Index
Once a year, during the Berlinale film festival, the world of the silver screen focuses its attention on Berlin. And the city’s inhabitants are used to global interest. After all, the people of Berlin have lived in a capital city since 1458. However, there is also a shady side to the city’s history: the rule of the National Socialists and the East German regime, which built a wall right through the heart of the city. Since German unification in 1990, Berlin has once again been the undivided capital city. The Museum Island, the Berlin Philharmonic and more than 50 theaters ensure the city is unique in terms of cultural life. The “academic capital” boasts 39 universities and institutes of higher education, while also being home to businesses such as Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, while ITB, the worlds leading travel trade show, accentuates the slogan “Berlin is worth seeing”.
Capital: Berlin
Population: 3,866,385
Surface area: 892 km2
The euro is the currency of the European Monetary Union and after the US dollar the second most important member of the international currency system. Together with the national central banks, the European Central Bank (ECB), headquartered in Frankfurt/Main, is responsible for monetary policy with regard to the euro. The euro is the official currency in 20 of the 27 EU member states. The euro was physically introduced in “Euroland”, including Germany, on January 1, 2002, having served as a currency of deposit since the beginning of 1999.
Frankfurt am Main is really the only city in Germany that has an international feel to it: The tallest buildings in Germany, the largest airport and the most banks in continental Europe (including the European Central Bank). And the list of superlatives does not stop there; for example, there is the railroad station and the interstate intersection, both of which boast the highest volume of traffic in Germany. All this, despite the fact that the city has a mere 750,000 inhabitants and is not even the capital of Hesse. The elegant city of Wiesbaden has claim to that title. Otherwise the state of Hesse is rather unassuming, with a densely forested upland range of mountains, blessed with Riesling in the Rheingau region, and industry throughout. Opel in Rüsselsheim and VW near Kassel are the major industries, whereas ESA in Darmstadt is responsible for much of the European space program.
Capital: Wiesbaden
Population: 6,288,080
Surface area: 21,115 km2