlin'' is also the title of a wrist-slittingly depressing [[Music/{{Berlin}} album]] by Music/LouReed. And a 1980s American new wave band.
12
13	The UsefulNotes/BerlinUAndSBahn also has an article here.
14
15	'''How to tell which former half of the city you are in'''
16
17	* If you're standing next to a great big TV tower with a rotating ball near the top, you're in the eastern part, specifically Alexanderplatz.
18	* If you're standing next to Communist architecture, you're in the eastern half.
19	** There used to be a great big bronze-windowed building, the Palast der Republik in East Berlin, home of the East German "parliament" and also a cultural centre. Discovered to be filled with asbestos, it is now entirely demolished and an old palace will be somewhat rebuilt where it was (it had been knocked down by the GDR, who saw it as a symbol of Prussian militarism, bar one facade where a guy named Karl Liebknecht had declared a German Socialist Republic in 1918, also it was moderately bomb damaged, a parallel of the asbestos).
20	* If the little men on the traffic lights (known as Ampelmännchen) are wearing hats, you are very likely to be in the eastern half. However, this method is somewhat hit and miss, since the Eastern version was seen as [[RuleOfCool cooler]] and has even been adapted in many German cities, so you find the one or other in the western half.
21	* If you're in the Zoologischer Garten, you're in the western half.
22	* If you're in the Tiergarten (a park that started out as a place where the rulers of Brandenburg went hunting), you're in the western half. However, if you're in the Tierpark (the city's other zoo), your in the eastern half.
23	* If you're in [[UsefulNotes/BerlinUAndSBahn a tram (a Straßenbahn)]], you're almost certainly in the eastern half.
24	* If you're at the side of Brandenburger Tor opposite the Reichstag (that is, on Unter den Linden), you're in the eastern half. If you're on the side of Tiergarten, you're in the western half, although not if you're standing right next to it.
25	* The Kreuzberg neighborhood (now part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district) might be a little run-down, but it's on the western half. Friedrichshain was in the eastern half.
26	* If you're standing next to the East Side Gallery, you're in the eastern half (see UsefulNotes/BerlinWall).
27	* [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Soviet soldier statue]] guide: if the column's grey, you are in the western half (this was in the British sector, but was guarded by Soviet soldiers throughout the UsefulNotes/ColdWar). If it isn't and the guy is holding a sword and a kid, you are in the eastern half.
28	* If you're in the [=SonyCenter=], you're in Potsdamer Platz, smack dab in the middle.
29	* If you're at an airport, you're as good as being in the Eastern half... but only since TheNewTwenties. East Berlin's airport was built at Schönefeld, outside the city limits; since reunification, it has been expanded into the modern Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, which opened in late 2020, [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell nine years behind schedule]]. Berlin's previous primary airport, Tegel, was built in the French sector at the time of the Berlin Airlift and decommissioned in 2021 once everything moved to Schönefeld; it is currently being redeveloped into high-tech office space. Tempelhof, Berlin's original airport, was closed in 2008. The small military airfield at Gatow, which lies near the city's western limits, was a [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Royal Air Force]] base for nearly five decades after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII; the [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht Bundeswehr]] took it over in 1994, but have since then mostly operated it as a museum.
30
31	'''History of Berlin'''
32
33	The name "Berlin" has nothing to do with bears (although their crest has one in a spot of [[{{pun}} heraldic punnery]] - the city is pronounced "Bear-lin" in German), but rather stems from the Slavic word for "meadow", not a miracle if you recall its location in a glacial valley.
34
35	In 1157, a count called Albert the Bear founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg and became its first Margrave and really kicked off German East Colonization. Settlements arose along the glacial valley of the lower Spree River and at the narrowest point of said valley, the settlement of Cölln (not to be confused with ''Köln'' (Cologne) at the Rhine River) was founded on the nearby river isle and the nucleus of the actual town of (Old) Berlin was found on the river's right bank. In 1309, these two towns got a common city hall. The year 1237 as the accepted foundation date of Berlin is actually the year of the first documental mention of Cölln, the actual Old Berlin first mentioned in 1244.
36
37	In 1415, Elector Frederick I got the throne over the Margraviate of Brandenburg, ending Berlin's existence as a Hanseatic city and starting the century-long legacy of the Hohenzollern dynasty. After severe losses due to the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, "Great Elector" Frederic William made a hell of a deal to (re-)populate his war-torn country and prevent future suffering from any games great powers might potentially play. The biggest deal was the edict of Potsdam from 1685, essentially an invitation to persecuted French Protestants, the Huguenots, to live in Brandenburg.[[note]]There were still French-language Huguenot schools in Berlin and wider Brandenburg until the early 20th century, and some of Berlin's more prominent families come from this background (e.g. the de Maizières, who have held several high-ranking posts in modern Germany).[[/note]] The lion's share of the 15,000 that came settled in Berlin, which has always been supported as a strongpoint in the area, though Potsdam, a small fishing village sixteen miles to the southwest, was also elevated to importance when the elector built a palace there. In essence, this should become the cornerstone of Berlin as the lone metropolis in the rural sea of Brandenburg as it's known to this day.
38
39	In 1701, Brandenburg-Prussia become the [[UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} Kingdom of Prussia]], retaining Berlin as its capital. With Prussia growing the following two centuries (e.g. Silesia, Rhineland, Hannover, and others), Berlin became the capital of an ever-growing country and therefore a magnet for more and more people, making it especially distinct from the surrounding Brandenburg which also affected its dialect. In essence, the growth of Berlin was the result of the sheer willpower of its rulers.
40
41	In 1860/61, Berlin grew its boundaries for the first time in newer times to compromise what in the latest 20th century would have been known as the precincts of Mitte ("Centre", meaning Old Berlin), Wedding, Tiergarten, Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg and Gesundbrunnen. In 1871, the Prussian capital also became the capital of the newly founded German Reich. By that time, Berlin already had 800,000 inhabitants.
42
43	From then on, the history of Berlin coincides with the history of Germany in general. At the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, Germany was declared a republic in Berlin and the political street fights there got so nasty that the constitutional assembly for the German Reich was moved to Weimar, hence the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic. In 1920, the almost bi-million city of Berlin was enlarged another and the last time, doubling its population to almost four million people. '20s Berlin despite its weak economy, political instability and the large cloud of inevitable doom that carries all retrospective perspectives of the time, is often regarded as the epitome of 20th Century Modernism. It was the age of Creator/BertoltBrecht and Music/KurtWeill, the cartoons of George Grosz, amazing advances in architecture, Arnold Schoenberg's atonal music, the development of Cabaret and other night-clubs celebrated in later fictions and of course GermanExpressionism in the films of Creator/FritzLang and Creator/FriedrichWilhelmMurnau. It was a cosmopolitan city that was even renowned for being a gay capital. Like all good parties, it didn't last forever. The burning of the Reichstag building in February 1933 helped ThoseWackyNazis consolidate their power, and they were firmly in control by the time the city hosted the 1936 Olympics.
44
45	Berlin suffered more destruction than any other European city in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (barring Cologne, which was flattened to over 90%). Allied bombing raids and the invasion of the Red Army took a harsh toll on the city, making the population plummet to about three million, where it essentially remained since then. After UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler took his own life in a bunker and Germany surrendered, the Allies divided the old Reich capital akin to the rest of what remained of Germany, with the French in the northwest, the British in the west, the Americans in the south, and the Soviets in the east. Berlin suffered greatly under being the playball of the superpowers in the upcoming UsefulNotes/ColdWar, leading to its division. East Berlin was quickly integrated into the structures of UsefulNotes/EastGermany, serving as its capital. West Berlin survived the Soviet blockade of 1948/49 via the Berlin Airlift, keeping its status as an island of the free world amid the red sea of communism. For many years, it was easy to flee from the East to the West via Berlin. To turn off this leak in the Iron Curtain, the GDR built the infamous death trap commonly called the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall on August 13, 1961.
46
47	Due to its special "four power state", West Berlin was not officially part of UsefulNotes/WestGermany, though it was treated like another German state as far as possible. This also meant that West German conscription didn't apply to West Berlin, making it a haven for draft dodgers from "the provinces".
48
49	With the [[UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag political climate in the world changing]], Berlin got directly affected. The Berlin Wall became obsolete when the GDR opened its borders to the West on November 9, 1989. Less than a year later, Berlin once again became the capital of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic (re-)united Germany]]. But it had yet to take until 1999 until the all-German government and parliament finally moved back to Berlin (post-war and pre-unification, the seat of government of West Germany had been {{UsefulNotes/Bonn}}, in case you're wondering) and during much of TheNineties, Berlin was dubbed as the biggest construction site of Europe.
50
51	As all of Berlin, its west and its east alike, was a major target for subsidies, it's no miracle that Berlin is often dubbed as "poor but sexy" or even as "the only world city that doesn't cost the world".
52
53	'''Die Kieze'''
54
55	Berlin, having spent much of its history divided, stands relatively unique among European cities for its pretty hard divisions into neighborhoods. While initially more in line with other (continental) European cities, the Greater Berlin Act of [[UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic Weimar Era Germany]] agglomerated many of the surrounding communities into the city[[note]]the modern "Mitte" District, which was formed out of the merging of all the districts of "Alt Berlin", is more or less the same territory as the city of Berlin prior to the GBA[[/note]]. Each of these newly annexed communities had developed distinct cultures and socio-economic differences, many of which have persisted well into the modern day despite [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI massive]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII wars]], being [[UsefulNotes/BerlinWall divided]] during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and successive reforms to the city's political structure. These neighborhoods are affectionately known as ''Kiez'' to Berliners[[note]]the term ''Kiez'' literally translates as "neighborhood", but should be taken to mean "red-light district" or "nightlife district" in other parts of Germany[[/note]]. To this day, very noticeable divisions in economic status, culture, and ethnic background divide Berlin's many ''Kieze''.
56
57	As of 2001, there are officially 12 districts, although many of them can be subdivided further into their respective ''Kieze''. Note that there are dozens of ''Kieze'', so we won't do the job of Website/TheOtherWiki and list them all:
58
59	* Mitte ("Center" in English): The aptly-named centermost district in Berlin. Contains the famous ''Unter den Linden'', the main thoroughfare which passes through the Brandenburg Gate and houses the major embassies, as well as Humboldt University's main campus, among many other famous places. Mitte is also the seat of the Bundesrepublik, with the Bundestag, the Bundeskanzleramt (the primary residence of the Chancellor), Bellevue Palace (the primary residence of the President), and many ministries and officesresiding here. Mitte is home to the famous Berlin Fernsehturm (the big TV tower that dominates the skyline), residing in Alexanderplatz, its main square. Museum Island houses -you guessed it- many of Berlin's oldest and most famous museums[[note]]sadly, about half of them are closed and likely will be for some time, as renovations need to be made to prevent structural issues[[/note]] and the Berliner Dom, the city's imposing cathedral. The Charité Medical University, among many other universities, is also located in Mitte. Mitte is a very diverse district, with peoples of an immigrant background comprising over 2/3rds of its population. Despite its central location, many of its sub-neighborhoods offer cheap and subsidized housing, meaning that many parts of it are surprisingly blue collar. Although Mitte gets hectic during major celebrations, it's generally a pretty laid back and safe district, although Alexanderplatz is one major stomping ground for pickpockets and touts. If you visit Berlin as a tourist, you are probably going to be staying -and spending most of your time outside of clubs- in Mitte. Mitte itself can be subdivided into several zones, based on the old neighborhoods that existed pre-2001:
60	** Mitte '''Proper''' is the only district that was contained within East Berlin. It contains almost all the present day governmental buildings of the Federal Republic, as well as most of the main tourist thoroughfares. Some residential buildings still linger, but most of the district is governmental or business.
61	** Tiergarten is a massive park and its surrounding environs. Home to many embassies, the Holocaust Memorial, and the Berlin Zoo.
62	** Moabit and Hansaviertel: Just north of Tiergarten and east of Mitte Proper. They are diverse residential areas with mixed-income housing, and lots of cheap and good restaurant options if you don't want to get too far outside of Mitte. The Berlin Hauptbahnof (the Central Rail Station) is located in Moabit, so it's likely to be your destination if you are traveling in from the new Berlin Airport. Both of these were carved out of Tiergarten during the administrative reforms.
63	** Wedding and Gesundbrunnen: Wedding is in the northwest of Mitte, and was originally the French sector. It's a very working-class neighborhood, which is a nice way of saying around a quarter of the population is below the poverty line. That said, like most of Mitte, it is still fairly tame and livable, and also quite cheap for being in the city center, hence why it is attracting many students, artists, and other young arrivals. Gesundbrunnen was carved out of Wedding as a new sub-division in 2001, and it is the most ethnically diverse sub-neighborhood in all of Berlin. Gesundbrunnen houses the only still-standing part of the Berlin Wall outside of a museum, and well as the famous Mauerpark, which hosts karaoke every summer.
64	* Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg: Best discussed in their constituent parts:
65	** Kreuzberg was within West Berlin, and was a working-class and largely immigrant neighborhood for most of its history. It is home to a sizeable Turkish population, as well as many young and poor Germans. It has a decisively left-wing political streak, and the arrival of students and artists looking for cheap rentals in a city with a notorious housing crisis has started to change the culture of the district quite heavily. Kreuzberg is still notorious for crime, poverty, and drug abuse, and is generally regarded as the city's "bad neighborhood." It's rough-and-tumble nature and working class composition make it the center of Berlin's punk scene.
66	** Friedrichshain was in East Berlin, and is today the center of Berlin's globally (in)famous club scene, containing Berghain. As that implies, it is probably the most gentrified ''Kiez'' in Berlin, having gone from working class in the GDR and outright poor in the early 90s, to rich and dotted with high-end retailers and a very active nightlife. Can still be rough in parts, especially owing to the many drunks and druggies spewing out from clubs and bars in the wee hours of the morning.
67	* Lichtenberg: Part of the former East Berlin, Lichtenberg is where many GDR government officials lived, and where the Stasi was located. It continues to be a fairly high-end area with lots of shopping districts and malls.
68	* Neukölln: Formerly part of the American sector and home to a very diverse population of immigrants, including many Turks and Arabs. It used to be rather poor, and often competed with Kreuzberg as the butt of jokes, but it experienced rapid gentrification in the 80s and 90s and is now more known for being a haven of counterculture (in a city that is already a haven for counterculture).
69	** Southern Neukölln is very suburban, with Rudow being mostly family-unit housing.
70	* Tempelhof-Schöneberg: A combination of many former districts. It is pretty diverse, blue collar, and residential overall, but it does contain some noteworthy ''Kieze'':
71	** Friedenau and Schöneberg in the north were once middle/working class districts, but the building of major new shopping centers and the ongoing housing crisis has caused an increase in rents, and thus gentrification. Schöneberg also houses the city's red-light district on Kurfürstenstraße, where many of the city's brothels are located.
72	** Tempelhof is still pretty blue collar, although many students have also moved into the area. It notably contains Tempelhofer Feld, the former main airport of the city until the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It is now a gigantic park.
73	** Mariendorf is similar to Tempelhof, but things start getting suburban when you go south to Marienfelde and Lichtenrade.
74	* Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is one of the wealthier districts in the city, and it hosts many cafes, parks, and shopping centers. The high rents mean the population is of above-average income. Wealthier students and immigrants (usually from other European countries, or increasingly from East Asia) often choose to move here.
75	** Ironically, Grunewald, the western most part of the modern district, is one of the poorest regions in the city, with a massive homeless population that lives in the forest. The Grunewald itself is a massive forest preserve, dotted only with small, suburban developments. It's quite a jarring transition from the dense and urban Charlottenburg proper.
76	* Pankow, in the northeast, is an agglomeration of dozens of old districts. Most of the district is middle or working class and unremarkable, but the southern ''Kiez'' of Prenzlauer Berg was a haven for East Berlin's counter-culture during the Cold War, and is now filled with expensive gentrified real estate.
77	** Weißensee is a middle class ''Kiez'' known primarily for the lake that it is named for. It's a popular destination in the summer for swimmers and beach goers who live in the eastern half of the city.
78	* Treptow-Köpenick comprises a vast expanse making up Berlin's southeast.
79	** Treptow proper is an urban district that gets a lot of spillover from the Friedrichshain scene, but it's a bit more upscale. Tends to be popular among trendy and rich youngsters who want to stay close to the clubs.
80	** The rest of the district is mostly suburban or low-density urban residential. It's mostly remarkable for being your first introduction to the city if you fly in, since the opening of the new Berlin Airport.
81	* Steglitz-Zehlendorf makes up the city's southwest. It's also a varied district, so it's best to break it down into parts:
82	** Steglitz is low-density urban and fairly middle class, but is undergoing gentrification along with neighboring Friedenau and Schöneberg.
83	** Dahlem, Zehlendorf, and Lichterfelde house the massive Botanical Garden, the Freie Universität, and lots of high-end suburban housing. They are some of the wealthiest ''Kiez'' in Berlin, and a lot of ambassadors, doctors, and professors live out here.
84	** Wannsee is famous for, well, the Wannsee, a massive lake that is a favorite place for all aquatic activities in the summer. The ''Kiez'' itself is more like a town[[note]]because prior to 1920, it was one[[/note]], and is more working class then Zehlendorf.
85	* Spandau was one of the 7 major towns that Berlin annexed in 1920. The district today is primarily mixed-income and suburban, with the Spandau ''Kiez'' containing some urban housing.
86	* Reinickendorf is similar to Spandau, and it has one of the two major airports that serviced Berlin prior to the new airports opening: Tegel. Both it and Spandau were in the British sector.
87	* Marzahn-Hellersdorf is very German and quite suburban. It's one of the few East Berlin districts to not really change much since GDR times, as it is still dotted with "commie-block" housing complexes and Prussian villages.
88
89	'''Berlin In Fiction'''
90
91	Throughout the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, Berlin was "The CityOfSpies" (a title that has also been held by Vienna[[note]]At first for very similar reasons to Berlin, later due to Austria being neutral and Vienna being the seat of many international institutions and conferences, including OPEC[[/note]], Lisbon, Tangiers, Beirut, Istanbul, and Film/{{Casablanca}} at various points in their history), and the Glienicke Bridge, which links (West) Berlin and Potsdam, was the most well-known venue for the exchange of captured spies. SpyFiction from that period will almost always mention Berlin.
92
93	The city is generally depicted in these contexts as grey and dreary, especially the eastern part (not quite true, as a third of the city is in the form of parks). It works best at night. Dead drops, double-crosses and defections are the order of the day. Expect someone to attempt to run the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall.
94
95	If you're lucky, you might see some of West Berlin's (extremely vibrant) music scene and nightlife (being one of the early centers of so-called "{{Krautrock}}" and Music/DavidBowie (the albums ''Music/StationToStation'', ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'', ''Music/{{Lodger}}'') and [[Music/TheStooges Iggy Pop]] (the albums ''Music/TheIdiot'' and ''Music/LustForLife'') both having recorded there on the basis of its reputation).
96
97	Before that, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Berlin is a very oppressive place or a positive deathtrap when you're dealing with the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1945 Battle of Berlin]].
98
99	UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic era Berlin is a very vibrant and colourful place, comparable with UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}. TruthInTelevision here. Portrayals focus on the development of Cabaret culture, sexual egalitarianism and great night-life (for those who can afford it). Some fictions even portray it as a CityNoir setting. Interestingly a lot of the classic writers and directors of FilmNoir -- Creator/BillyWilder, Robert Siodmak, Creator/FritzLang -- were Berliners during the '20s and many of them admitted in interviews that their films about the American underbelly were often inspired by their memories of '20s Berlin, which came very close to resembling the exaggerated CityNoir landscape beloved in later fictions.
100	----
101	!!Fictions set in Berlin include:
102
103	[[foldercontrol]]
104
105	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
106	* The only time Section 9 works with a foreign intelligence service in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', they help German military intelligence to track down an international terrorist in Berlin. Within the show, the city had been destroyed and rebuild a second time somewhere in the 2020s or 30s (apparently to look like a Bavarian village).
107	* Berlin is the site of the fight with the Destroy Gundam in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''. It and three other Eurasian cities were ravaged by the massive Mobile Suit as part of Logos' attempt to cow Naturals (normal humans) into hating ZAFT and Coordinators (genetically-modified humans) after the latter were instrumental in helping people on Earth. Didn't work ''at all''.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Comic Books]]
111	* ''Spirou in Berlin'' by Creator/{{Flix}}. It is an official ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' issue, but made by a huge fan of the series who has also been living in Berlin for long enough to know the city quite well.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Literature]]
115	* ''Before the Storm'', Creator/TheodorFontane's first novel, and ''Literature/DerStechlin'', his last one, are set partly in Berlin, partly in the countryside of Brandenburg. And so are a number of Fontane's other works. The novellas ''L'Adultera'', ''Schach von Wuthenow'' and ''Die Poggenpuhls'' for instance are predominantly set in Berlin.
116	* Alfred Döblin's ''Literature/BerlinAlexanderplatz'' and its radio play and movie adaptations.
117	* ''Literature/EmilAndTheDetectives'' and a few other books by Erich Kästner -- e.g., ''Pünktchen und Anton'' and ''Fabian'' -- are partially or entirely set in Berlin in the 1920s and 1930s. Most of them were filmed more than once.
118	* ''The Good German'' (TheFilmOfTheBook as well). Set in Berlin and Potsdam just after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, before the division of Germany.
119	* ''Literature/{{Mephisto}}'' by Klaus Mann.
120	* Redfern Jon Barrett's ''Literature/ProudPinkSky'' is set in an alternate Berlin that happens to also be the world's first gay state.
121	* ''[[Literature/TheCenturyTrilogy Winter of the World]]''.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Live-Action Films]]
125	[[AC:Fiction:]]
126	* ''Aimée & Jaguar'', the [[BasedOnATrueStory story of a lesbian romance between a Jew and a non-Jew]] during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
127	* ''Film/AtomicBlonde'' is an espionage/action thriller set in the city in 1989 during the last days of the Wall and the Cold War. With plenty of {{Europop}} hits on the soundtrack and neon lighting.
128	* ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy''.
129	* Creator/FritzLang's ''Doctor Mabuse'' trilogy -- ''Film/DrMabuseTheGambler'', ''Film/TheTestamentOfDrMabuse'' and its post-war sequel of sorts, ''Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse''.
130	* ''Film/{{Downfall\|2004}}''. Set in the city in ruins during the final days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
131	* ''Film/AForeignAffair'', a 1948 Creator/BillyWilder comedy starring Creator/JeanArthur as a U.S. Senator visiting post-war Berlin and Creator/MarleneDietrich as a cabaret torch singer.
132	* ''Film/FourAgainstTheBank'', a heist comedy, was filmed there, with some recognizable landmarks. The original film from The70s [[SettingUpdate was set]] in UsefulNotes/{{Munich}}.
133	* ''Film/GoodByeLenin!'', the fall of UsefulNotes/EastGermany and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostalgie Ostalgie]].
134	* ''Film/GrandHotel'' and the book it is based on.
135	* ''Film/{{Hanna}}''. Filmed at the abandoned East German AmusementPark ''Spreepark'', most notably.
136	* The Creator/WimWenders films ''Der Himmel über Berlin'' (aka ''Film/WingsOfDesire'' and ''The Sky over Berlin'') and ''In weiter Ferne, so nah!'' (''Faraway, So Close!'').
137	* ''Film/TheLivesOfOthers'' is set in East Berlin in 1984. It's [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour a fitting year]], given the plot.
138	* ''Film/LolaRennt'' (a.k.a. ''Run Lola Run'').
139	* Creator/FritzLang's ''Film/{{M}}''.
140	* Creator/BillyWilder's ''Film/OneTwoThree''.
141	* ''Film/TornCurtain''.
142	* ''Film/{{Unknown 2011}}'' starts with the protagonist attending a Berlin science conference, before losing his memory and no one remembering who he is.
143	* ''Film/WeAreTheNight''.
144
145	[[AC:Documentaries:]]
146	* ''Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis'', an experimental (silent) documentary film from 1927.
147	* ''Film/{{Olympia}}'', the official film of the 1936 Olympic Games, directed by Creator/LeniRiefenstahl.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
151	* ''Series/BabylonBerlin'' is set in late 1920s Weimar-era Berlin, with all [[TheRoaringTwenties the expected vibrant colours, jazzy parties]], and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick political extremism]].
152	* ''Series/BerlinStation'', a spy drama series launched in 2016.
153	* ''Series/HalloAusBerlin'': A late-90s educational series focusing on six teenagers talking about their lives in Berlin.
154	* The {{Flash Forward}}s in the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' episode "The Economist" involve spies, murder, and intrigue in cold, gray Berlin.
155	* ''Series/{{Tatort}}'' has a police team in Berlin, naturally.
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Music]]
159	* The song "Berliner Luft" (also called "Das ist die Berliner Luft") from the operetta ''Frau Luna'' by Paul Lincke is associated with the pre-UsefulNotes/WorldWarI gaiety in the city. It was reprised by Lizzi Waldmüller in the 1941 film adaptation of the operetta... and by a beatboxing Creator/GertFrobe in ''Film/ThoseMagnificentMenInTheirFlyingMachines''.
160	* Some Creator/MarleneDietrich songs such as "Das ist Berlin", the nostalgic "Einen Koffer in Berlin" or "Untern Linden, Untern Linden" (the latter referring to the city's famous boulevard Unter den Linden). She reprised a lot of songs of the city from the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic era also.
161	* Music/DavidBowie's ''Berlin'' trilogy are three albums recorded entirely or partly in Berlin (particularly the famous "Hansa-by-the-Wall" studio) and breathing a very specific city atmosphere: ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'', and ''Music/{{Lodger}}'' (with ''Music/StationToStation'', recorded in Los Angeles but inspired in part by Bowie's European travels, serving as an "introduction" and/or a bridge to his previous, soul/funk-influenced work, ''Music/YoungAmericans''). The title track of ''Heroes'' specifically mentions the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. In Berlin it's almost seen as an anthem and Bowie even recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXV3rlr9G04a German version of it]].
162	* Music/LouReed's ''Music/{{Berlin}}'' is a concept album set in the city.
163	* Music/FrankZappa's album ''Music/BurntWeenySandwich'' has two instrumental tracks named ''Holiday in Berlin'', which were based on an incident during a 1968 concert in Berlin where Zappa and his band were sieged on stage because they didn't want to take up the crowd's offer to cause try to create a revolution in the streets.
164	* Seeed's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYK-NfOo7b4 "Dickes B"]] is a love letter to their hometown.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Radio]]
168	* The works of Creator/MarcUweKling, who lives and works in Berlin, are usually set very firmly there.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
172	* ''Berlin - The Wicked City'', a setting/adventure book for ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', centering around the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic and detailing the Mythos elements that permeate throughout the city.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Theatre]]
176	* ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}''. Set in the Weimar Republic era with the rise of Nazism as background.
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Video Games]]
180	* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' has an UrbanWarfare map recreating the taking of the city by the Red Army in April-May 1945.
181	* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Commandos}} Commandos 3: Destination Berlin]]'', the finale mission of the Stalingrad arc has some of protagonists (who have been betrayed and captured during the previous mission) breaking out of a German prison located in Berlin to murder the turncoat who betrayed them and flee the area. The map allows to enter the Reichstag.
182	* ''VideoGame/Hitman3'', the third mission in the game is set around a nightclub and nuclear reactor in Berlin [[spoiler: where Agent 47 hunts down ICA agents that were sent to kill him and Olivia Hall after the Constant ambushes Lucas Grey.]]
183	* The final level of the AlternateHistory game ''VideoGame/IronStorm'' (about UsefulNotes/WorldWarI continuing for decades) is set at the Reichstag, which has been converted into a personal residence of TheEmperor of the Russo-Mongolian Empire, the Baron Ugenberg, as well as a major HQ for his forces.
184	* ''VideoGame/SecretFiles'': Tunguska starts the game off with Nina Kalkenkov, an average Russian woman, visiting her father, Vladimir, at his office in a Berlin museum.
185	* The ''Dragonfall'' campaign of ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'' is entirely set in and around a CyberPunk Berlin turned into an anarchist utopia known as "the Flux State".
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Western Animation]]
189	* The ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Summer Belongs to You" shows three Berlin landmarks in the "Bouncing Around the World" sequence: The glass dome of the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, and Alexanderplatz with the world clock and the television tower.
190	[[/folder]]

Context UsefulNotes / Berlin