Berlin

Sister cities

• Kyiv

History

Berlin lies in northeastern Germany, in an area formerly settled by Slavs which thus exhibits many (Germanized) Slavic-derived placenames to this day (see below). The word Berlin also has its roots in the language of the West Slavs, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs, five bear a Slavic-derived name—Pankow, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Spandau; furthermore, across the city's 96 neighborhoods, there are 22 which bear a Slavic-rooted name—Altglienicke, Alt-Treptow, Britz, Buch, Buckow, Gatow, Karow, Kladow, Köpenick, Lankwitz, Lübars, Malchow, Marzahn, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Rudow, Schmöckwitz, Spandau, Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow, Steglitz, Tegel and Zehlendorf. The area of what is now Berlin has been settled for millennia. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BCE, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture. Around 2,000 BCE dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture. Starting around 500 BCE Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 CE, the Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane, reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. German merchants founded two settlements in today's city center – Berlin (or Alt-Berlin; at the site of today's Nikolaiviertel) and Cölln (on the island in the Spree now known as Museum Island). 1237 is considered the founding…

Geography

Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography, part of the vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in the west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at elevation is the highest natural point and the lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfb). This type of climate features…

Most-observed species

• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  21,964
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,004
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  14,035
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,530
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,020
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,774
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,844
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  9,462