Berlin-Brandenburg Takes Europe’s Center Stage

Berlin and the state of Brandenburg that surrounds it may have more in common with the Washington Metropolitan Area than you might think.

Like Washington, Germany’s new national capital has international flair, a high level of cultural sophistication, an educated workforce, myriad restaurants, museums and other attractions and a high and growing number of biotechnology and high-tech companies clustering around its periphery.

Residents of the two cities also have in common the circumstance that an unfortunate number of their fellow citizens have mixed feelings about the federal capital of their nation, and from time to time, people from other regions can get downright negative.

There is much cause for mutual affection between the two metropolises. West Berliners have not forgotten the succession of American leaders in Washington who stood by them for 50 years to defend their liberties during the Cold War. President John F. Kennedy’s famous 1961 declaration still resonates in this city: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (literally, “I am a donut,” but everyone understood that he meant “I am a Berliner”).(continued)