The 5 coolest job fairs 2024 for young professionals in Berlin
The 7 coolest fun facts about Berlin
From swamp to cultural metropolis
Cultural metropolis, tourist magnet and capital of Germany – that's Berlin. But what are the most curious facts about the city? We shed some light and tell you about the "city in the swamp", the Berlin dialect and the Döner. Let us surprise you with the coolest fun facts!
1. Wet, wetter, Berlin
The name Berlin comes from Polabian, a former Slavic language east of the Elbe River. "Ber" means "swamp" and the ending "in" is a place of residence. Berlin thus stands for "the city in the swamp". In fact, the capital was built on marshland that was gradually drained to make way for the city. However, the many parks and green spaces still bear witness to what was once a very wet area.
2. Bridge over (no) troubled waters
More than 44% of Berlin consists of green spaces, water and forests. The city offers many recreational areas for nature lovers and strollers. The number of bridges is also impressive. Depending on the definition, there are between 920 and 2,100, which means that Berlin has more bridges than Venice. Has anyone crossed all of them?
3. Larger than Central Park
Located in the heart of Berlin, the Tiergarten attracts many visitors with its green beauty. It was never artificially created, but evolved from the city's aforementioned swamplands. At 210 hectares, the Tiergarten is larger than London's Hyde Park or New York's Central Park. Da kiekste, wa? (If you don't understand this sentence, you should definitely read the next section).
4. „Weeste Bescheid“: The Berlin dialect
Even in the roaring twenties, the Berlin dialect (“Berliner Schnauze”) was frowned upon – and forbidden to our grandmothers and fathers by their parents and teachers. But people talked about it secretly among friends, and even today you can hear a charming "Wat kiekstn so?" (= What are you looking at?) here and there in the tourist mecca of Berlin. We have a few more gems for you so that you can score points with a real Berliner during your next small talk in the capital:
- Nu aba ran an de Buletten! = Now let’s do it!
- Dit is mir schnurzpiepe/schnurz/schnurzpiepegal! = I don’t care about that!
- Bist wohl in de S-Bahn jebor’n!? = A request to close the door if someone has left it open.
- Ick glob, mir laust der Affe! = I think I'm crazy.
- Kiekn kost ja nüscht. = You can stroll around and look around, it doesn't cost anything.
- Is dit scheen. = Is that beautiful.
- Keule = good buddy
- Molle = beer
- Schrippe = bread roll
- Pfannkuchen = In the rest of Germany they are called “Berliner” or “Krapfen”, “Pfannkuchen” or pancakes are called “Eierkuchen” in Berlin.
5. Kebab capital
Pretty tasty – an average of 950 doner kebab skewers are eaten every day in Berlin. The first kebab was developed in Berlin by Turkish migrant worker Kadir Nurman and first sold there in 1972. Today, there are more than 1,600 doner kebab shops in the "capital of the kebab". 250 of them even supply 80% of the EU market with meat.
6. Culture meets millions
The Capital of Culture does not have its nickname for nothing – both the number of visitors and the number of cultural sites are impressive. In 2022 alone, 1.5 million people visited the 180 museums and galleries. In the same year, 2.5 million people made their way to the 150 theaters and three opera houses.
7. Always on the move
Have you recently moved to Berlin or are you planning to? Then you're not alone! No less than 18 moves take place in Berlin every hour. Most of these moves are from abroad. However, the majority of moves within Berlin take place in the same district – the Kiez is simply home.
