# Berlin, a mecca of culture and creativity



## pesto

All right, Dr. Cosmo, the jig is up. A small entrepreneur and investor called me today and mentioned that he wanted to do a "Berlin deal", only in Brazil. I didn't know the expression so he said, that's where you take a US website and do a knockoff: kluge together some software, register names and put up a site in some country outside the US quickly before the US company has time to register its tradenames, etc. Apparently even some very large companies have found it easier to payoff these pirates rather than litigate and lose time. 

This explains why I have never seen VC's funding Berlin based start-ups. The legit ones wouldn't get involved in this.

He pointed me toward several articles about how Berlin is the world capital for doing this. Some of these are pay-access, but there are quite a few articles on the subject if you Google "samwer brothers". 

Interestingly, two Americans are trying to change Berlin's image as the "copycat capital of the world" and bring legitimate business development techniques, creativity and market analysis to the huge number of unemployed in Berlin.

For those who would like to get into this racket, he tells me that Brazil is the new place for this kind of thing since government enforcement is lax if you create jobs.


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## Dr_Cosmo

Yo pesto,
I didn´t really get the point of your post. What is the statement you are making ....?


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## Anderson Geimz

pesto said:


> All right, Dr. Cosmo, the jig is up. A small entrepreneur and investor called me today and mentioned that he wanted to do a "Berlin deal", only in Brazil. I didn't know the expression so he said, that's where you take a US website and do a knockoff: kluge together some software, register names and put up a site in some country outside the US quickly before the US company has time to register its tradenames, etc. Apparently even some very large companies have found it easier to payoff these pirates rather than litigate and lose time.
> 
> This explains why I have never seen VC's funding Berlin based start-ups. The legit ones wouldn't get involved in this.
> 
> He pointed me toward several articles about how Berlin is the world capital for doing this. Some of these are pay-access, but there are quite a few articles on the subject if you Google "samwer brothers".
> 
> Interestingly, two Americans are trying to change Berlin's image as the "copycat capital of the world" and bring legitimate business development techniques, creativity and market analysis to the huge number of unemployed in Berlin.
> 
> For those who would like to get into this racket, he tells me that Brazil is the new place for this kind of thing since government enforcement is lax if you create jobs.


You're truly one of the biggest morons on this forum...


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## Jonesy55

pesto said:


> All right, Dr. Cosmo, the jig is up. A small entrepreneur and investor called me today and mentioned that he wanted to do a "Berlin deal", only in Brazil. I didn't know the expression so he said, that's where you take a US website and do a knockoff: kluge together some software, register names and put up a site in some country outside the US quickly before the US company has time to register its tradenames, etc. Apparently even some very large companies have found it easier to payoff these pirates rather than litigate and lose time.
> 
> This explains why I have never seen VC's funding Berlin based start-ups. The legit ones wouldn't get involved in this.
> 
> He pointed me toward several articles about how Berlin is the world capital for doing this. Some of these are pay-access, but there are quite a few articles on the subject if you Google "samwer brothers".
> 
> Interestingly, two Americans are trying to change Berlin's image as the "copycat capital of the world" and bring legitimate business development techniques, creativity and market analysis to the huge number of unemployed in Berlin.
> 
> For those who would like to get into this racket, he tells me that Brazil is the new place for this kind of thing since government enforcement is lax if you create jobs.


???? What does this have to do with anything? Do you think this is a major part of the Berlin economy or something? :dunno:


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## Dr_Cosmo

"Berlin 2000-2011: Playing among the Ruins," showing at the *Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo* provides a glimpse of the German capital's current scene.

Playful imagery born out of Berlin's ruins - Japan Times

Quote: Berlin is a place that artists want to be. It attracts them from all over the globe


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## Metro007

I should once again go back to Berlin since i've heard only nice things about it!

It really seems to be one of the hottest cities in Europe! How did they say? Poor but sexy? ;-)


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## Dr_Cosmo

Once a year.

The largest adult entertainment fair in the world, the *Venus Berlin....*


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## Suburbanist

I just went to Berlin for a short visit. It looks a better city than 4 years ago, but it surely needs to keep the clean-up and removing all the glitter and becoming a more flashy place, to say so.

Retail looks somehow run-down as a whole, maybe they are needing some market shake-up.

I was quite happy to see gentrification ins former trashy areas, but there is a lot to be done in that area, tearing down some no-longer-in-use communist era industrial buildings and cracking down on graffiti and illegal street vendors. Because there are so much areas to be regenerated, gentrification happens at a slower pace, but it is going, which is important. First time I went to Berlin I felt like I were in some 3rd World city's poor district in some areas that now looks more up-to-the-ranks of a modern metropolis.

But there are signs of progress, that is the important thing. 

Also, I love cheap parking in Berlin. Parking in the Postdamplatz at 1/4 of the price I pay in Amsterdam is reason for joy on my wallet. 

Hopefully, they will speed up completion of the A110, helping to organize the traffic flow that doesn't have to pass in central areas of Berlin.

And they gave some refreshing face lift to some boulevards, leaving them even nicer. Just hope they ditch some ill-placed street names that evoke politicians and militants of communism, who should have their names wiped out from any street in Europe IMO. But it is a minor detail.


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## SkyBridge

So basically you want to replace everything that makes Berlin what it is with a clean city like all others?


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## Suburbanist

SkyBridge said:


> So basically you want to replace everything that makes Berlin what it is with a clean city like all others?


What attracts me in Berlin are the wiiiide boulevards, the Reichstag, the TV tower, the abundant greenery and the overall sensation, save for the overrated Mitte district, that it is a place with room to breath and should it need plenty of farmland to expand over as well!

Removing the grit, the graffiti, the run-down districts would improve Berlin's profile as a city for people who, on top of all the other stuff, value law, organization, order and neatness. The Kreuzberg, for instance, is a disgrace for Berlin as a district, a mix of everything that is wrong in major European cities. It should be pretty much renewed like they renewed other areas of the city, with glass, steel, open-plan streets etc. The Friedrichshain area, OTOH, has improved vastly over the last 4 years or so was my impression. The Prenzlauer Berg area impressed my somehow as well.


=-========================================

Talking of Berlin, I've got two questions:

1) what is planned for the former Tempelhof Airport and soon to be former Texel Airport sites? Some business district with cool towers?

2) I've seen in different places of the city some pipes running overground, like 2m high. One of them, colored in pink, along the esplanade south of Postdamlplatz. What are these pipes for?


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## SkyBridge

Wow, must be a boring city you have in sight then. I would at least never come back and this also goes for the majority of the young tourists.
I always book a hotel in Kreuzberg because this, alongside Friedrichshain, is my favourite area of the entire city! And I know of many people who do the same.
And why rebuild? There is BEAUTIFUL architecture in these neighborhoods that is far more timeproof than glass and steel.


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## Xorcist

well...i LOVE the "bergmannkiez" in kreuzberg, a beautiful area, great buildings and at bergmannstrasse you have great cafés, bars, restaurants and nice liddle shops...so...kreuzberg offers a lot...even "kottbusser tor" area (which looks quite rundown) is very interessting...oranienstrasse with all the bars, restaurants...hell there is even a gay muslim party once a month ("gayhane" at SO36)...so...it´s a cultural melting pot...and at "engelbecken" you have very new, quite posh residential projects...so...XBERG is one of the most interessting districts of berlin...multikulti, gay, posh, eco, alternativ, party....a vibrant "kiez"


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## Blackpool88

Kreuzberg is my favorite part of Berlin... Suburbanist; It sounds like you have got the complete wrong end of the stick about what attracts people to Berlin, the grit, the rough edges are what give it an energy and character, bollocks to gentrification!


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## Wunderknabe

Blackpool: no, Berlin (just like most other mayor cities) attracts people for various reasons. Suburbanist's reasons are just as legit as yours. 
The clean, impressive "prussian" image of Berlin is also a part of its soul and I must say, I also adore those parts.

Suburbanist:
1) This pdf contains various ideas of how the Tegel-Airport area could be developed.

2) I think those pipes contain all the pipes and wires of the infrastructure bypassing the regular ones while construction work is done in them.


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## Blackpool88

Wunderknabe said:


> Blackpool: no, Berlin (just like most other mayor cities) attracts people for various reasons. Suburbanist's reasons are just as legit as yours.
> The clean, impressive "prussian" image of Berlin is also a part of its soul and I must say, I also adore those parts.
> 
> Suburbanist:
> 1) This pdf contains various ideas of how the Tegel-Airport area could be developed.
> 
> 2) I think those pipes contain all the pipes and wires of the infrastructure bypassing the regular ones while construction work is done in them.



Exactly, that's why I said "rough edges" I know it's not all like that but is the contrast that lends it a certain vibrancy in my eyes.


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## SkyBridge

And let's not forget: gentrified areas drive away creative people more than the rundown areas do.


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## Suburbanist

SkyBridge said:


> And let's not forget: gentrified areas drive away creative people more than the rundown areas do.


Only the creative who didn't got a payout for their creativity. Who needs a district full of unemployed, poor, low-earners but awesome creative people? A place full of ill-adjusted and socially outcasts that seem to be attracted to the worst parts of a city. Those places must be brought up to standards, that they are dominated by creative instead of merely low skilled ppl doesn't make a quasi-slum right. And parts of Berlin, unfortunately, are still run on the logic that clean streets, clean buildings and conformity to law are not basic things in a developed country city.


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## SkyBridge

Wow. Your vision of the world is very limited.
Being a creative worker myself, I know how long it takes until you can earn a living with your talent. Also, I choose to live in these areas as they are vibrant, cheap and offer a lot of space for your money.


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## Suburbanist

SkyBridge said:


> Wow. Your vision of the world is very limited.
> Being a creative worker myself, I know how long it takes until you can earn a living with your talent. Also, I choose to live in these areas as they are vibrant, cheap and offer a lot of space for your money.


Sure, and that is ok.

But because a person is in a creative field, doesn't mean graffiti, run-down stores, litter, trash, crumbling buildings, stores looking like they were from Weimar Republic are acceptable things in a modern city.


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## Chrissib

Some districts of Berlin truly are a shame for the city and the country, but I am glad that rents and prices explode all over Berlin, driving out undesireable elements. My hope for Berlin is that it gets rid of that poor and sexy image and starts getting the most advanced, cleanest and richest city in Germany once again.

Berlin should start to get rid of it's communist rubbish buildings and replace them with dense and packed residential and office areas. Narrowing the streets and building on unnecessary green space on wide streets will give life back to Berlin, after it was raped by the Nazis, the WWII bombings and then the communists in the east and leftist urban renewers in the west, who replaced good buildings of the 1871-1914 period with commieblocks and unnecessary greenery.


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## DiggerD21

That is right. For example that rents are not allowed to be raised more than 20% over the course of 5 consecutive years for the same tenant. Only if the old tenant has moved out and the owner is looking for a new tenant, he might charge much more from the new tenant right away.


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## Jonesy55

Suburbanist said:


> there are some explanations. According to our real estate professor here at the University, in a seminar held couple months ago, two of the main reasons are:
> 
> (1) lack of fiscal incentives (like extensive mortgage deduction) for people to buy houses at any cost
> 
> (2) the German Central Bank has stronger regulations regarding mortgage, making it less attractive for banks to finance 2nd, 3rd homes or corporate investment portfolio.


There are no fiscal incentives here in the UK either but still everybody wants to buy rather than rent if they can. 

Probably the tenants rights are a big factor, private rental accommodation can be good here but also can often be poor quality homes and insecure tenancies that are only really suitable for student house sharing rather than long term family living.

Also people tend to have the attitude that as they are going to have to pay every month anyway they might as well repay their own mortgage rather than a landlord's mortgage. Pay mortgage for 25 years and you own a house at the end of the period, pay rent for 25 years you have nothing but your landlord is rich! :laugh:


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## nicdel

i can tell you guys, Berlin is sooo huge and diverse (at least for German conditions) that you can find any housing situation. Berlin isn't exclusviely make up of "hip" and "gritty" areas on the one hand and "poor" and social housing" areas on the other hand. For Instance, I live in the most prosperous borough of Berlin (Steglitz-Zehlendorf) with the highest per capita income of all Berlin boroughs and therefore its quite tidy and organized here, thus, a bit boring and suburban. Yeah that's also Berlin: (is that enough "stuffy", "clean" and "German" for you? )


















as compared to "run-down" areas like Neukölln:


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## Czas na Żywiec

^^ Doesn't look very run-down to me. I've seen worse. :dunno: 

Berlin is definitely an interesting city. Everytime you come out of the U-bahn it seems like you are in a different city each time, it's different than typical German cities but it somehow works. I always enjoy every opportunity I get to be in the city. It's much better than the cities in Sachsen-Anhalt at least.


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## Wunderknabe

Jonesy55 said:


> So how come housing is so cheap there?


Well, my rent went up by 15% in two years now..

Its getting more expensive. But still Berlin is very affortable (and will remain so in the next years).


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## Dr_Cosmo




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## Jonesy55

Wunderknabe said:


> Well, my rent went up by 15% in two years now..
> 
> Its getting more expensive.


Yeah, no doubt, but compared to other West European capitals and major cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam etc I think you are doing well


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## Dr_Cosmo

*Happy New Year & Frohes Neues Jahr !*


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## Dr_Cosmo

Freunde von Freunden


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## Tiaren

^^
The speaker has a weird accent. As if he's speaking with a hot potato in his mouth. First I thought, it might be one of those overpronounciation cases, where non native English speakers try SO hard to sound English/American. But he definatey isn't German, as the messes up German pronounciation as well. Is he really a native English speaker?


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## Dr_Cosmo

The wild, decadent ways of the Weimar era are alive again in Berlin - Wall Street Journal

Quote:
Today, with the city's post-Berlin Wall reconstruction nearly complete in physical and emotional terms, there are signs that the wild, wicked Berlin of the 1920s has returned. The city's avant-garde art scene is flourishing; stars like Olafur Eliasson and Daniel Richter now call Berlin home. (Chinese artist Ai Weiwei accepted a post at the Berlin University of the Arts after his imprisonment last year.) World-class filmmaking has returned to the famed Studio Babelsberg; soundstages where Fritz Lang and Josef von Sternberg worked are now being used by notable subversives like the Wachowskis and Quentin Tarantino. The contemporary nightlife scene is unmatched in its enthusiasm for all-hours partying and sheer volume of venues and events--many inspired by a past golden age.


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## Dr_Cosmo

Berlin as global lifestyle center is again seen as one of the movers and shakers...

Hub Culture 2012 Zeitgeist Ranking

*4. Berlin (2011 rank: 4)*

Berlin is like your hipster friend who went into local politics and ended up raising your property taxes. All the cool kids are still there, but the city's evolution into political power player is complete, and that's replacing the hip factor with raw power. Berlin is calling the shots across Europe - from the Greek crisis to EU interest rates, and so for every underground dungeon slash disco there are now two lawyers in a coffee shop talking about work. That's life.










Source


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## Dr_Cosmo

The Telegraph

Quote:

Berlin is the coolest place to move to these days if you’re young, creative and broke – as glamorous as London but infinitely cheaper. Young people started going in the early 1990s after the fall of the Wall, taking over flats abandoned by East Berliners as jobs disappeared with the collapse of communism. More recently, it is fledgling designers, young creatives with no hope of affording the stratospheric rents at home in London, Paris, Stockholm or New York, who have been drawn to Berlin, to revel in some of the lowest shop and flat rents in Europe.

As a result, the city is packed with pop-up cafes and clubs, gallery spaces in old factories, and more small fashion and design stores than you might find in Hoxton, the Marais, Söderholm and Williamsburg put together. 









Source


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## Dr_Cosmo

Richard Quest reports on Berlins creative scene...

Berlin: 'Poor, but sexy' - CNN Video









Copyright spreephoto


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## Dr_Cosmo

Young Israel's New Love Affair with Germany- Der Spiegel

Quote:
But Berlin is more than just the latest New York. It's a stage on which they can role play and explore their senses of belonging and identity -- a kind of what-if game: What if I had been born in Germany? Who would I be? What would my life be like today?


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## Metro007

Dr_Cosmo said:


> Young Israel's New Love Affair with Germany- Der Spiegel
> 
> Quote:
> But Berlin is more than just the latest New York. It's a stage on which they can role play and explore their senses of belonging and identity -- a kind of what-if game: What if I had been born in Germany? Who would I be? What would my life be like today?


Berlin is indeed a nice city. Not more and not less.


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## El_Greco

Dr_Cosmo said:


> The Telegraph
> 
> Quote:
> 
> Berlin is the coolest place to move to these days if you’re young, creative and broke – as glamorous as London but infinitely cheaper. Young people started going in the early 1990s after the fall of the Wall, taking over flats abandoned by East Berliners as jobs disappeared with the collapse of communism. More recently, it is fledgling designers, young creatives with no hope of affording the stratospheric rents at home in London, Paris, Stockholm or New York, who have been drawn to Berlin, to revel in some of the lowest shop and flat rents in Europe.
> 
> As a result, the city is packed with pop-up cafes and clubs, gallery spaces in old factories, and more small fashion and design stores than you might find in Hoxton, the Marais, Söderholm and Williamsburg put together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source


Im really surprised that estate agents and developers havent moved in and priced everyone out yet! Thats what happened to Shoreditch and Spitalfields here in London...you pretty much have to be a banker with large bonus to be able to afford to live there...


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## hmueller2

I don't know about the UK but in Germany tenants used to have a very good protection by the law.
You can't just buy a building and then double the rent.


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## yabbes

Chrissib said:


> Berlin should start to get rid of it's communist rubbish buildings and replace them with dense and packed residential and office areas. Narrowing the streets and building on unnecessary green space on wide streets will give life back to Berlin, after it was raped by the Nazis, the WWII bombings and then the communists in the east and leftist urban renewers in the west, who replaced good buildings of the 1871-1914 period with commieblocks and unnecessary greenery.


The problem of Berlin is not the buildings from socialist times in the East, it is its people. This pseudo-alternative hipster culture is ruining the city. Compare it to Warsaw, there you have a city worthy to be the capital of a great country. Hard working people live there and you notice it immediately. In Berlin, when you visit, you get the impression nobody works there, everybody just "hangs around". So really, this is not a question of socialist relics, it's rather a question of how the society is made up. 

Berlin will never rid itself from this newly achieved image in the near future. The Anti-Capital, where everything is different to the ordinary, boring Germany. 

I must say that we Germans lost our capital thanks to the nazis. If Berlin at one moment of time was worthy to be the capital of an united Germany it was between 1871 and 1930, I think afterwards its spirit was lost forever and West Germany should have better chosen a city like Frankfurt to be its new capital after the Second World War. It would have had the historic legitimation required.. It is strange to me that Adenauer was against this option, given his scepticism of Prussia. 

He is quoted saying : "Crossing the Elbe river, the Siberian steppe begins"

The problem is greater than only Berlin. It encompasses the whole of former Prussia. The Nazis ripped and misused the last bits of the Prussian soul there was. After them former Prussia is devoid of culture. In the East this void was temporarily filled with socialist ideology, this explains why the GDR tried to be the model state among the Warsaw Pact. They didn't have any foundation other than socialist ideology. After the Fall of the Wall the void was there again, and this time it got filled with pseudo-anti-ideological alternative Hipster creed.


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## Dr_Cosmo




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## Dr_Cosmo

*The Globe: Marveling at Berlin....*


San Diego Indie Rocker producing in Berlin

Crocodiles-Endless Flowers - Soundcloud 4:36 min










*Londons Postpunk Combo tunes in to Berlin!*

Savages – “Flying To Berlin” - Incl Soundcloud File










*Federico Aubele, Electro-Tango-Musician new Album "Berlin 13". *


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## Dr_Cosmo

-edit


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## Ulpia-Serdica

> *SoundCloud’s Alexander Ljung on why Berlin is a “magical” place to be based *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Berlin has gained a reputation as an up-and-coming city for startups over the past couple of years, and SoundCloud is leading a pack of startups offering original, stylish, consumer-focused services from the German capital.
> 
> We caught up with co-founder and CEO, Alexander Ljung at f.ounders in New York City recently to find out how things are going for the company that is fast establishing itself as the ‘YouTube for audio’. He also told us why Berlin is such a “magical” place to be based.


http://thenextweb.com/video/2012/06...on-why-berlin-is-a-magical-place-to-be-based/


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## Ulpia-Serdica




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## turangalia

berlin is at first a poor poor city with 15% people jobless and nothing is working in this city. 
look at the new airport a desaster, a dirty city with dirty streets, Deficits everywhere and very deficient municipal services, berlin is just an enormous trash can.
berlin is not a german city because berlin has no Rigor, efficiency, seriousness likes every others cities frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg.
Everything (services, infrastructures, etc) works marvelously in frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg, but not in berlin.
you can ask people living in munich hamburg or frankfurt what they think about berlin, of shure nothing positive.
parties, have fun is the only thing the Berliners know, and no working. 4 millions of shirkers.
All Germany pays to mop its deficits and its debts.
berlin an open air trash can.


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## Ulpia-Serdica

^^

Thank you for your angry rant. Now, please **** off.


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## WeimieLvr

How dare someone infringe on the Berlin Lovefest!


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## LtBk

turangalia said:


> berlin is at first a poor poor city with 15% people jobless and nothing is working in this city.
> look at the new airport a desaster, a dirty city with dirty streets, Deficits everywhere and very deficient municipal services, berlin is just an enormous trash can.
> berlin is not a german city because berlin has no Rigor, efficiency, seriousness likes every others cities frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg.
> Everything (services, infrastructures, etc) works marvelously in frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg, but not in berlin.
> you can ask people living in munich hamburg or frankfurt what they think about berlin, of shure nothing positive.
> parties, have fun is the only thing the Berliners know, and no working. 4 millions of shirkers.
> All Germany pays to mop its deficits and its debts.
> berlin an open air trash can.


WTF?


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## Zabonz

Mecca of bums and hookers, not something to be proud of...

German capital does not match its country in any way....


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## Tiaren

Lol, what's going on here? XD Troll fest?


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## Ulpia-Serdica

Tiaren said:


> Lol, what's going on here? XD Troll fest?


Indeed, freaking haters, while they hate, Berlin is slowly moving towards becoming a cultural and tech startups mecca of Europe.



> *How Berlin's Women Are Changing The Face Of Tech*
> 
> Where are all the women in tech? Much ink has been spilled answering this rotten question, and one answer might be – they’re in Berlin. Germany’s capital is a burgeoning scene of startup culture, and several women are leading the charge.
> 
> “In Berlin we really have this hub of creative minds,” said 34-year-old Stefanie Hoffmann, serial entrepreneur and co-developer of Gabi, an addictive iPhone app that curates Facebook newsfeeds, creating an intelligent “best-of.”


http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalie...-berlins-women-are-changing-the-face-of-tech/


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## LtBk

I don't get it either. Funny thing is the last two trolls come from countries that are poorer than Berlin. Retards.


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## WeimieLvr

Wow...so anyone who disagrees is a retard? That's funny.

I won't disparage any city with details, but I didn't like Berlin at all. I hope my opinion is okay with everyone.


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## weava

I just visited Berlin for the first time this month. My impression was of a great city. Was there on a night that Germany won a soccer game and fans were going crazy everywhere all night which was a cool atmosphere. I've heard the city isn't as efficient or industrial as other cities in Germany due to the city being cut in half for so many years but you could hardly tell the city was cut in half today as areas along where the wall that I visited are thriving areas. 

My only complaints would be about the amount of Graffiti around the city, it mostly seemed to be on walls facing the S-bahns though.


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## LtBk

WeimieLvr said:


> Wow...so anyone who disagrees is a retard? That's funny.
> 
> I won't disparage any city with details, but I didn't like Berlin at all. I hope my opinion is okay with everyone.


You misunderstood me. I was commenting that the last 2 people who commented on Berlin being a poor shithole came from poorer countries, and I doubt they(plus the guy from France) ever visited the city. Never did I say that anybody who criticizes Berlin is a retard, but at least give good reasons instead of bringing out dumb stats or stereotypes you picked from other people. I rather be Berlin that Sprawlanta if you ask me.


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## WeimieLvr

LtBk said:


> You misunderstood me. I was commenting that the last 2 people who commented on Berlin being a shithole came from poorer countries, and I doubt they(plus the guy from France) ever visited the city.


Okay, sorry bout that. :nuts:


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## goschio

Ulpia-Serdica said:


> ^^
> 
> Thank you for your angry rant. Now, please **** off.


Watch your mouth please!


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## Dr_Cosmo

The Next Silicon Valley? Berlin Startups Catching Up With The Hype


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## razpatrol99

Berlin definitely one of the best city in europe (for me of course). I found it more interesting compare to Frankfurt. Party/arts/culture what make it interesting and attract tourist to visit it while frankfurt might only be good for businessman.


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## Dr_Cosmo




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## Hed_Kandi

edit


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## Dr_Cosmo

*BERLIN IS ALIVE 
THE REMMIDEMMI 
GERMAN CAPITAL
PACKAGE
*
:rock:...:master:...:rofl:


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## Dr_Cosmo

45643657


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## Avalanix

turangalia said:


> berlin is at first a poor poor city with 15% people jobless and nothing is working in this city.
> look at the new airport a desaster, a dirty city with dirty streets, Deficits everywhere and very deficient municipal services, berlin is just an enormous trash can.
> berlin is not a german city because berlin has no Rigor, efficiency, seriousness likes every others cities frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg.
> Everything (services, infrastructures, etc) works marvelously in frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg, but not in berlin.
> you can ask people living in munich hamburg or frankfurt what they think about berlin, of shure nothing positive.
> parties, have fun is the only thing the Berliners know, and no working. 4 millions of shirkers.
> All Germany pays to mop its deficits and its debts.
> berlin an open air trash can.



What's wrong about this? He's quite right about it.


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## LtBk

The problem with his post is how he presented his opinion of Berlin, which read like he was trolling.


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## nicdel

hno:

Haters gonna hate. Berlin isn't even as poor as some German hillbillies claim. There are a lot of affluent areas too, specifically in the Southwestern part.


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## yabbes

........................


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## Ulpia-Serdica

*Two More Boosts for Berlin’s Tech Scene*

The startup scene in Germany’s capital continues to grow. Mozilla, the non-profit company behind the Firefox browser, is to open a permanent office there. And the city is to get a new incubator.



> “The organization set up a temporary Berlin office a few weeks ago, and on Monday it announced it is to establish a permanent base next year in the Factory, a recently-opened tech office space that houses SoundCloud and several other up-and-coming Berlin startups. What’s more, Mozilla says it’s now hiring in the city.”
> 
> “Now, this isn’t a coup for Berlin in the same sense as London’s recent announcements of new Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft offices. The Berlin office will be one of what the organization calls ‘Mozilla Spaces’ – an office with some paid staff, but also where Mozilla’s many volunteer contributors can come to hack or just hang out. In Europe, there are two similar ‘spaces’ already being set up in London and Paris.
> 
> “It’s also hard to nail down exactly what kind of product will come out of the Berlin establishment. Barbara Hueppe, who’s in charge of setting up the new team, told me it “will not have a special focus”, and that Mozilla hoped to “attract talent that will help us drive our diverse initiatives”.





> “German Startups Group is a new fund set up by Christoph Gerlinger and Alexander Kölpin, both of whom look well-placed to tap the local ‘digital’ startup scene in Berlin with investments of between €50k and €250k, although it isn’t ruling out applications from further afield.
> 
> “Christoph Gerlinger was founder and CEO of games publisher Frogster before it was acquired by Gamesforge, while Kölpin is a co-founder of BerlinWebWeek and has worked with local startups in a marketing capacity as divisional director of location-marketing agency BerlinPartner.”


http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/07/31/two-more-boosts-for-berlins-tech-scene/


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## Ulpia-Serdica

> *Google puts its weight behind Gründer Garage, a German startup competition that isn’t limited to tech*
> 
> Internet search and services juggernaut Google has teamed up with Berlin-based Entrepreneurship Foundation (founded by Professor Günter Faltin) and crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to launch a new startup competition and academy dubbed Gründer Garage.
> 
> Interestingly, the competition is aimed at early-stage entrepreneurs in any field, rather than just technology. Candidates must apply and raise their own capital through Indiegogo, for which Gründer Garage represents its first localised platform developed for the European market.
> 
> Selected startups will receive training from the Entrepreneurship Foundation.
> 
> Winners will then be announced in October 2012 at an annual entrepreneurship summit in Berlin, and Google says it will match successfully fund-raised competition ideas until a prize pot of 150,000 euros is depleted.


http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/0...tartup-competition-that-isnt-limited-to-tech/


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## Dr_Cosmo

Happy Birthday Berlin! Here's a Giant Map

Berlin is turning 775 this year. To celebrate, a team of eight artists are creating a giant city map in a central square. The 2,500-meter map will be at a scale of 1:775. When it opens on August 25, visitors can walk on top, pointing out their home and office to friends.


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## Dr_Cosmo

Berlin's Nightlife: 48 Hours You Might Not Remember -Huffington Post

Quote:
And the bars in Berlin, fueled by the city's alternative youth culture, are some of the hippest and coolest in the world.


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## NAMBA

turangalia said:


> berlin is at first a poor poor city with 15% people jobless and nothing is working in this city.
> look at the new airport a desaster, a dirty city with dirty streets, Deficits everywhere and very deficient municipal services, berlin is just an enormous trash can.
> berlin is not a german city because berlin has no Rigor, efficiency, seriousness likes every others cities frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg.
> Everything (services, infrastructures, etc) works marvelously in frankfurt, munich koln or hamburg, but not in berlin.
> you can ask people living in munich hamburg or frankfurt what they think about berlin, of shure nothing positive.
> parties, have fun is the only thing the Berliners know, and no working. 4 millions of shirkers.
> All Germany pays to mop its deficits and its debts.
> berlin an open air trash can.


hmmmm a trash can I would really like to live in!
By far the most interesting city I have ever visited in Europe.
World class museums, thriving cultural scene, easy going and friendly people, vibrant nightlife (on this point all other cities on the continent just don't compare) 
THUMBS UP and long life to Berlin


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## Ulpia-Serdica

An underestimated museum, but definitively world class with a beautiful collection.

14877042

44877673


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## Ulpia-Serdica

> *Berlin finally starts championing its tech hub*
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> After longstanding grumbling from the German capital’s tech community over its lack of recognition, the Berlin senate has launched a campaign to push the city as a startup center of note.
> 
> At last. After months — if not years — of complaining about a lack of official support from the Berlin administration, the city’s senate has decided to start pushing it as a tech hub.
> 
> The value of that support is yet to be determined, but there are some definites. In concrete terms, it’s a €500,000 ($623,000) marketing campaign over the next year: not a huge amount of money, but significant when you consider Berlin’s been broke for the best part of a decade.
> 
> Beyond the numbers, though, the biggest impact is the psychological boost. As I mentioned, there’s been a fair bit of grumbling from the startup community — possibly jealous of London’s more coordinated efforts to promote itself as a tech center — that they weren’t being properly championed. That was never strictly true, as Berlin has been handing out grants to some early-stage startups for many years, but a bit of overt lionization never hurt.
> 
> The launch of the campaign took place on Wednesday morning at Telefonica’s grand Campus Party Europe tech festival, held at the decommissioned Tempelhof airport.
> 
> “It has long been no secret that Berlin is a breeding ground and major location for the creative minds of the digital industry,” Berlin tech and research secretary Nicolas Zimmer said. “We want to highlight this trend and ensure that a real digital economy is created through these creative individuals and startup ventures, bringing jobs, income and prosperity for Berlin.”
> 
> Productivity outfit 6wunderkinder has arguably been the chief grumbler in the pack. On Wednesday, CMO Benedikt Lehnert claimed the city’s developing startup infrastructure was “reminiscent of the spirit and energy of Silicon Valley.”
> 
> That analogy shouldn’t be taken too far, however. As we’ve discussed before, there is only one Valley, and Berlin — which is behind that curve by a matter of decades — needs to forge its own identity.
> 
> The campaign launch came, naturally, with a slideshow that was supposed to show off Berlin’s particular strengths. Again, some elements of that were a bit hopeful: Berlin does not have, as it claimed, “ideal conditions for venture and entrepreneur financing”, for example, unless by that they mean its proximity to London.
> 
> But other points on that list ring true. Berlin is heaving with incubators and co-working spaces, it is perfectly located for skilled workers from all around Europe, it has very strong networks within the scene, there’s a ton of interplay between the tech and creative sectors, and it’s still a relatively cheap place to set up shop.
> 
> Will the campaign help matters? Perhaps a little. The focus of the marketing will be on Germany’s national press and trade events, and it’s hard to imagine that Germans in the tech industry are unaware of Berlin’s growing significance.
> 
> That said, Berlin’s startup scene really could use some championing on the national stage right now, particularly with worries over a change to freelance taxation that many say could scupper younger companies.
> 
> If the campaign and newfound chumminess between the startup scene and city authorities does prove its worth over time, it will be interesting to compare it with London’s Tech City push, which has drawn criticism from those who reckon the state should not interfere with private sector business development.
> 
> In Berlin’s case, it doesn’t look like the city is setting up any new structures that might mirror what could be established privately. The scene is already developing on its own, without much assistance.
> 
> This new push appears to be little more than cheerleading — and sometimes that’s no bad thing.


http://gigaom.com/europe/berlin-finally-starts-championing-its-tech-hub/


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## bolg

Suburbanist said:


> Grit is a form of urban cancer to be eradicated, like panhandling, graffiti/tagging, pickpocketing, mugging, carjacks, illegal housing, illegal trash dumping, squatting. It most be fought like it were the pest.


Honestly, every city should have its gritty, more bohemian districts. It gives the city a more electrical and vibrant nightlife. Unsuccesful artists aren't unwanted, first off unsuccesful doesn't mean talentless. Honestly, nothing beats going down to the local bar or café to listen to an unknown local band. Perhaps there's even someone playing a guitar and singing songs at a streetcorner or at a metro station. And this is from someone coming from a family who've been engineers and economists for generations and lacks every ounce of artistic skill. 

Anyway, was thinking about combining visiting a friend in Berlin this autumn with some groundhopping, and thought about the Berlin derby. What's the atmosphere like? The few videos I found on youtube weren't that impressive tbh.


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## Ulpia-Serdica

Telefonica Campus Party 2012 - Berlin @ Templehof Airport



> Today the airport is hosting a different crowd, but one that is also looking to secure Berlin’s future as a European, or even global, technology hub.





> Telefónica’s Campus Party is being held in a non-Spanish speaking European country for the first time. This vast area has been handed over to 10,000 geeks who have taken residency here for five days, 24 hours a day. Equipped with computers and other toys, they camp on-site writing code, building apps or just hanging out.





> I bumped into Israeli super angel Yossi Vardi, often and without too much exaggeration, described as the father of the Israeli internet. “In a few years time,” he said, “This event could be bigger than SXSW (South by South West, an annual tech event held in Austin, Texas).”





> The festival features over 600 hours of talks, debates, workshops, competitions and hackathons related to science, innovation, digital entertainment and creativity; and hundreds of hours of ad-hoc events planned by participants that continue throughout the night.





> In the Berlin region, the ICT, media and creative industry – of which digital and startups are an important part — encompasses 36,841 companies with an annual turnover of €26.11 billion and employing 181,217 people directly, and about 314,000 altogether.


http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/08/22/berlins-tempelhof-once-again-bridge-to-the-future/


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## Ulpia-Serdica




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## Dr_Cosmo

Top 10 art and architecture destinations - Hindustan Times

4. Berlin, Germany

Over the last 20 years, Berlin has emerged as one of the biggest art venues in Europe with an impressive selection of new architecture, exhibits and art galleries. But even with its new art scene, Berlin will always have strong ties to the past, which can be seen at one of the 17 Berlin State Museums that are divided into five clusters. Museumsinsel (Museum Island), a complex of five museums, is the largest in Europe, and is comprised of the Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Bode Museum, and Pergamon Museum, which were all built on the site of the original city settlement. The museums' collections range from Roman and Greek Classical Antiquities, to 19th century sculptures and paintings, to prehistory and early history.


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## Dr_Cosmo




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## Ulpia-Serdica

^^

Berlin deserves to claim its rightful place among world cities. With the recent tech & cultural boom, I have no doubt that 10 years down the road, Berlin will become something magnificent. kay:


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## Chrissib

edit


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## Dr_Cosmo

Chrissib said:


> Gross.


*I say its fun.*

The Man Behind Berlin’s ‘Tech City’ Initiative - Wall Street Journal Video


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## Tiaren

*NOOOOO!!* Why did you quote that fugly, cheap thing again?! I was hoping, I could one day enter this thread, without having to see her. Now she's on another page...hno:


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## Dr_Cosmo

edit


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## Ulpia-Serdica

TU Berlin is also coming in to help boost the city's tech scene.



> *TU Berlin finds the right formula for nurturing entrepreneurs*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spin-outs from TU Berlin are multiplying despite the tough economic climate. This success holds lessons for other universities on how to promote entrepreneurship
> 
> The Technical University of Berlin excels at churning out top engineering and science graduates, but lately it has started minting something new – technology entrepreneurs. Over the past four years, TU Berlin students and researchers have created an average 33 start-up companies a year, more than double the rate of the previous four years.
> 
> That’s a company-creation pipeline that ranks among the best for any European university, including those where entrepreneurship has a longer and deeper tradition, such as Cambridge University or ETH Zurich. The relatively rapid creation of a hotspot for entrepreneurship at TU Berlin - despite a tough economic environment - holds valuable lessons for other universities keen to support the same dynamic.
> 
> Most important is getting the ecosystem right, says Agnes von Matuschka, co-director of the TU Berlin Centre for Entrepreneurship. In addition to courses and incubator space, company founders need regular contact with business angels, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, service providers, role models, developers, analysts, headhunters, alumni and corporations – a networking community to help guide their idea to market.
> 
> The three-year-old Centre for Entrepreneurship, is a one-stop shop for students and researchers and a key catalyst. The number of start-ups at TU Berlin rose sharply after the first supporting activities were launched in 2007. At one-day business modelling workshops, for example, five external experts evaluate students’ business plans and help them tackle any problems.
> 
> It’s not a miracle
> 
> Before designing the TU Berlin Centre for Entrepreneurship programme, its staff benchmarked successful counterparts at Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ETH Zurich. Sixty per cent of TU Berlin’s start-ups are information technology companies. “It’s not a miracle what we do. The US tested the approach 20 years ago, and we took it over,” says Jan Kratzer, chair for entrepreneurship and innovation at TU Berlin and co-director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship.
> 
> The TU Berlin center now employs a staff of 25 professionals who coach TU students, researchers and professors on how to set up a company, obtain venture capital and win government grants to commercialise their technology. Kratzer and von Matuschka also personally contact 50 professors a year for new ideas and help in mentoring students keen to create a company. “The strategic cooperation between my chair and the start-up service was a milestone,” says Kratzer. “It linked the faculty to the administration. Entrepreneurship became more popular and more professors became aware of the centre’s programme.”
> 
> International financing
> Equally important, the centre connects entrepreneurs with the community of investors and external players interested in backing new technologies and innovation, including international contacts. “A community has formed with events and places where entrepreneurs can meet,” says von Matuschka, noting a small core of promising companies have received international financing.
> 
> Bringing alumni closer to the university and its start-ups is another key to TU Berlin’s success growing start-ups. The centre’s staff compiled a book profiling TU Berlin’s successful entrepreneurs and they are regularly invited to participate in lectures and workshops. “We’ve succeeded in opening doors and winning them over as mentors, teachers and angels,” says von Matuschka.
> 
> In 2011 TU Berlin garnered an accolade as one of Germany’s top three entrepreneurial universities. Each received a €3.2 million grant from the German Ministry for Economy and Technology to improve the culture for start-ups. “It’s an excellence programme in entrepreneurial climate and support,” says Kratzer.
> 
> Creating a prototype
> 
> In fact, German government programmes are now better designed and more effective at supporting the efforts of universities such as TU Berlin. They include monthly stipends of up to €2,500 for researchers interested in commercialising their technology, an accelerator programme to help German start-ups establish US subsidiaries and apply for US patents, and a matching-funds programme for business angels. Students who win the so-called EXIST start-up awards receive up to €17,000 for creating a prototype and €5,000 euro for coaching.
> 
> Since 2010, TU Berlin also has benefitted from European Commission efforts to promote entrepreneurship on campus through the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT). In 2010, the EIT launched three pan-European Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) that link universities and industry and promote innovation and start-ups. TU Berlin participates in two of those communities – EIT ICT Labs and Climate-KIC. “Through the KICs, we have close partnerships with industry – it’s is a door opener,” says Kratzer.
> 
> Each KIC runs a summer coaching and pitching competition for student entrepreneurs including sessions on partner university campuses to build international ties. “The KICs have provided an opportunity to enlarge the scope of our world,” adds Kratzer.
> 
> More to do
> 
> Despite TU Berlin’s achievements, Kratzer and von Matuschka say there is more work to do. Fifty per cent of the centre’s work still focuses on inspiring students and researchers to consider an entrepreneurial path, whereas at universities in the US or Israel, the interest is already there.
> 
> “Germany started developing an entrepreneurial culture on campus quite late,” explains Kratzer, noting that the country’s first professor for entrepreneurship was created in 1999. His own chair for entrepreneurship at TU Berlin was created in 2009. “For 10 years [of effort], we have a fine result. Ten years from now, I think we will be able to overcome the negative image of entrepreneurship in Germany,” he says.
> 
> Of course, the real test is making sure university start-ups survive and grow. TU Berlin recently linked up with the University of Karlsruhe and the Technical University of Munich to study the survival rate of their combined pool of start-ups. The first assessment is due in November. If the survival rate for the first five years is high, this new crop of start-ups will mark not only a breakthrough in teaching entrepreneurship, but also a critical shift building a more innovation-driven European economy.


http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net...the-right-formula-for-nurturing-entrepreneurs


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## Dr_Cosmo

Breaking News:

For the first time ever the Duck family is visiting Europe.

And guess where they heading first....


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## bolg

What? I read alot of Donald Duck comics when I was a child, especially the comics by Don Rosa. And from what I remember they were in Europe plenty of times, and they've even been in Magdeburg.


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## Chrissib

I think most of the times they visited Italy, but only because many of the disney comics are made in Italy. ^^


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## Dr_Cosmo

The super city - wish / The Australian

Quote:
This is the fifth issue of WISH that we've dedicated to a single city. And for me, at least, it's the first time we've produced an issue in a city that I had never been to before.

When we made the decision to do our New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles issues it was largely because I knew each city fairly well and had a good idea of what to see, what to do, who we should approach for interviews and what locations we should choose for our fashion shoot. To be perfectly honest, we chose* Berlin* because every time we published one of these destination issues, people - colleagues, friends, readers - kept telling me that we should go to *Berlin *next. Never let it be said that I don't listen.

Of all the issues and photo shoots we've worked on overseas, this one was by far the most complex and challenging but, as is often the case, it was also the most rewarding. Now having been there, if there's one word that sums up *Berlin *for me it's super. During the week we were working in the city we'd often hear that someone was "super busy" or if they did have time to meet with us they were "super pleased" to do so.



















Appetite for life - wish/ The Australian

Quote:
ONE of Europe's most enticing cities, *Berlin *has emerged from its tumultous past with its gaze set firmly to the future. A hotbed of creativity, it's a dynamic and happening place to be (and it's one of the last affordable capital cities in the world).

Shops, bars, restaurants and galleries have emerged in interesting locations, sometimes in disused factories, warehouses, bunkers or railway stations, where the spaces are transformed and reinvented, oozing personality and difference. The design and architecture may be classic or contemporary, from Bauhaus to Mies van der Rohe, minimalist to Baroque, industrial glam or grunge, but it all contributes to the city's unique aesthetic. Street fashion is avant-garde and innovative, the music is edgy, the atmosphere electric, even anarchistic. Retail therapy is alive and thriving and it's possible to firmly treasures that are *Berlin*-specific - great in an era of international homogeny. And, not surprisingly, the city's creativity and sense of liberation and freedom shines through in its dynamic food culture.


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## Dr_Cosmo

Hipster Berlin

Photo Blog at its finest




































http://photo.kodal.de/


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## Ulpia-Serdica

> *Berlin: Europe’s fastest growing tech hub*
> 
> As adventure-hungry young people flock to the capital and technology fuses with Berlin’s creative community, a thriving entrepreneurial culture has formed and is growing at a rapid pace. So what comes next? Carmen Reichman reports
> 
> For many, the Berlin start-up scene was a ticking time bomb. Home to people from all parts of the world, the German capital offers an array of different languages and a lively party scene. Armed with the teachings of Eric Ries and Fred Wilson, young Berliners have stormed the market helped by incubators such as Samwer Brothers' Rocket Internet. These young entrepreneurs are ready to challenge the German status quo that has earned the nation a reputation of being too scared to take risks. They benefit from a dense and supportive ecosystem, a good geographical placement within Europe and low overheads due to the city's vast amount of real estate, including old factory buildings.
> 
> Berlin's venture scene can be traced back 10 years to the dotcom bubble, which saw many new entrepreneurs setting up for the first time. The current boom in Berlin venture, however, started only about five years ago, with the last two years in particular seeing an acceleration of international interest in the city. Berlin has become particularly strong in creative technological development such as consumer oriented tech, e-commerce and mobile, with eight out of 10 start-ups falling into these sectors, as estimated by Christian Thaler-Wolski, investment manager at Wellington Partners.
> 
> "It's all coming together in Berlin", says Thaler-Wolski. "The city now has enough well-known angel investors and companies that are funded by well-known international venture firms to build up a reputation for itself. I think a few years ago, big US start-ups went straight to London for their European base, whereas now they either head to Berlin directly or they look to Berlin as the next step after London." Start-ups that have internationalised out of Berlin include Airbnb, Etsy, Fab.com and Citydeal, which was bought up by Groupon.
> 
> Berlin is home to a number of angel syndicates and small funds operating in the €5-10m under-management range. However there are also large international venture capital funds that invest in the city, including Sunstone Capital, Index Ventures, Wellington Partners and Union Square Ventures, which invested in SoundCloud.
> 
> The capital also features venture capital-like organisations that specialise in helping young businesses off the ground between the seed and series-A rounds. Alexander Kölpin, co-founder of German Startups Group, explains: "While we know that you need a series A or B to grow a company internationally, we believe that you can start a business with a relatively small amount of capital nowadays. Young businesses are increasingly looking for smaller amounts of money and to give away smaller stakes. We are here to bridge that gap."
> 
> Start-ups from scratch
> Unlike London's early-stage scene, Berlin's has grown organically and not profited from government-backed initiatives. The city has an investment bank, IBB, that offers loans and makes a few investments, but the amounts they work with are not really relevant, says Thaler-Wolski: "If they ten-folded their resources I'd be impressed, but that would also create market distortion".
> 
> What Berlin profits from is a special dynamic, says Stefan Glaenzer, founding partner at Passion Capital: "Berlin is probably the quickest growing digital hub. It still lags behind London but it's got a very good dynamic. I've been involved in the German start-up scene since 1997 and it has never been as vibrant and active as it is now. What's really changed is the Anglo-Saxon interest coming from the UK and the US to invest in German start-ups."
> 
> For some, what is still missing in Berlin is a mega-exit to really drum up interest and provide a role model that young entrepreneurs can aspire to.
> 
> The city enjoyed a few big exits 10 years ago and in 2010 it saw Brands4Friends, a company operated by Private Sale, sold to eBay for $200m. But a grand exit in the leagues of Skype is what Berlin still needs, says Thaler-Wolski: "In the past three years there has been a number of promising companies emerging including Gameduell, Wooga and SoundCloud, but the real big bang is still to happen. And that's what everyone is waiting for."


http://www.unquote.com/dach/analysis/2215644/berlin-europe-s-fastest-growing-tech-hub


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## Ulpia-Serdica




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## goschio

Dr_Cosmo said:


> Hipster Berlin
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Gammler


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## Suburbanist

Now that Berlin is becoming a high-tech hub, hopefully a similar trend to other high-tech hub catches up: accelerated gentrification and a cleanup in areas that are run-down.

At least it appears after having been left out the real estate hot market of the 1990s and early 2000s due to massive oversupply of flats, now things are improving, and famous districts are becoming more expensive to live, so with more property tax money the city could probably do a better job cleaning itself up and getting rid of its still filthy and gritty areas like London did in the early 1990s and San Francisco did in the late 1990s.


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## El_Greco

Property getting more expensive is a good thing? :nuts:

I like these alternative/hipster areas I think they add a lot of energy to a city. Getting rid of them and turning the place into sterile/rich ghetto isnt a good idea.


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## Suburbanist

El_Greco said:


> Property getting more expensive is a good thing? :nuts:.


For the city, it surely is. More expensive property = more property taxes = more money for Berlin to invest in city beautification, better sidewalks, properly signaled road lanes and crosswalks, new parks and public spaces, new U-Bahn lines etc. Without money, the city can't invest.

Things are changing fast, but in 2006 rents in Berlin for equivalent (location, age, design, facilities) flats were 60% lower than those in Munchen and half of the cost of Frankfurt flats.

That attracted a lot of relatively poorer (compared to other big German cities) inhabitants, with not as much money to spend, and crippled the city finances.


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## El_Greco

Suburbanist said:


> For the city, it surely is.


Really? Im curious whats so great about people not being able to afford a place of their own?



> That attracted a lot of relatively poorer (compared to other big German cities) inhabitants


Who created one of the most vibrant cities in Europe.


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## Chrissib

El_Greco said:


> Property getting more expensive is a good thing? :nuts:
> 
> I like these alternative/hipster areas I think they add a lot of energy to a city. Getting rid of them and turning the place into sterile/rich ghetto isnt a good idea.


That is only possible because Berlin recieves billions in aid by richer states like Hesse or Bavaria. That has to stop, and if those hipster areas die with it or survive, so be it. But this aid has to stop. Berlin should stand on it's own feet.


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## nicdel

I think that Gentrification and "hipsterazation" will continue to exist regardless of the increasing property values or the improving financial and economic situation. The "creative" folks like "artists, musicians or "hipsters" will just move to other run-down areas until these are fully gentrificated. That's how it goes.


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## friedemann

If the property values increase all over in Berlin, the hipsters, solely living from love and peace, will have problems to pay the rent.


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## Dr_Cosmo

*Miam Miam made in Berlin....*
Sehr gut! Michelin Guide dishes out stars to Germany - The Guardian


> Michelin says *Germany *is now ranked only behind France in Europe in terms of top restaurants, with its top chefs producing extraordinarily varied and experimental food that is "very open to the cuisines of the world". It has some catching up to do France has 26 three-star restaurants compared with 10 in *Germany*.
> 
> Food critics say a more telling sign of *Germany*'s culinary rise was the number of restaurants in the very respectable two-star category, which has doubled to 36 since 2010. *Germany* now has 255 restaurants listed in the Guide Rouge.





> *Berlin*'s Tim Raue was upheld as the chef with the most international outlook, having wowed inspectors with his dim sum. "The best I've ever tasted anywhere between Hong Kong and *Berlin*," said Michael Ellis, the Michelin Guide's international director.


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## Ulpia-Serdica

> *A 300 Million Euro Boost for Biomedicine in Berlin*
> 
> Two of Berlin’s largest biomedical research centers are merging to form the Berlin Institute of Health (BHI), a joint venture that will receive at least 300 million euros in new funding over the next five years. This makes Berlin an even more significant and attractive research site, not only in the field of biomedicine. This is happening at the right time, for an aging demographic means that there is an increasing demand for health care products and services. Germany Trade & Invest will have experts at this year’s MEDICA, the world’s largest health fair, from November 14 to 17 to inform visitors about
> the industry’s latest business opportunities.
> 
> “The BHI will make Berlin one of the world’s top sites for medical excellence and will attract the world’s best scientists and junior doctors. The partnership between the Berlin state and federal government has created an exemplary model of cooperation between university and non-university research. Germany has a globally recognized biomedical sector, and it will only improve due to the Institute’s innovative models to train medical talent,” said Dr. Sandra Buetow, chemical and health expert at Germany Trade & Invest.


http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112730355/a-300-million-euro-boost-for-biomedicine-in-berlin/


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## Suburbanist

I was reading some reports. Apparently, after lagging other European capitals and even other big German city for years, the real estate market of Berlin is FINALLY catching up. Prices have been increasing steadily. Prices are still less than half of those in Paris and Madrid, and almost 2/3 less than those in London, but despite the ongoing financial crisis it appears the market is getting hotter there, and cheap flats will soon become a faded memory like the wall.

For those unfamiliar with the scenario there, except on the very most hyped areas housing is insanely cheap in Berlin (for being an European capital). You can live in prime areas with easy transportation (public or private) paying prices well below trends in the rest of Germany. That was caused mainly by an oversupply of flats and housing following the demise of DDR, when a sudden and huge out-migration from Berlin and the rest of East Germany, coupled with rapidly changing demographics, brought over 280.000 empty flats and residential units to the market, many of which were latter subdivided in smaller units given the high number of single-person households living there.

It is estimated at its peak there was an oversupply of bedrooms in Berlin (the Lander) close to 1,1 million bedrooms, before large-scale demolition of crappy flats began (though not all socialist construction was all crap). 

This much-needed real estate boost will give revenue the city needs to finance itself better on leaner times. Moreover, as a related effect, it might help stem the flow of people whose main reason to move to Berlin (within Germany) is because the city is cheap and they can live on a penny or with a handful of sporadic mini-jobs, while keep attracting a more wealthier crowd to live there.

So good news for Berlin that the city will have a healthier (and hopefully wealthier as well) tax base to finance services and pay its massive debt.


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

BBC NEWS BUSINESS



> *Berlin* is the home of choice for many new hi-tech entrepreneurs from around the world.





> *Berlin* has always been fashionable, edgy, artistic and in search of a role for itself. Sliced in two by communism and then re-united when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, it is now re-inventing itself as one of Europe's leading hi-tech hubs. Cheap property plus a young, talented workforce are attracting entrepreneurs from all over Europe and even the US.





> "*Berlin* is a fantastic city. It's an old city, it's culturally and historically really rich, but it's also very young," says David Noel, head of community at SoundCloud, an audio sharing website.





> *Berlin* became one of coolest places in the world to live and that attracted an entirely different crowd, creative people, people who were willing to try something new and most of these people were also from other countries,"” - Ciaran O'Leary Earlybird Venture Capital


GlobalBiz: Start Up City: 17 Nov 12 - BBC Podcast (27 min.)



> Every city wants to become a high technology business hub, but ambitious entrepreneurs from all over Europe are rushing to set up shop in *Berlin*.



Berlin Skyline (Dusty) by claudecastor, on Flickr


----------



## Ulpia-Serdica

> *Berlin won the 2013 Access City award*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The 2013 Access City award for disabled-friendly cities goes to Berlin. The award ceremony was held on 3 December, in Brussels on the occasion of the annual European Day of People with Disabilities conference. The award is organised by the Commission together with the European Disability Forum. Vice-President of the European Commission Viviane Reding attended to the event.
> 
> “People with disabilities still face too many barriers in everyday life, but cities like Berlin are leading the way in making life more accessible for all. Accessibility offers new business opportunities and can be a real stimulus for innovation and economic growth. That is why accessibility is at the heart of the European disability strategy and why we are preparing our proposals for a European Accessibility Act, which I intend to present next year” said Vice-President Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner.
> 
> The Access City Award recognises and celebrates cities with over 50.000 inhabitants which take exemplary initiatives and measures to improve accessibility in the urban environment. 99 European cities have participated to the competition. A European Jury composed of experts in accessibility and representatives of the European Commission and the European Disability Forum after a pre-selection selects one winner, two finalist "runners-up" and four special mentions.
> 
> Berlin was proclaimed as a winner for its strategic and inclusive disability policy, which has invested heavily in turning the formerly divided city into an accessible, barrier-free environment. The two finalist "runners-up" are Nantes and Stockholm. Special mentions were attributed to Pamplona, Gdynia, Bilbao and Tallaght. The aim of the prize is to encourage accessibility in cities. People with disabilities have the have equal rights and are entitled to dignity, equal treatment, independent living and full participation in society. Enabling people’s mobility is at the center of the long-term EU strategy.


http://www.neurope.eu/article/berlin-won-2013-access-city-award


----------



## Ulpia-Serdica

> *How poor but sexy Berlin has tapped talent to be Europe's startup capital*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Jens Begemann, founder and CEO of online gaming company Wooga, in the company's office in Berlin. The German capital's low costs are attracting young 'creatives' from all over the world, he says._
> 
> Startups are springing up all over Berlin, as the once 'poor but sexy' German capital expands into a creative technology hub
> 
> Berlin is poor, but sexy – Mayor Klaus Wowereit's decade-old slogan still describes Germany's capital very well. Unemployment is high compared with other German cities and businessmen in proper suits and ties are a rare sight. But something in Berlin's attitude towards business is changing. Startups are sprouting all over the capital.
> 
> Some people are already speaking of Berlin as the Silicon Valley of Europe.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/06/berlin-boom-new-silicon-valley


----------



## Dr_Cosmo




----------



## Dr_Cosmo

Happy New Year !


----------



## Ulpia-Serdica

Sharing Music in Berlin's Thriving Startup Scene - Bloomberg Video


----------



## Ulpia-Serdica

> *A quarter century after fall of Berlin Wall, a startup hub arises*
> 
> Last time I was in Berlin, there was a revolution going on. Now another has started, only this time it has nothing to do with politics.
> 
> When I was Berlin in the Autumn of 1989, change was in the air. A wave of democracy had already started to sweep through the Soviet Bloc, and by November of that year, the Berlin Wall would come down, only two years after Ronald Reagan had made his famous request of Gorbachev. It wasn’t long before the fall of the Cold War icon became the symbol of communism’s end.
> 
> Unfortunately for me, I had left Berlin by the time the Wall started to crumble, but within a few days I had hopped aboard a train in France back to the city. By the time I arrived, I was amazed to see a city transformed, as Trabants drove through open checkpoints and East Germans lined up to buy their first Big Macs.
> 
> The party lasted for a while, but the reunification of Germany was a long and painful process. What started on that cold November day took decades to finish and, even in 2004 – fifteen years after the fall - one in five Germans were still having second thoughts about the whole thing.
> 
> But now, there’s no second thoughts, and after nearly a quarter century the scars of the Cold War have been healed in part by the optimism of a new generation, many of them entrepreneurs, who are choosing to look toward the future rather than dwell on the past.
> 
> And nothing is more representative of the city’s optimism than its thriving startup scene. This past weekend saw another of the city’s many startup events, Hy Berlin 2013, where more than 200 entrepreneurs got together to compare notes and pitch to investors. But it’s not just an event here and there. The broader tech world has taken notice, and the foundation for Berlin’s startup scene is now being built with the help of the world’s tech giants.
> 
> In November, Google announced it would put one million Euros over three years into Berlin’s startup scene, and while research firm the Startup Genome ranks Berlin fifteenth as a startup hub, no one doubts that the city is moving up the rankings fast.
> 
> When I asked Henrik Berggren, who’d chosen Berlin as the headquarters for his own startup, Readmill, what characterized a Berlin startup, the transplanted Swede pointed to an ethos of quality design.
> 
> “The one thing that stands out is product and design,” said Berggren. “People are building social and consumer centric apps that have a really great product vision.”
> 
> And while many of the city’s startups have been focused – like much of Silicon Valley – on the consumer and social web over the past few years, it’s this product vision and a striving towards differentiation from those products coming from the Valley that fueled some of the success of the city’s biggest stars.
> 
> Take Soundcloud. From the beginning, the founders of the social music hosting service felt they could differentiate the company’s product by focusing on creators rather than just passive consumers.
> 
> “We were inspired by everything on social side of web,” said Alexander Ljung, CEO of Soundcloud, told me back in 2011. “What we saw was missing was social tools for the creators of music. Everything that was web was always focused on consumers.”
> 
> It’s this focus that has fueled the company’s fast growth (the company has announced 180 million people listen to a track on Soundcloud each month) and helped it become a leading light for the city’s growing startup community.
> 
> According to Readmill’s Berggren, it’s this innovation and growth shown by Soundcloud and others that is fueling interest from entrepreneurs all over Europe.
> 
> “It’s just continuing with new and great companies moving over all the time. People coming from all around the world. It seems to be an ever-growing community of founders, technologists and futurists in the city. We were really luck because we picked Berlin one and a half years ago.”
> 
> And while Silicon Valley companies like Google are now taking an interest in Berlin, the growth thus far has been fueled almost entirely by native European entrepreneurs. According to the same Startup Genome study, only 7% of Berlin startup entrepreneurs spent some time in Silicon Valley.
> 
> So yes, another revolution is happening in Berlin, but this time it’s all business, and I can’t wait what unfolds in the city over the next 25 years.
> 
> My conversations with Henrik Berggren of Readmill and Alexander Ljung of Soundcloud are from the NextMarket podcast. You can subscribe to the NextMarket podcast in iTunes, RSS and, of course, Soundcloud.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/michael...ter-fall-of-berlin-wall-a-startup-hub-arises/


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

Creative invasion takes Berlin by storm - Sydney Morning Herald



> Australians are receiving rave reviews for their work in the German capital


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

Why Berlin's startup scene is growing - San Francisco Chronicle



> Alexander Ljung, chief executive of SoundCloud, was starting the audio-sharing service in 2008, he needed to decide where he'd set up his company's headquarters. He considered Stockholm, where he was living at the time, but after touring many European cities, decided on* Berlin*.
> 
> *"It's this great intersection of art and technology,"* he says over a cup of coffee in SoMa, praising the German capital's counterculture vibe. "The mainstream is to do things differently."


----------



## rural101

Dr_Cosmo said:


> Happy New Year !


I just can't believe that Tokyo topped Paris. Hipsters over a pool of the avant-garde?

On one hand, DW-TV made me believe that Berlin is indeed the heart and soul of anything artistic--I mean, it's way over Paris (at least to my knowledge) and it's making a name and a role for itself as one of the rich and colorful artistic hubs in Europe.


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

Charlize Theron at the Berlin Film Festival ....


----------



## Tiaren

Are you now going to post every single starlette that visits the film festival as a seperate news in this thread, Dr. Cosmo? That must mean, there isn't going on much else in this Mecca of culture and creativity...


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

You dream about knowing more about Berlin ?
Well, there is a great SSC subforum with all new Berlin related projects.....


----------



## charlottetonne

berlin WAS a cultural colorful artistic meccha

TODAY IS ANOTHER GENTRIFIED STERYLE AMERICAN LIKE CITY FILLED WITH AMERICAN LIKE HIPSTERS... like NYC


----------



## alexandru.mircea

Here is the spiritual home of the kebab, so we can consider the issue settled. /thread


----------



## Dr_Cosmo

The European Film Market (EFM) is booming

Berlin fest's big bang theory - Variety



> Deals that did go down underscore how radically Berlin has evolved, though its roots are intact.
> 
> "It's only really been in the last three or four years that Berlin became an event at which big movies are sold," said Focus Films Intl.'s topper Alison Thompson.
> 
> "People are getting used to Berlin being a key market," agreed FilmNation head Glen Basner.











spiegel.de


----------



## tongue_tied_danny

alexandru.mircea said:


> Here is the spiritual home of the kebab, so we can consider the issue settled. /thread


and the currywurst. :lol:


----------



## SturmBeobachter

Ok. We are having some reasonable feedback here....Berlin is BECOMING a mecca of culture and creativity, of course that doesn't automatically means that It will become a mecca of culture and creativity. Most of the start-ups currently trying to make success in Berlin are only quatsch, superficially created quatsch whose creations is based not on the painstaking pre analysis and planning, but on heavy enjoyment of the light drugs. There is virtually no chance in Berlin in this moment to find a normal PAID position in internship of any kind, just to work deine arse for free. If you manage somehow to find a paid internship position, and they promise you payment of, let's say 400-500 Euros pro month, which is extremely ridiculous, it would usually be paid through catering or you would get some Ebay coupons. On the other side just try to find a paid position in any kind of arts. It's a mission impossible, because all of the projects are "running on very low budget". So you must work for free in order to jump in that your name could be seen by the "millions of viewers". Please, do not speak to me about Berlin, because I know what Berlin is and what is not. It's definetly not the mecca of culture and creativity, it's a mecca of wannabe artists and creatives - passionate Hartz IV users in their spare time. People saying - thank you artists, you're gentrificating once fishy parts of Berlin, but who would take care of Berlin's degentrification afterwards?


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## erbse

You obviously are emotionally attached to your love-hate relationship... Why are you still living there if you think it's so annoying? 


I'm mainly working in real estate, science & technology currently, and Berlin is a perfect place for these purposes. Other than that, world-class museums, art and culture venues of Berlin are what's arousing envy anywhere else in the world.


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## SturmBeobachter

Are you sure that we are speaking about the same Berlin?


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## SennaHB

*Berlin 2013 theme year "Diversity Destroyed" - Forgotten Jewish Architects*

"_*The 2013 Theme Year will highlight the cultural diversity of cosmopolitan Berlin* and commemorate its destruction by the Nazis through numerous events and activities [...]_"
from http://www.berlin.de/2013/en/theme-year/

As part of the Berlin 2013 theme year "Diversity Destroyed", Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des Lebens und Wirkens deutschsprachiger jüdischer Architekten e.V. (Association for Research on the Lives and Works of German-speaking Jewish Architects) organizes the open-air exhibition "Forgotten Jewish Architects".

For this purpose a bilingual smartphone app is offered. Historical and current information are shown for 26 stations / buildings by jewish architects and the architects themselves. The content is enriched with over 180 photos and zoomable offline maps (overview maps and detail maps for each station).

Now available for iOS, a Android version is coming soon !

in English: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id655023096
in German: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/id655023096









(c) AppsolutEinfach


----------



## LtBk

Isn't Berlin more of a city compared to Munich?


----------



## Isek

LtBk said:


> Isn't Berlin more of a city compared to Munich?


Depends on. Compared to Mediterran or Anglo-Saxon cities Berlin is quite similar to Munich. Regarding Middle Europe these cities are quite different. Munich's population is peaking right now while Berlin already had 4.5 million before WW2. Munich's center is almost tiny against Berlin ones. Hence Munich appears together with Vienna to be the most crowded city in Central Europe. On the other hand Munich is surprisingly suburban hosting half of its almost 3 million LUZ population outside the city borders. Berlin has massive old dense quarters like Neukölln.


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## Metro007

Look at the definition of Central-Europe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe

So it would be:

1.Berlin
2.Vienna
3.Hamburg/Varszaw
4.Munich/Prague


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## NordikNerd

Skrapebook said:


> Berlin is not only my favourite town, city and metropolis...
> I absolutely worship this unique and stunning place! :bow:


I have been in Berlin twice. In 1987 & 2013

In 1987 I arrived with ferry-train from Malmö to the Friedrichstrasse railway station in East-Berlin. I was together with a group of politcal youth, travel was sponsored by the GDR goverment.

Back then Berlin was an exiting place. All eyes were on Berlin, the divided city between two worlds during the cold war. 

East-Berlin was a communist metropolis. I was up in the Radio-Tower and saw the wall. West-Berlin was "Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof-Zoo" for me, that movie I saw in school as a antidrug info-project. I even read the book in easy german.


In 2013 I arrived with the ICE from Hamburg. Speed was almost 300km/h at some sections. Same day as US-president Obama was there.

The new Central station felt modern, almost futuristic. Outside the station construction was going on, the area close to the Invaliden-Strasse didn't feel very welcoming. 

Berlin is fascinating, it has a turbulent history. It's a monumental city with wide avenues, almost eastern-european soviet street pattern. 

It has a lot of culture to offer film, music, art and so on, but there are more cozy and quaint big cities in the world with old towns and narrow alleys.







*Welcome to Berlin !*


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## General_FrKr

Israeli emigration to Berlin exposes zeitgeist of economic anxiety



> For many years after World War II it was taboo for Israelis to move to Germany. These days Berlin is among the top destinations for those priced out of housing and struggling with grocery bills. And for people whose forefathers were German Jews, Berlin makes sense because it's easy to get dual citizenship. The number of Israelis in the city has risen by about 40 percent since 2006, Berlin authorities say.


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## General_FrKr

German again: Bay Area Jews reclaim citizenship - JWeekly.com


> In the past two decades, however, Germany has become a country that people flock to instead of flee from.
> *In addition to the tens of thousands of Jewish émigrés who have streamed in from the former Soviet Union, Berlin’s reputation as an artistic, tolerant mecca continues to attract young Israelis* — as many as 20,000, according to some estimates — as well as American Jews. Germany’s total Jewish population is estimated at 104,000, not including another 150,000 former Soviet émigrés who do not affiliate with the Jewish community.


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## General_FrKr

:discoduck: :discoduck:

European Maccabi Games Berlin 2015


----------



## BE0GRAD

Berlin is definitely in my top 5 European cities to visit ASAP.


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## General_FrKr

My neighborhood…..


Berlin Skyline Mediaspree von claudecastor auf Flickr


Berlin Skyline Mediaspree von claudecastor auf Flickr


Berlin Skyline Mediaspree von claudecastor auf Flickr


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## General_FrKr

Union Berlin's stadium turned into giant living room filled with fans' couches for World Cup viewing party



> A German event agency had a brilliant idea — to invite fans to *Union Berlin's stadium *to watch World Cup games. But instead of having them all sit in those hard stadium seats, they allowed people to bring their own sofas as they turned the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei (Stadium near the old Forester's house) into a giant living room complete with 38,000 square feet of retro wallpaper around the 700-inch screen. Dubbed the World Cup living room and inspired by fans chanting about the stadium being their home at Union Berlin matches, 780 sofa were registered and set up on the pitch with end tables and lamps for a delightful evening of World Cup viewing.






































copyright AP & Reuters


----------



## erbse

Such a neat summer tune, made in Berlin:

*Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz - Prayer in C*





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcoqJCJlHbQ


----------



## General_FrKr

*World Cup Winners partying in Berlin
1 Million Fans on the streets
*


----------



## General_FrKr

Berlin on the way up …..
Quality of Life Survey
Monocle - Video


----------



## General_FrKr




----------



## General_FrKr

Most expensive show in Europe….


----------



## General_FrKr

Young Israelis are Flocking to Berlin - Newsweek


Israeli Entrepreneur (33) in Berlin:


> “But since then the number of Israelis has increased at an incredible rate.
> Today you can easily build a company here with just highly qualified Israelis.
> Berlin has become the international symbol of cool instead of a symbol of the Holocaust.”












Copyright: Wir lieben berlin facebook channel


----------



## General_FrKr

Israeli Song: "BERLIN"


----------



## General_FrKr

Alex Holdridge and Linea Saasen, the writer/directors in Toronto 
with Meet Me in Montenegro, are now writing an 
ambitious TV series to be set in 1945 post-war Berlin.


----------



## General_FrKr

The Berlin hub that powers Europe's coolest start-up scene 
CNN Video










Berliner Skyline by Marcus Klepper - Berliner1017, on Flickr


----------



## General_FrKr

105151348


----------



## General_FrKr

The 18 Best Cities for Dance Music
VICE - August 2014



> *3. Berlin*
> 
> The European haven that has been inspiring artists and techno lovers to move across the world for years. We've got one word for you: Berghain. Go there and the rest of your dance music loving life will never be the same. The legend lives on. Other clubs like Watergate offer more intimate experiences that are still top-notch, but they're best for trips where you have more than one night (or day). The best clubbing in Berlin starts at 9am on a Sunday morning.













World's best nightlife cities
CNN - September 2014



> *2. Berlin*
> 
> If a city's mental health was determined by how many hours of the week its clubs weren't active, Berlin would be a lunatic in a straightjacket, repeatedly slamming its head against a padded wall. Witness: walking out of a venue at 9 a.m. on a Sunday to find that there's still a line to get in; a club with beds installed on its bottom floor so patrons can sleep without the inconvenience of having to leave; ceilings made completely of LED lights; a swimming pool next to the dance floor; bouncers with face tattoos.
> 
> Best place(s) to experience the big-club vibe: Berghain. If you can't get in (it's random), then Watergate.


----------



## General_FrKr

:discoduck:

BERLIN

:discoduck:


----------



## General_FrKr

World marathon record for Dennis Kimetto in Berlin !

106585559


----------



## General_FrKr




----------



## General_FrKr

90846823


----------



## General_FrKr

87454480

106917197


----------



## General_FrKr

Jewish migration
Next year in Berlin
The Economist



> *IS BERLIN the new Jerusalem?* A Facebook page launched in Hebrew this month on how to move to a city far from rockets and rocketing prices in Israel has gone viral, reaching 600,000 people in a week. It is called *Olim Le-Berlin*, “Let’s ascend to Berlin”, using the same rousing verb Jews reserve for emigrating, or “ascending”, to Israel. An Israeli band sings a similar tune, turning the lyrics of Israel’s favourite song, “Jerusalem of Gold”, into a yearning for a “Reichstag of Peace, euro, and light”. Even Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, a leading economist commissioned by the government to look at the high cost of living, which sparked mass protests in 2011, has piped in. “Berlin is more attractive than Tel Aviv,” he says.


----------



## General_FrKr

Alan Cumming's Berlin Sex Club Adventures
Conan O´Brien Show 
Video


----------



## General_FrKr

"Berlin Issue"
Zoo Magazine




> To celebrate ZOO’s anniversary, we will revisit our roots with The Berlin Issue. A city fraught with contemporary history, Berlin will star as the subject of an issue poignant to ZOO’s German heritage. To shine a spotlight on Berlin’s rich and restless cultural heart, the issue will celebrate the luminaries who have too been enchanted by the spell of the city, or fed into its historical past. Berlin’s cultural and political identity will be splayed out against a vast editorial spectrum. The Berlin Issue will stand as a rich tapestry, embellished by the remarkable artists who were as much sculpted by the city, as they were cultural sculptors themselves. Tendered here is a taste of things to come; a formidable force in blueprint, but inexorable when realized.


110234559


----------



## General_FrKr

Germany is going to celebrate the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Popculture joins…..


----------



## General_FrKr




----------



## General_FrKr

Somber, hopeful ceremonies mark 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell
CNN



> *Berlin* now shines as a crown jewel of central Europe. It's a far cry from the city and the country that were bombed to ruins during World War II. And Germany is now the world's fourth largest economy and the driving market in the European Union.


Vibrant, Timid Berlin
New York Times



> A QUARTER-CENTURY ago today, the Berlin Wall fell, and since then this city has been on a roll. It’s one of the party capitals of the world and an affordable center for young artists and musicians, with enough layers of history to inspire a novelist for a few lifetimes. And its economy has benefited greatly from a growing start-up scene. In a country dominated by pleasant but boring cities, *Berlin* is Germany’s one truly cosmopolitan metropolis.
> 
> Many of these accomplishments are laid out in “Berlin Now: The City After the Wall,” a recent book by the German author Peter Schneider. He is right in saying that in recent decades no other city “has changed as much — and for the better — as Berlin,” lauding the sense of openness that has drawn immigrants, revived the shattered Jewish population and made the city a magnet for a creative class that is also luring cutting-edge businesses.


Berlin: a tale of two cities
Financial Times



> Everyone talks about the global artists, clubbers and wannabes colonising the world’s cheapest cosmopolitan city, but tech yuppies and the government caravan are fast pricing out the artists. Current Berlin chatter about house prices recalls Ireland circa 2003. Moreover, tourist hordes have replaced the old occupying armies. The greatest miracle wrought by capitalism and depoliticisation: *Berlin* now has polite shop assistants and taxi drivers.


Berlin’s Fractious Unity
NYT



> In short, *Berlin* is finding new ways to celebrate, to feel good about ourselves as Berliners, as Germans, no “east” or “west” or “foreigners” allowed. The fact that more and more people feel at home in Berlin today is more or less unwittingly supported by the diversity of our government, which was unthinkable in the years of the Cold War. For the past nine years, a woman from the former East Germany has been running the country from right here in Berlin; the federal president, also from the East, lives out of wedlock with his partner; the Ministry of Finance is overseen by a vigorous and highly respected man who happens to use a wheelchair; the Ministry of Defense by a woman with seven children; the longtime mayor of Berlin — now stepping down — is openly gay.


25 Years After the Wall Cracked Open, a New Berlin Is Emerging
National Geographic



> Awash in reminders of Germany's tragic past, the city is reinventing itself with a "good karma" vibe.
> &
> But for all its grievous history, *Berlin* might actually be a model, in embryo, of how to get the modern world right. It's the most unlikely of outcomes. Berlin—the city of trauma, of savagery and sorrow, an island for 40 years, no more connected to the rest of the continent than a space station—now, potentially, leading Europe into a civilized, open, generous future.


 Hipster King Klaus Wowereit Rebuilt Berlin on Champagne and Anarchy
Business Insider


> Yet it serves as the perfect epigraph for modern *Berlin*, a city which has cast off the cloak of Cold War suspicion and reinvented itself as Europe's capital of cool.


In Berlin, life is a cabaret — again
Washington Post



> Twenty-five years after the fall of the *Berlin* Wall — an anniversary marked Sunday — this brooding metropolis has gone from being a Cold War capital to a magnet for untamed youth. Relatively cheap rents and a fiercely bohemian sensibility have transformed *Berlin* into what Prague was in the 1990s and Buenos Aires was in the 2000s — a beacon for penniless hipsters, international artists and merrymakers of every stripe.
> &
> And, surveys show, many are coming at least partly to party — or, better said, to partake in a spurt of *decadence not seen since the cabaret days of the 1930s.* The cathedral of cool is Berghain, a seething world of drugs and sex that boasts hours-long lines and a random door policy that strikes fear into the hearts of all who try to enter. But the city is overflowing with ever more new temples to youthful exuberance, liberation and counterculture.
> &
> But in recent years, *Berlin* has seen an explosion in so-called creative industries — ranging from art spaces to tech start-ups to advertising firms — that have capitalized on its status as a beacon for youth.


‘No one in Berlin at that time will ever forget those days’
Gulfnews



> The city of *Berlin* has a combative spirit. A never-say-die attitude, coupled with the will to prevail against the sternest of odds. These characteristics have been represented through various moments in European and world history, ancient and contemporary.
> *Berlin* showcases the essence of the German spirit — ambition, progress, discovery and an ability to constantly rise above the limits set by others and by itself.


----------



## General_FrKr

Eden Berlin - Burlesque Artist


----------



## General_FrKr

THE FAT JEW IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNET
Papermag



> *Is that where your official residence will be? *
> 
> No. I'll live in some weird sexual dungeon in Berlin, but I have to make sure it has great Internet service.
> Those places have thick walls a lot of times.


----------



## General_FrKr

Karaoke Party …..


----------



## Brummyboy92

Omg Berlin looks like a good time, need to go.


----------



## erbse

General_FrKr said:


> *Berlin Burlesque
> *


Seriously, what's up with all your freaking GIFs Cosmo? This one is totally nondescript. And anyway, the skybars may be a place for mere GIFs and shit, but this forum is meant to be a place for City*talk*. Get a clue. :|


----------



## General_FrKr

Ok then.

The Burlesque scene in Berlin is becoming more popular every year
like the Vaudeville Variety Revue @ Admiralspalast


----------



## General_FrKr




----------



## General_FrKr

122770676


----------



## quangstar92

The first two post war decades Bavaria was a poor agriculture province of West Germany


----------



## General_FrKr

The Youthful Cities index 
rated cities across the globe using 101 different indicators.




> 1. New York
> 2. London
> *3. Berlin
> *4. San Francisco
> 5. Paris
> 6. Toronto
> 7. Chicago
> 8. Los Angeles
> 9. Mexico City
> 10. Amsterdam


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## AlbertoZH

Berlin is hot


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## erbse

Se Görman Bank heard of startups or somesing!



General_FrKr said:


> Deutsche Bank is to open innovation hubs in
> London, *Berlin* and Silicon Valley in an attempt to improve its use of digital technology.
> Financial Times


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## General_FrKr

More cities aim to establish start-up clusters
Financial Times



> Successful clusters tend to be in attractive cities.
> “There is at this moment no more vibrant metropole in the world with a better life standard in quality and price than *Berlin*,”
> says Lenard Krawinkel, founder and chief executive of Zoobe, developer of an animated mobile phone messaging app.











Eastharborsunset by Nelofee-Foto, en Flickr


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## General_FrKr

Berlin roars up 'best city' rankings

&
2015	City 2014	2013
1….Tokyo…2.. .4
2….Vienna…6.. .5
*3….Berlin…14.. 20*
4….Melbourne.3.. .2
5….Sydney.11.. .9

130417227


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## General_FrKr

Third Creative Industries Report (PDF)




> *Berlin *inspires. Now, where around twenty-five years ago the Berlin Wall still stood, there are trendy, vibrant neighbourhoods. Not only has the city master- fully handled reunification, it has also evolved into a culturally diverse, tolerant, and cosmopolitan metropolis attracting young talent and creative sector work- ers from around the world. Today, creativity is one of *Berlin*’s key distinguishing features. The city has become a hotspot for the creative scene — from art, fash- ion and design to film, music, theatre, media and games.
> 
> But creativity is more than just a *Berlin* feeling for life. Creativity is also the city’s perspective to the future. On the whole, *Berlin*’s economy is healthier than it has been for many years. New jobs are being created, the jobless rate is falling, and the economy is recording a stable trend to growth. In addition to the impe- tus from an innovative industrial sector, this trend is driven by art, culture and creativity, its main assets. And *Berlin* still has lots of free spaces and room to grow—for example, in dynamic locations with a vast potential to be formed and shaped. Or in neighbourhoods and hip districts that are also attractive res- idential areas. Or through its robust networks, vibrant creative landscape and outstanding structures in research and science.
> 
> *Berlin*’s reputation is attracting growing numbers of people here. The city’s pop- ulation is increasing by several tens of thousands every year—a development indicative of *Berlin’*s appeal and the opportunities it has to offer. The city is pleas- ant to live in, and consistently records high scores in international rankings for life quality, affordable rents and lower living costs. The new arrivals in *Berlin* bring fresh ideas, enriching the entire city — only too evident, for example, in the city’s dynamic start-up scene which has made *Berlin* Germany’s »start-up capital«.
> 
> This is how *Berlin* is changing — and continuing to grow. This development is driven by a mix of attractiveness, an influx of new ideas and a proactive power to innovate which has long resonated far beyond the cultural and creative indus- tries. Thanks to the right balance between economic growth and cosmopolitan outlook, a creative climate and free spaces for creative workers, entrepreneurs and talents from around the world, *Berlin* will also continue to take its place among the leading locations for the creative industries in the years to come.


Neukölln Borough


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## General_FrKr

Berlin: The Startup City That's Still Starting Up
entrepreneur.com



> The creative industry is vibrant here -- music, fashion, film, art and design -- and it attracts tourists and entrepreneurs from all over the world. Two other important details that attract businesses: a still relatively low cost of living and a relaxed visa-application process. You can start a tech company in *Berlin* and attract top software engineers from around the world without jumping through the typical visa process in the U.S


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## General_FrKr

Homeland Season 5 in Berlin….


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## General_FrKr

What Do Beijing, Berlin, Seoul, San Francisco Share? 
All Excel As Startup Hubs
Forbes


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## Svekat

^^ :cheers: amazing!!.


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## General_FrKr

European Maccabi Games in Berlin

Wonderful symbolism in Germany
The Jewish Chronicle



> There has been some controversy arising from the European Maccabi Games being held in Berlin. That is understandable, but it is also wrong. It is, rather, a deeply moving and important statement that 2,400 Jewish athletes are competing in the Olympic Park near the very stadium where Hitler opened the 1936 games that barred Jewish athletes. There has been no shortage of symbolism in recent weeks. First came the Queen’s visit to Bergen-Belsen. Now, Jews themselves are celebrating life, community and sport in the capital of the Third Reich. And that is simply wonderful.


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## General_FrKr

Creative young Brits are quitting London for affordable Berlin
The Guardian

Berlin Trafficlights Colorkey by Marcus Klepper, on Flickr


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## alexandru.mircea

I was thinking, is all this good stuff happening in Berlin having the desired effect? Are there *major* creative waves emerging from Berlin? Personally I can't think of any but my expertise lies only in the visual arts and a bit in popular music (including its experimental edges), so maybe others could point me in the correct direction of great litterature, cinema, music, theatre technology, economics, theoretical thought etc. coming from Berlin? 

Or maybe that was not the desired effect, becoming a cultural capital? Maybe what was wanted was rather to enrich people's lives at a micro level and make possible a life style that was focused more on having the liberty to develop oneself via creative means (like Joseph Beuys envisaged in the sixties) and stay free of the burdens of modern consumerist lifestyle.


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## stop that

That's what I was wondering, pretty much all Europe's global music, movies, television, video games etc still comes from Britain, I'm waiting for Berlin to produce that first superstar, blockbuster, RPG, magazine, website, TV show etc


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## Fro7en

^^ literally everywhere I go I see some absurd comment from this guy....All of Europe's global music, movies televion video games from Britain? Ubisoft ? Daft Punk ? David Guetta? Luc Besson? Just a few for you there.... Not to mention France's film industry is bigger than the UK's and France's boxoffice makes more money annualy than Britian making France the leader in film in Europe. Ubisoft is also one of the largest game companies on earth, based in Rennes. Not to mention Germany's film industry is the third most powerful in Europe.


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## General_FrKr

David Bowie
_Low_ (1977), Heroes (1977), _Lodger _(1979)
The _"Berlin Trilogy"_ 

R.I.P.


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## General_FrKr

One of, if not the most creative BMX rider in the world, Tim Knoll takes his incredible style of street riding to Berlin.

This guy rides BMX like you've never seen before
BERLIN
VIDEO !!!!!


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## General_FrKr

American graphic artist from Berlin…


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## General_FrKr

Berlin Fashion Designer Michalsky goes 3D print….


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## General_FrKr

Guide to get into Berghain


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## NovaProspekt

Maybe a bit too much "culture" nowadays.


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

:rock:


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

*Berlin, New York, Beijing
*
158311144


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

65825893


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## General_FrKr




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## ghettobird

General_FrKr said:


> Homeland Season 5 in Berlin….


Is this worth watching? Not really interested in the theme but it would be great to see TV-shows based on cool city like Berlin. And please also recommend some good German TV-shows if you know!

A bit of an offtopic, sorry.


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## General_FrKr

12 Places that Prove Berlin is a Brilliant Wunderkammer


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

Berlin Biennale (Art exhibition)


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## General_FrKr

Berlin values (Berliner Grundwerte)


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## General_FrKr

Making “Aliyah” to Berlin
Jewish Journal (L.A.)



> During my first week in *Berlin*, which I had visited periodically, the love was instant, and I felt, mutual. Finally, a creative, pleasant city where things just worked and people didn’t scream. Transportation was smooth. My landlord was a sweetheart. People on the whole were really nice. And the beer was $3 instead of $7!
> I realized how much I enjoyed being in an international city, unencumbered by constant nationalistic demands. I began to heal so much of the pain I felt living with my “ex-lover”, Israel.


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## General_FrKr

*Conan O´Brien in Berlin
*


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

Berlin Strong


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## General_FrKr

Israeli Opinion:
Germany: The West's Last Stalwart of Enlightened Liberalism
Haaretz


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

> “We sourced Europe to find the most current, independent-feeling neighbourhoods. The destinations on the list are exciting areas, unspoiled by commercialism, where locals love to hang out. They offer an eclectic range of food and entertainment away from more established areas”.
> 
> “You’ll be pleased to know that we didn’t base the ranking on beard-to-face and pints of craft beer ratios. Instead, we looked at everything from independent coffee shops and vintage fashion outposts to the local creative culture – the things that set a hip destination apart from the rest of the pack”.


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## General_FrKr

Tagsandthecity
Berlin, London, NYC, Paris, San Francisco



> How does it work?
> 
> We rename subway stations after the Instagram hashtag which is most popular around them. So you get a pretty good picture of how the city is photographed and what is going on where – especially for travelling, shopping, drinks and food.


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## General_FrKr

Mapping the World’s Knowledge Hubs
Citylab - Richard Florida



> 1. Los Angeles
> California Institute of Technology (2), UCLA (14), University of Southern California (60), University of California, Irvine (98)	4
> 
> 2. London
> Imperial College London (8), University College London (15), London School of Economics and Political Science (25), King’s College (36)	4
> 
> 3. Hong Kong
> University of Hong Kong (43), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (49), Chinese University of Hong Kong (76)	3
> 
> 4. Boston-Cambridge
> MIT (5), Harvard (6), Boston University (64)	3
> 
> *5. Berlin
> *Humboldt University (57), Free University of Berlin (75), Technical University of Berlin (82)	3


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## General_FrKr

Select your Berlin Club Character

The Live Buff










The Easy JetSetter










The Hipster










The 9-to-5-er










The DJ Groupie










The Chick Chick










The Anti Party










The Gay Gent


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## General_FrKr

BERLIN VS SAN FRANCISCO: 
WHY BERLIN’S SILICON ALLEE IS EUROPE’S NEW SILICON VALLEY


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## General_FrKr

Top Tech Cities in the World 2017


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## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

Porsche Exhibitions in Berlin


----------



## General_FrKr




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## General_FrKr

Video & Music made in Berlin 2018


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## General_FrKr

Today Germany celebrates the German Unity Day in Berlin !


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## General_FrKr

GET DRAWN INTO THE BERLIN LIFE BY XUEHKA


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## 437.001

General_FrKr said:


> David Bowie
> 
> R.I.P.


Indeed... 

The _"Berlin Trilogy"_

_Low_ (1977) 






_"Heroes"_ (1977) 






_Lodger _(1979)






Bowie not only played, recorded and lived in Berlin.

He also inspired others to do so.

And he was also inspired by other people who had played, recorded and lived in Berlin.


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## 437.001

437.001 said:


> Bowie not only played, recorded and lived in Berlin.
> 
> He also inspired others to do so.
> 
> And he was also inspired by other people who had played, recorded and lived in Berlin.


Here is Bowie singing songs from the Berlin of the 1920's/1930's, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill:













Here we have the same two songs in the original voice of the 1930's, Lotte Lenya:













Bowie did not sing with her, but he made a film with her:


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## Kylie-5510

Darryl said:


> "Communistic"? Putting aside that that's not even a word, Berlin isn't communist and even if you are talking about the former communist architecture, why would you praise it? Those buildings are ugly. Do you really like that awful look?


I just like the combination of old style and communistic one. I find it really fascinating.


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## tongue_tied_danny




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## General_FrKr

Viral Cosmetic ad shot in Berlin ....



__
http://instagr.am/p/p%2FCDkL5x3IdTd/


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