Check out my new ebook THRIVE IN BERLIN! ↪www.dianaverry.com/shop/thrive-in-berlin It's a complete guide on living in Berlin (such as how to find a flat, what are the best neighbourhoods to live in & more!)
I’m reading this as an American who has lived in Germany (Altheim) and spent lots of time in Frankfurt. The organization and cleanliness took about 1 day to get used to. Everyone I met in Germany was SO nice... and as a black person living there I have never felt more safe. To each their own.
I bet you will love berlin and you would feel welcome. its just as I already wrote above: the city is subject of gentrification and people dressing with business style or bossing around with bourgeois artifacts or conformist style might face a cheeky slang here and there. people have a tough mindset and think progressively. that saying: berlin is a very safe city to live in. worst to expect for you would be pickpocketing.
@@erwinz5926 Where do you live? Frankfurt is only partly a shithole, close to former US barracks, where as Berlin is a complete shithole. And people dressing up in Berlin is not about real gentrification, but those who make it more a shithole because they lack everything. Berlin is heavily affected from the Occupation of West but also from the Socialists. You don't have bourgeois capitalist enterprises in Berlin, but LGBI and people who talk, but don't work and are a hull themselves.
Okay I was looking for a black person commenting on this. I live in the Atlanta area so you know how dangerous it is (relatively speaking) and I want to move to Berlin one day or even visit. I would love a black person from America's take on this in a POV video.
"Germans hate Berlin". Diana, please don't suggest to know the opinions of 83 Million people based on the very tiny selection in your comment section. I understand what you are adressing but this is surely not representative.
It´s completely wrong to say that everyone hates Berlin!! I’m born and raised up in Berlin. Right now I‘m living in another city and I’ve never met somebody who hates Berlin
I hate Berlin. I not only hate it, i absolutely despise it. I wish we could exclave it and make Bonn our capital again. Or Aachen for historical reasons.
I live in Berlin and it's where my heart belongs. You probably don't know the smell of a warm June afternoon in a coffee shop in a smaller Street in Berlin, or the sunset you can see out of parks, or sitting on the roof of a skyscraper, or being on a flea market in Charlottenburg/Kreuzberg/Friedrichshein. I'm currently in a student exchange it's beautiful here and I really like it but I already miss my Berlin
Berlin has a very special atmosphere, a heavy past, big scars, a bad reputation and it certainly feels very different from the rest of Germany. I can see why Germans wouldn't necessarily feel totally at home there, because it's more like misfits central in contrast to the regular German lifestyle. Let's not forget that it was also technically occupied by several foreign forces for decades and most of its famous landmarks bear an imprint of some kind of tragedy that is vivid to this day. It naturally has to be harder for Germans to celebrate their capital city. But yes, despite all that, I love Berlin, ever since I discovered it East and West in the 80s, and that was for the incredible vibe that has always been legendary and reinvented itself since the 20s.
Well, Berlin "has got a bad reputation" among the Germans that live in small cities, and in the town & country; but then, so do cities like Hamburg, or München (have "a bad reputation" among the small city/town & country Germans)!! Another group of individuals that, generally, hate Berlin, are foreigners "dropping by" from countries where English is the (main) language of communication!!
*Hate* is the wrong term considering your German viewers. "To hate something" is much more casually used in English than in German. More fitting would be "can't stand" or "can't bear" Berlin. And that would indeed mean the self-perception or attitude of people living on Berlin. (I do live here, so I know what I am talking about. ^^) About any German I know tells me he/she likes to visit Berlin, but would never want to live here. Too "kaput". And that about sums up the relationship between the rest of Germany and Berlin.
I grew up in a very small german village and moved to Berlin when I was 23 (already 17 years ago). My personal experience is not that other Germans hate Berlin, many like to come for a few days or so. But most of them wouldn't want to live here. The "hate" that you see in your comments is probably more a political thing, that Berlin is a "money-taker" whereas other Bundesländer like Bayern are "givers" (richer), and because of that Berlin has more problems than some other cities. Another reason, maybe: Our Government is in Berlin. Many seem to see Berlin as the place where bad decisions are made. Another reason is: Many ppl are just stupid! ;-)
@@BerndGSchneider What do you expect when it has been bombed into extinction and separated into 2 for decades? Any city would struggle economically under such conditions.
@@wavyy 30 years after reunification still struggeling? That's just bad management! As my grandgrandmother said in the 1920ies: "The reds don't know how to use money."
We don't hate Berlin only complaining about the citizen of Berlin and bavarians and the weather and the taxes and loosing soccer games against England and Holland (all in all not that often) and "Durchzug" and Trump and...... Teasing each other and grumbling makes us happy.
@@subhub9129 do it, very open and green and friendly and you don't even need to speak German as a tourist, English will usually get you by. I've neen here 19 years and still love it
@@abenaawitidikeledi4993 Completely okay. The number should only confirm that traffic obstructions are always to be expected - as mentioned in the video.
Berlin is the capital and the by far biggest city in Germany. Its very normal that cities with more people also have more demonstartions. And its even more common, that the most demonstrations are done in the capital. Thats usually where the goverment they demonstrate against is located. Beside that, 10 people can already be a deomostration, but hardly a noticable event in a city with more than 3.8 mio people.
New Berliners usually love Berlin (that‘s why they came here, most of them for the party). But many born Berliners hate how Berlin has changed and dream of going elsewhere.
I visited Berlin about 2 weeks ago and absolutely loved it. Already miss it actually. Seemed like the perfect big city and was very clean considering the population density. Also went to Munich and Fussen, enjoyed those too. Everyone seemed so chill.
not really. My German Stepfather when he talks about Berlin he describes it as a "fallen city". Something that wouldn't be out of place in mad max. Of course he doesn't visit berlin and the last time he was there was decades ago
I was born and raised in Berlin but my family comes from Munich and have many friends from Hamburg and Cologne. I agree to the uniqueness statement you touched upon in this video and I appreciate that you gave both a pro and con view of all your points. However, I disagree with the statement that people outside of Berlin hate the city. In Germany every city believes that they are the best city, which is because of their respective differences. Munich is almost the opposite from Berlin and represents the south German culture. Hamburg is a city with a beautiful port atmosphere and has many similarities to Berlin; however, it is completely different when it comes to living in these places. Similarly, Cologne has their own way. I completely disagree with your argument that Berlin is not fashionable. Berlin has its own fashion week and every district in Berlin has their different styles. You won’t see the same clothing style in Neukölln that you see in Charlottenburg. The “fashionable” clothes that you mentioned, which seemed to be big-brand clothing styles, is very much worn in Berlin but it depends on what district you live in. If you walk around Ku’damm you will find more people wearing the fashionable clothes that you compared Berlin to Hamburg with. You can also relate that to the clubbing scenery as clubs around Ku’damm are more expensive and represent a very different party atmosphere than clubs on the east side around Frankfurter Tor or Ostkreuz. In these eastern places the clothing style is not the brand-style that you mentioned but rather the second hand. Great point by you! In my opinion Mitte satisfies both styles. Similarly, I would like to mention that the difference in opinions is what makes the diversity between Berlin’s citizens so great. You simply cannot talk bad about the difference in opinions but talk good about its diversity. I believe that the high difference in opinions is only beneficial as Berlin is setting an example of internationalism as well as freedom of belief and speech. For example, there is no other city in Germany that has that many demonstrations for the better. Sustainability and innovation is also more present than in other German cities. With regards to the BVG, I completely agree; however, it could be much worse. Although it’s a bad example, I want to relate it to my experience in Austria where I worked as a ski instructor for a few months. Buses often came once every 50 minutes, whereas in Berlin a 5-20 minute gap between buses is not the worst. Nevertheless, I hate the BVG system. Overall, I believe Berlin is a city where not only cities in Germany but also in Europe can look up to. If you do not like Berlin due to personal reasons then I believe your opinion will change the more you adapt to the Berlin life. I subscribed to your channel and hope to see a video about reason to move to Berlin or why Germans/Europeans love this city. :)
No it’s really hate hate because Paris brings money/is a win for the whole country and actually contributes something to Frances economy while Berlin is dirty, ugly and would definitely be a failed state if it was independent. Fun fact: Germany’s whole GDP would be 4% higher without Berlin.
Just like in the United Kingdom, or France (where Only those living in the small cities, and the town & country are constantly/relentlessly Bashing London/Paris, as "their minds" Are Matching the places where they live), Germany Is No Different when it comes to the Divide between the large cities (And The Sections Of The Society that they represent), And the small cities/town & country (Stuck in ethnic/national identity, and a past that's Long Since it had entered the history books)!!
what is shocking is how people in Berlin says "we are open minded and tolerant" and at the same time " if you are not like us we don't want you here " ROFL
It's pretty much the same with most capitals/big cities. Americans like to hate on NYC. Brits like to hate on London. Russians like to hate on Moscow. etc
That's true, but the difference is that the kind of conventionalized animosity you describe is often an expression of something of an inferiority complex, the less educated/wealthy/etc. others versus an intellectual/snobbish/rich/... capitol that's usually a great contributor to a country's wealth or esteem. The peculiarity about Berlin is that it's seen as a dirty, dysfunctional, pisspoor drag on the rest of its nation, and the fact that the GDP per capita would rise if Germany got rid of Berlin tells you all you really need to know.
@@lpcaiser same could be said about NYC and Paris. There are super dirty and run down. Not sure about GDP but Berlin is the biggest city in EU so that is a factor. Also because it's a capital and a big city there are a lot of poor people. Also, you have to remember its past. It's only been 30 years. Berlin is contributing more and more to Germany. It's basically the tech startup capital of Europe. Most German tech startups are in Berlin. They pay a lot of taxes and since London is out it will attract more tech people from around the world.
As a Murican who's Lived in NYC - and loved it - I'm guessing there are some parallels between NYC and Berlin. As in, I'm guessing that Berlin has plenty of hipsters, great restaurants, culture, museums, a cool music scene , artists galore, ETC. Am I close?!
@@charlies.5777 yes i've been to NYC multiple times. It has a similar vibe. Berlin is kinda like NYC of Europe. Super diverse with lots of immigrants/expats from all over the world. I love that most people speak English as well. But do prefer NYC though and would like to live there.
@@nicktankard1244 I agree about the cleanliness thing, but I think you'll in turn agree that there's also a prestige to living in Paris or London, cities which outshine most if not all other places in their nations. And Berlin is all the (depending on your perspective) negative things I named to a degree that's above average even for large German cities. Both Munich and Hamburg are much cleaner even though they're also 1M+, and both cities economically outperform Berlin in relation to their population. And in addition to all that, Berlin is notoriously by far the greatest receiver of money from other states within the states' Equalization Payments framework.
@@mgtowp.l.7756 To be honest, these riots were an exception because of the G20 summit in Hamburg. Thousands of anti-globalisation activists from all over Europe gathered there. Normally, Hamburg is a peaceful city. Apart from the traditional left-wing demonstrations on May Day, when things can get pretty heated. I would love to live in both cities, Hamburg is great because of the countless waterways and the proximity to the coast, Berlin also has so much to offer! In Munich they are all stuck-up and posh, I wouldn't want to live there! The German government is hosting the G7 summit again in 2022, the current chancellor Scholz was mayor in Hamburg at the time of the G20 riots, he as chancellor and host of the next big summit doesn't want to risk anything this time and invites his international guests to the very conservative Bavaria and there to the Alps. These activists will not be able to penetrate that far LOL.
Berlin is different. To the rest of germany. One of my first experiences in Berlin: 2002 Loveparade. One of my friends I went with had acolleague who was from Berlin. The Colleague said "yeah bring your stuff and you can refresh". We went there dropped our stuff and then it was up for partying. Next morning around 10:00 we got back to the colleagues apartment. They were already awake and told us to get up there. So we got. Next thing we saw were 6-7 people in various states of undress, heavy on the undress. Was a little shock.
Actually, in most countries, the capital or main metropolis is hated. E.g. British people love to hate London and the Londoners. (West)-Germany didn't have a real capital for 40 years and especially West-Germans have problems adjusting to the fact that there is now one city much larger and important as any other. Whilst I do understand many criticisms, like the general rudeness, the shabbiness etc., I do think that it comes down to personal preferences: If you like big cities, you're going to fit in after the appropriate adjustment time, if you prefer neat, clean and quiet surroundings, probably you won't enjoy it too much - despite Berlin having a lot of such neighbourhoods (I grew up in one of them and it's still like this). Greetings from Switzerland - I needed time to adjust to the totally opposite lifestyle, too.
you can not compare that. Germany is a federation where life, culture, business, innovation, wealth etc. is happening decentralized. Berlin is not a big influencer and driver in those things at all and thus not representable for the german federation. This is difficult to understand for many foreigners/tourist who think if they visit the capital of a country they will be in the cultural hub. Moreover, germany is mentally still ruled by a western/south german spirit. The politics moved to berlin but the mindset did not.
The rudeness of the Berliners is mostly just on the surface though. People in Berlin appear to be pissed 24/7, at least that's what the look on their face makes you think. But frankly, I've had some of the most heart-warming experiences with complete strangers in Berlin, for instance the MediaMarkt cashier who offered to give my a ride home in her car when I mentioned I'd be carrying the newly-bought microwave oven over to the subway station. I lived in Southern Germany for about ten years, and I made a lot of friends there, but never ever did anything like the "MediaMarkt incidence" happen to me there. I find that Berliners actually often go out of their way to help others, although with a grim look. Not gonna argue about the shabbiness of at least some parts of the city though. ☺️
It’s not even closely comparable!!! For example: Paris brings money/is a win for the whole country and actually contributes something to Frances economy while Berlin is dirty, ugly and would definitely be a failed state if it was independent. Fun fact: Germany’s whole GDP would be 4% higher without Berlin.
As an American, it sounds like Berlin is similar to Venice Beach, CA. I lived in Santa Monica for several years, but spent a lot of time in Venice and we used to call it ‘ghetto by the sea’. Graffiti, artists, hippies, celebrities, homeless, etc.. it’s got it all and Never a dull moment. I can only imagine a German/ European version.
Comparing European and US cities may make little sense. But if I were to describe Berlin through American cities, it would be a mixture of Boston (urbanity), NYC-Williamsburg (hipster), Detroit (debt) and Las Vegas (land prices and party).
Haha all of those "negatives" sound like positives to me. I love the vibe in Portland, Seattle and the Netherlands so this sounds exactly like it to me.
I lived in Berlin for three years (Neukolln and Wedding). Berlin has a lot of creative people doing really interesting things, the museums are great, and the amount of history in the city is phenomenal. However, for me personally, this didn't make up for all the negatives. At the street level, Berlin is mostly just a bummer. Gloomy, dirty, cold, grubby, and gray are the first words that come to mind if I wanted to describe Berlin (and I've heard non-Berliner Germans say the same thing about Berlin). And yes, some of the street art is phenomenal. Some of the very best I've seen is in Berlin. But for every piece that took some real time, talent, and effort to create, there are 10,000 pointless tags assaulting your eyeballs wherever you look that took no time, talent, or effort to make (making tags largely only requires a paint pen or spray can, and a bunch of unjustified narcissism). And Berliners are generally cold and rude (I found the ethnic Turks and Lebanese to be a lot more warm and friendly than Berliners). And though this isn't Berlin-specific, but more generally about Germany, the food is incredibly meh, and the beer is overrated too (yes, I just said that). The only thing on her list that I actually liked about Berlin is its lack of fashion sense (since I not only don't care about fashion at all, I hate all the temporary fashion trends, it was nice to be around people who also didn't seem to care about it). It is an interesting place to visit, but living there, in my experience, just generally... sucks.
@@miceatah9359 Ha right. German food? I'll just mention Mexican, Italian, Thai, and Indian foods. What else is there to say? As for the beer, the beer there that's good is good, but on the whole, beer in Germany is overrated. I'm from Colorado, which has an incredible beer culture. Colorado's beer is *easily* a match for Germany's, and is also just more interesting since people who claim to care about beer in Colorado don't spend 90% of their time drinking garbage macro pils unlike Germans at .90€/500ml (or Radler... or mix it with banana juice or cola at the bar... what a horrible idea). Go into any Späti in Berlin, and if you're lucky you *might* find a Schofferhofer Weizen, or perhaps a crappy Köstritzer Schwarz, but other than that it's just going to be hundreds and hundreds of crappy macro Pils that all taste identical. I don't even know why they bother to put labels on them. German beer culture? It simply does not live up to it's reputation. I went across the border to Poland on a trip, and Poland's breweries are just as good as Germany's, and Poles aren't afraid of a pale ale, stout, or IPA. Germany has become irrelevant by sticking to it's beer purity laws. And now I'm living in Japan, and they're totally catching up to Germany as well, and the craft beer scene here is more interesting than Germany's. Stone Brewing (from California) tried brewing in Berlin and couldn't make it work because most Germans like drinking crappy cheap pils. Stone wrote a blog post when they announced they were pulling out of Berlin: "STONE BREWING BERLIN: TOO BIG, TOO BOLD, TOO SOON". That pretty much says it all. For more info, look for the documentary: "The Beer Jesus from America". German beer is totally overrated. Boom.
@@morgothbauglir5186, An opinion based on personal preference and tastes is "wrong"? For example, I prefer hot coffee to iced coffee. I like hot coffee more. Am I "wrong"? If you like iced coffee better, are you "right"? Obviously neither is right nor wrong. So, no, I am not wrong. If people prefer bland food and cheap pissy beer, then Germany is the place for them, and I'm happy for them. They're where they need to be. Besides, telling someone they're "wrong" with no explanation as to why you think so? At least I try to support my claims with an argument.
@@skreeeboy my guy, with all due respect, but isn't beer from the USA known for tasting like water? Germans are renowned for their beer world wide, surely you can't deny that the rest of us seem to think it's good. Perhaps it's the beer in Berlin, could that be a thing? I have tasted beer from Stuttgart and other places and thought it was quite lovely to be honest. If you'd like to try something a bit different I'd recommend Belgium as they have endless variations when it comes to beer.
Just because a city is as shabby as some of its citizens are rude doesn't necessarily mean, we hate the city. I liked visiting Berlin. Okay, once was enough, but I don't hate it. I'll just stay away. =;-)
I am from South Africa and I am sorry to say that Berlin is crap. Probably the only City that I have traveled to that I will NOT be visiting ever again in this lifetime 🫰🏻
As an American/Canadian who have been and lived in all 3 countries. Berlin gets the same hate that Toronto, NYC and LA get in their own respective country and region of their country. It’s a multicultural city in an area that is mainly homogeneous. Naturally the rural cities will have hate. I’m sure the cities around Hamburg and Munich (I have not lived there) have the same hate for the same for them being their respective major hub. Politically and socially the the major cities are different form the rest of the respective country/region.
Berlin isn't Germany is a common universal complaint. You hear it everywhere like Toronto isn't Canada, Tokyo isn't Japan, Paris isn't France, NYC isn't USA and London isnt UK.
@@SpringLeafWolf lol I live in Florida and its awesome here thanks ♥️ Were in the top 5 fastest growing states in the nation and real estate is booming in my city. Must not be that bad.
@@Arginne I was refering to the whole Florida man Florida woman thing, crime out of Florida regularly gets roasted, so slow down, yall still have high poverty, poor access to Healthcare etc. No state is perfect but Florida certainly ain't the best of the best. Should always be proud of where you're from tho so good for you.
Crime and violence rate in Berlin are pretty high, that is why I would not move there (street-robberies, a lot of drug dealers and gangs beating you up in the subway). Of course, here in Hamburg with 1,7 million inhabitants we also have bad quarters you better should not go to (Billstedt, Jenfeld, Wilhelmsburg etc), but altogether life is more peaceful and orderly here. Nevertheless, in the late evening/night I neither would use the subway in Hamburg any more... But spending some days and walking around in Berlin is nice. It was nearly 12 years ago since I was last in Berlin, sometime I go there again.
@@janpracht6662 - Billstedt and Jenfeld (in HH) are "places you should better not go" if you don't want to risk encountering "gangs" or "street robberies" or to be "beaten up"?? I've lived in Billstedt for almost ten years, and relatively recently, not some decades ago, Ive walked and driven through both of these neighborhoods every single day, day and night. Your statement is an extreme dramatization and exaggeration in my experience! First of all it doesn't apply to the whole of these neighborhoods but only certain parts. There are areas in Billstedt and Jenfeld, that are perfectly "normal" workers class residential areas with none of these problems (ie not more than the average everywhere in Germany), like in and around my former place I've never seen or heard of any of this. And even the very few areas that are in fact rougher than the average German neighborhood, it's nothing compared to other countries like the US or even within Europe. What you described are still exceptions, with the risk of them occurring being a bit higher there than elsewhere, but still low. They're no no-go areas, that would be exaggerated. This is at least my personal experience.
@@omayrasanchez2877 I have got a colleague, together with her husband and her 12 year old daugther she recently moved away from Billstedt (because she does not want her daughter to grow up in an enviroment of criminals and drug dealers. When the kid gets older, she easily can meet the wrong "friends" in this area). Every day police is visiting the neighbours, many alcoholics and aggressive people walk around there. Ask any policeman, In their files Billstedt is the most problematic "Sozialer Brennpunkt" in Hamburg. ruclips.net/video/Hg-c1YrJU7w/видео.html
i think the other germans don't like Berlin because the goverment have there her headquarter. In the last times with the rules of corona, the people don't understand no more her own Goverment ministers.
@@kimberlybjrc Stuttgart is a town with village feeling and with one of the highest living standards in Germany and Europe. The mentality there is: "do it slow but right" Moreover homeland of very ecofriendly non hipsterish people. Also the place where most of german technical inventions are originated.
Munich and Stuttgart are very different from Hamburg, Köln, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Düsseldorf........ Does that mean all people living in those cities have to hate Munich and Stuttgart? ;-)
I‘m a born Berliner and lived half of my life in Munich. Berlin and Munich have a lot in common, the public transport system, a lot of culture, a good nightlife, many festivals, the universities, a big startup scene. Yet Berlin has more water surfaces within city limits and is greener, while Munich is more dense and quite overcrowded.
I wast waiting all video long for you to talk about the tax system, this is sth I'm very curious about. I'm wondering how the city is for entrepreneurial endeavors, how's the tech scene, how's the theater scene. Maybe for next video! 😊😉🥰
What bothers me about Berlin is that when you walk over manhole covers, you get the impression that someone has left the door to hell wide open down below, it stinks of crap. The BWB has its difficulties there, although there is so much water in and around Berlin.
@@steeler54combathamster52 Naja, das ist generell nicht unbedingt die sauberste Ecke aber selbst dort habe ich noch keinen stinkenden Kanalisationsdeckel bemerkt. Nach meiner Erfahrung stinkt es hauptsächlich dort, wo Partygänger und Obdachlose wild dem Ruf der Natur folgen.
@@andreasvogler1875 Ich wohne zwar nicht in Berlin, aber bin seit 2007 jedes Jahr mit meinem Bruder 1-2x da. Wir machen stets unsere Witzchen über den 'Status'...hat sich nix geändert...stinkt immer noch...
As a neutral european from Norway i love Berlin, but i also have friends that prefer cities like London or Barcelona for a weekend getaway. I love the «crazyness», off Berlin snd that it is not snobbish and up tight. . Me and my friends are going next week. Can’t wait 😎
First ☝️ Living in Berlin isn’t a good idea if your new to the country & it’s too expensive to live in apartment or own a residence, but it is nice to visit provided you have enough salary to cover the expenses and have safety net to fall back into just to be financially safe....
Hamburg, Frankfurt and München are more expensive for living in an apartment. For us is Berlin cheap. I have here all what Berlin have, smaller but nicer and the houses are higher
@@Oldmarty how affordable are the apartments of Berlin, what else can it offer what about the food and other expenses like clothes, gears, electronics & paying the rent including medicines & stuffs for gifts & job prospects...
Berlin is not cheap sure but also it has a lot of jobs and opportunities. Other major German cities are often more expensive and have fewer jobs. Sure there are a lot of cheap cities but as a new person in Germany it will be hard to find a job or even move to Germany in the first place. I might consider to live in some other cheaper city but there is no way i can find a job like i have here in Berlin. Also language. You can get by with only English in Berlin. Not so much in the rest of Germany. And to be honest it's not THAT expensive and salaries are pretty good.
@@nicktankard1244 hmm interesting Berlin could the only capital city affordable for beginners and immigrants like myself firstly I’ll go there as a tourist because I want to experience traveling then planning again to go back there with a working visa, which are the 2 would you recommend it?
I couldn't disagree more about the fashion statement. On the contrary, Berliners are very mindful about their appearances. It is a fit in culture, where everyone should look the same, wearing black, appearing edgy, hipster, don't care about you attitude. Not really a big fan of it but accept everyone as they are which is the biggest positive about Berlin, you don't judge, live and let live.
Historically, Germany didn't unify the first time until the 1880s, so it was never as central to Germany as London is to the UK or Paris to France. Then for the first 40 years of the Bundesrepublik it was the capital of the Cold War and of tremendous global geopolitical importance, but to the German economy Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich were far more important than the rump half-a-city a hundred miles behind the Iron Curtain. East Germany styled their half "Berlin, Hauptstadt (Capital) der DDR" but it too was half a city and the wall they built was not just ugly but a resource suck which was a big part of why East German consumer goods stagnated to the point they were un-exportable by the '70s and a sad joke by 1989.
This seems to be a very charming place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!
I think that the thing with Berlin being different from the rest of Germany is something that happens with many major cities compared to the rest of their countries, it’s like that city has its own subculture and vibes, for example NYC compared to the US or Bogota and the rest of Colombia. I think is a cool thing
As a visitor to Berlin (10th time) as well as Munich & Cologne, I think you are very wrong. My friend has lived in Cologne for 25 years and would love to live to Berlin. Is this your idea of clickbait?
I am living in a suburb of Berlin and work in Berlin. ... Common saying (from a lot of Germans) about Berlin is: "Berlin may be capital city of Germany, but it´s not a german city at all!"
Komisch, warum sind immer alle Kommentare nur auf englisch? Superinteressantes Video und ein tolles Plädoyer für unsere Hauptstadt! Freut mich, dass es dir dort so gut gefällt. Du hast das Lebensgefühl sehr gut beschrieben. Als Westfälin habe ich früher Berlin nur 1x auf einer Klassenfahrt kennen gelernt. Doch seit der Wiedervereinigung habe ich Berlin regelmäßig besucht, war auf Kongressen, auf Kirchentagen oder zu priv. Treffen mit viel Kultur und Sightseeing. Ich habe dort einzigartige Gadtfreundschaft erlebt. Und es war immer superspannend, die jährlichen Veränderungen mitzuerleben. Ich erinnere mich noch, wie der Potsdamer Platz eine Großbaustelle hinter Bauzäunen war und die Ubahn dort endete und man erst ans Tageslicht zurück musste, um in die Anschlussbahn einsteigen zu können. Und wie billig damals alles war, eine der preiswertesten europäischen Metropolen. Schade, dass sich das inzwischen wohl rapide wandelt, ich war jetzt 3 Jahre nicht mehr dort. Dass jemand Berlin hasst und die Stadt kritisiert, habe ich persönlich noch NIE erlebt! Berlin hat eine einzigartige Geschichte und deshalb sicher auch ein ganz besonderes Flair. Ich hoffe bald mal wieder hinfahren zu können. Als größte deutsche Stadt hat es trotzdem keine Skyline, sondern viel Fläche und viel Natur und Seen. Gott sei Dank! Ich könnte niemals in einer Megacity leben, die gibt es zum Glück mehrheitlich außerhalb Europas. Ich bin froh, dass unsere Städte vergleichsweise überschaubar sind. Und ich liebe die Graffitti! Und fast alles, was du von Berlins Besonderheiten beschrieben hast, macht die Stadt erst richtig liebenswert.
Hast du viele Abonnenten, die sich für Deutschland interessieren, aber gar kein Deutsch verstehen? Ich kann notfalls auch englisch kommentieren, aber sah bisher keinen Sinn darin. .....
Thank you very much Diana! Quick question, I’m a professional in USA in my 40’s . Do you think I have chances to move to Berlin and obtain a job with an A2 German level and my age?
Hi Chistian, Germany on the whole has a huge demand for skilled workers in general. Whether you find a job in Berlin depends largely on your trade, because not all fields are well established here. If A2 is proficient enough will also depend on your field, but should definitely be enough to feel out the market. We are an immigration country, and not being perfectly fluent in German is often not a big problem. In fact, depending on your Job, being a native English speaker might work in your favor. Your age should not be a problem at all! If you have matching work experience, you can get very good jobs. I just switched jobs (I'm in my late 30's) into an adjacent, but not the same field: Got the job within two days after application and have a very good salary. I would suggest, you just apply if you really want to move here and feel things out. You can mention a possible starting date in your application letter, so you would have enough time moving here and get things settled if you get a job. Most interviews are held online nowadays anyway. Just one thing you need to consider, when checking salaries: The ratio of gross to net salary in Germany is very different to the US: Usually salary is negotiated as gross (because rates for net are very different between people depending on having kids, being married and such), so this will not be what you get at the end of the month. Depending on your salary level, you should deduct around 40% (as a rule of thumb) from your gross, to get net (taxes and social security are deducted directly from your salary, so you get only what you can keep). The plus is, that you have full health coverage and state-pension, it's already included in the deduction (although I'm not exactly sure how the pension works if you don't become a European citizen). That was a bit of a long answer, but I hope I could help you :) Have a nice day (and good luck, should you chose to apply here!)
The problem of Berlin is to find a well paid job, because Berlin has not many companies. Berlin is "just" the capital city, has clubs and nightlife and art galleries. Okay, some other companies are there, too, for example startup companies, because they need cheap, young people ;-) But, for example, if you are are working in the financial business the chances to find a job in Frankfurt are much much higher than in Berlin, because Frankfurt is the financial place in Germany. Cologne is more in media business, Düsseldorf is more communication, business consulting and fashion, Munich & Stuttgart are more in technology and car industry, etc. Berlin is not for Germany what is London for England or Paris for France, the big center point, the capital city that dominates everything.
Berlin ist easy to love in summer, but in winter it´s perhaps a different story.....Many Germans from other regions often are fascinated by Berlin but he most wouldn´t like to live there.
Born and raised in Berlin, moved to Stuttgart 15 years ago. I find it hilarious how the locals, who literally have a saying "if I say nothing (bad) that is praise enough" somehow believe that Berliners are rude.
Coming from South Germany ,what I hated there, was this extreme cleanliness and all the white houses. On the other side Berlin seems to be a bit too dirty sometimes, but I think thats normal for such a big city.
The problem with graffiti in Berlin is that at least 80% of it is just stupid tagging. It looks pretty ugly most of the time. They tag everything shops, historic buildings, public information stands etc.
From october 2022 to march 2023, I travelled across Europe and visited 42 cities. Among them all, Berlin was like 40th place in my personal ranking. When people are ice cold + arrogant, I magically stop caring about how great the party scene is, how much the city offers etc. What makes Berlin a great city for most people is the diversity. At least. This helps the city with not becoming literally a 80s model fridge.
Berlin sounds like the perfect place for me 😍 but I'd love to move somewhere a bit out of the city, maybe 30 mins drive out, are there suburbs or something around Berlin where I can just catch a train to get in and out of the city for a night or day out?
You don't need to go that far out. The outskirts of Berlin are much quieter, cheaper and greener yet you still have everything you need close by and a 20 minutes train ride gets you into the city.
@@andreasvogler1875 ooh awesome! Are there like suburb names for those kind of areas or is it all just called Berlin? (I'm from Australia and in Melbourne we have inner city suburbs then outer suburbs etc.)
@@andreasvogler1875 Ooh interesting thank you. Do you know which areas would have full houses with backyards etc? When I look online it seems to be all apartments..
@@kimdersurprise You can find that in every borough except Mitte. Although your chances to find such houses increase the farther away from the center you are.
I love Berlin. I have visited the city twice and I just love the vibe there. I really enjoy it's roughness, the graffitti, the open-minded athmosphere. I've visited other German cities as well but I haven't enjoyed those as much as I enjoy Berlin. 😌🙌🏼
Berlin is a underclass shithole, where you have lots of people from Russia or the Middle East and Germans, who where heavily fucked up. It's not as bad as Sofia or Moscow, but it's clearly visible, that it won't survive any longer without real improvements and resettlement of it's many criminals and problematic people. Graffiti in Germany always had a more free-sprited approach, in Berlin it's just crazy and lacking any style and is just destructive. And Berlin is completely close-minded, besides some small parts of the Western part. Especially also the tourists coming in, most of them are not open minded. So you don't have a feeling being in a capital with historic might, but more on a peasant farm in a big size.
You absolutely right, I spend a lot of time in Berlin, and I‘m in love with this city since I can thought. But i have to visit Amsterdam& Utrecht, it’s like the Netherlands is whole country of „Berliners“
but you are talking as a visitor. The titles says "don't MOVE to Berlin". Thats something different. I could go into a Brasilian favela, find it fascinating and fly back home. But certainly i would not move there.
I am connected with Berlin since 1998. I know Berlin. I have lived in Berlin for many years. And I sincerely don't like it. Berlin, and please excuse this horrible analogy, is like a raped woman. And Berlin was indeed raped. Several times. Such a woman will never ever be the same. She will suffer under this horrible deeds till the end of her life. Berlin was raped by the Nazis, some years later by the communists. Berlin witnessed the rise of National Socialism, it witnessed the horrible persecution of jews. It witnessed hundreds and thousands of crimes that were committed in the streets of Charlottenburg, Spandau and Köpenick in the name of a bizarre Ideology. It witnessed its own complete destruction (have any of you the slightest idea how Berlin looked like in June 1945???), rape and murder committed by the Soviets. People nailed to the doors of garages etc. After that Berlin was devided by an idiotic wall. People trying to flee their part of the city in order to get away from another bizarre ideology, called communism, were shot to death from towers close by. This division went on till 1990. 40 years of communism change the people. If you have lived in Vietnam, you will recognize the difference between the people in the north and in the south. Some of them, and that counts for Berliners swell, are rude because they did not learn the gentle and civilized distance between humans. Communism teaches: we are all equal. Therefore they treat others as disrespectful, as they treat themselves. Fun fact: they sell it as "being direct". LOL Can you imagine, that in the early 20th century Berlin was said to be among the most beautiful cities of Europe? Right up there with giants like Paris and Rome? It's sad. I don't hate Berlin. I pity it.
I live in Berlin since 1986 in the east part. In the early 90s Berlin was a special place (in a goody way). So many little clubs, bars and communes with artists and other creative people. At that time i lived in Prenzlauer Berg (east part). It was an amazing time. But that time is long gone. Since the early 2000s all that stuff, that makes living there special faded away. It became more smooth with shopping miles and condominium. So the creative people, which aren`t rich move away. These people (artists, free minded, and other) were the part of Berlin, which made Berlin interesting (in my eyes). Other parts of Berlin have other problems, like crime from arabic clans, drugs and so on. If you are on a short trip, maybe these points i have written don`t come to your mind, but if you are living in Berlin for more than 30 years, you will notice these changes. Now Berlin is a lifeless shithole full of shopping miles.
I was expecting something horrible, this is actually nice. I like cleanliness and orderliness, but I come from a place that is probably worse than Berlin so it would be okay.
Berlin used to be cheap for a Metropole but that changed unfortunately. One good point is this City is tolerant. Chilled. Like Most of Germany is narrowminded.
@@susannabonke8552 It changed? :o I just recently started to look into the finance part, as I started to apply, but it looks like it is still cheaper than other big cities in Germany.
I am living in Berlin and I love it. I spend a year on the countryside and I just wanted to go back home. Every corner is different and you just have to find the Right one for you! I love the thrift shops and vegan restaurants!
I wish we could live together in a constructive manner. Take the best of every culture and appreciate the comfort we still have in this city. Poverty is taking over, desperation makes people open for radical opinions. We had this one before and we all know where this ended. We must find a different way.
"Other Germans hate Berlin" well that is ok, Berlin hates the rest of germany, so i think it works just fine XD Also you cant realy compare berlin with the other german citys, compared to berlin the other citys are villages so of course they are cleaner, bigger citys tend to be less clean.... Berliners are not rude, they are honest: if they dont like you you will know it, we are only rude to our friends, that is our love XD
I have to agree. I was shocked how tiny cities are when I came to other places in Germany. Berlin is not even a big town at all if you compare to other capitals.
I never was in Berlin, and i dont know a single person "hating" Berlin. Dont know what this is about. "Hate" is a strong word... I'm sure most people who dont "like" Berlin would never use the word "hate".
She’s not talking about foreign tourists, she’s talking about Germans and there is definitely a strong disliking of Berlin as it is a huge burden to Germanys economy.
@@linajurgensen4698 Could you please do following: read -> think -> comment. In that exact order. Its kind of important that you understand first before you make such comments. Thanks ☺👍
Rough around the edges just like the 2 Berliners who invaded my home, strangled me for one od the two and for one to smile with his sunnies on when I was struggling to recover and essentially took my money away.
it doesn't matter whether others hate Berlin. As long as you feel comfortable and happy here, everything is fine. It's nice that people like you make our city so unique :-)
Well, I don't like the generelization in the statement "all germans (exept those who were born/raised there or moved there by choice) hate Berlin". It's true, that Berlin is definitely less popular than other ones (like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, etc.) by non-Berliners but the word "hate" feels wrong when it comes to the emotions for it. It's always a question of whom to ask about it. Ask X people and you get way more diffent views and answers.
I love Berlin. But that´s maybe because I am a Berliner who is still living here. But I know from own experience that the city has a dark side. I was twice victim of criminality and a friend of mine was beaten up twice in my neighbourhood and there is a warning sign in my street that many crimes have taken place in it. And that´s in Schöneberg, a district which is considered to be among the rather harmless Berlin districts.
The home city of the old German Capital with a host of its own palaces and castles, I would definitely like to move to such a historic city. I know a lot of people don't like the Kaiser but its not like Imperial Germany is around anymore, history is rich in these places!
Tell me you’ve never been to Berlin without telling me: there is not a single palace or castle in Berlin (in what world do you live in?) the whole city got bombed to ashes in WW2. The only thing you’ll find there is ugly communist buildings and a bad taste in fashion.
As a German from Munich I never particularly warmed to Berlin...don´t like most of the architecture and it seems very messy compared to Munich. It´s more liberal and alternative though...so it depens what you´re looking for.
I'm from the Ruhrgebiet and even in my eyes Berlin is pretty fu--ed up in many areas. A friend moved to Augsburg a few years back (due to the insane rent in Munich proper), best decision he could have made for him and his family. Plus, mountains and lakes are basically around the corner.
I love Berlin, I visited 4 years ago and I am in the process of searching where to move. I would move there in a heartbeat, everything that you mentioned are the reasons why I would move to Berlin. It reminds me of home here in Washington, DC.
The mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, said about Berlin in 2018: "Wenn ich dort ankomme, denke ich immer: ‚Vorsicht, Sie verlassen den funktionierenden Teil Deutschlands.‘“" (When I arrive there I always think "Careful, you're leaving the functioning part of Germany".) That's how a lot of people in Baden-Württemberg feel. That plus the fact that Berlin is a real money pit and sucking the money right out of Germany's South to just burn it (the money I mean).
It’s really not true that all Germans outside of Berlin hate Berlin. I never met anyone in neither Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt nor Cologne that told me that they hate Berlin. Berlin is very different and many people of other German cities might say that they wouldn’t want to live in Berlin because of this and that, but except from very few people (like for example football hooligans) you wouldn’t here the sentence “I hate Berlin”.
@@IlluminatedDisplays I'd second that. I am from Berlin but Hamburg is my favorite place to visit outside of my hometown. I think Hamburg is an amazing city, just a little too posh for my taste (although Berlin seems to try very hard to get there as well very fast).
Berlin is a major metropole. A city of roughly 4 million people . It is NOT Nurnberg or Munich. Berlin is busy, Berlin is chaos, Berlin is metal, punk, techno and jazz. Berlin is dirty, crowded, no BS city life. If you want Mayberry or twin peaks, don't come here. It's depressing, hilarious, and fascinating. What the heck do you expect when you go to one of the biggest and most important cities in Europe? Shangri-la? If you hate big city hustle and bustle stay away. If ya like it or want to feel it, it's a great learning experience.
I used to love Berlin. I hate what an incompetent bunch of Social Democrats, post -Communists and others made of it. The embarrassment of the BER airport is driving me nuts, and that's just part of it.
![Berlin vs. Germany [10 Differences]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qZ2Qod5yAGo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Berlin vs. Germany [10 Differences]](/img/tr.png)
Check out my new ebook THRIVE IN BERLIN! ↪www.dianaverry.com/shop/thrive-in-berlin
It's a complete guide on living in Berlin (such as how to find a flat, what are the best neighbourhoods to live in & more!)
I’m reading this as an American who has lived in Germany (Altheim) and spent lots of time in Frankfurt. The organization and cleanliness took about 1 day to get used to. Everyone I met in Germany was SO nice... and as a black person living there I have never felt more safe. To each their own.
I bet you will love berlin and you would feel welcome. its just as I already wrote above: the city is subject of gentrification and people dressing with business style or bossing around with bourgeois artifacts or conformist style might face a cheeky slang here and there. people have a tough mindset and think progressively. that saying: berlin is a very safe city to live in. worst to expect for you would be pickpocketing.
@@erwinz5926 Where do you live? Frankfurt is only partly a shithole, close to former US barracks, where as Berlin is a complete shithole. And people dressing up in Berlin is not about real gentrification, but those who make it more a shithole because they lack everything. Berlin is heavily affected from the Occupation of West but also from the Socialists. You don't have bourgeois capitalist enterprises in Berlin, but LGBI and people who talk, but don't work and are a hull themselves.
Stimmt!
I felt safer in Germany too, and I'm a white guy. Germany is just generally safer than America.
Okay I was looking for a black person commenting on this. I live in the Atlanta area so you know how dangerous it is (relatively speaking) and I want to move to Berlin one day or even visit. I would love a black person from America's take on this in a POV video.
it seems like a perfect place to live in for me
Yea same for me.
She forgot to mention the nightlife. People there party hard! 🌈🤙🏾
You may be right if you are single.
Yessss
I'ill be there as a dotnet developer. I'm feeling god about it. Different culture and new friends are coming :)
"Germans hate Berlin". Diana, please don't suggest to know the opinions of 83 Million people based on the very tiny selection in your comment section. I understand what you are adressing but this is surely not representative.
What a '(north) german' post that is. awesome
Ey!, we love to be hated.
Hans Zimmer germany is the exact opposite of north or east germany. You can compare it with nrw
@@trash5901 pardon?
That's how Americans are. Like: The Germans did the Holocaust.:(
It´s completely wrong to say that everyone hates Berlin!! I’m born and raised up in Berlin. Right now I‘m living in another city and I’ve never met somebody who hates Berlin
Bro, you moving out of the city doesn't help your argument.
I f*king hate Berlin so much. Have to go there every year for a couple of weeks doin trainee programms. Hate that time so fxcking much.
@@ottomanempire2463 tell us why
I hate Berlin. I not only hate it, i absolutely despise it. I wish we could exclave it and make Bonn our capital again. Or Aachen for historical reasons.
@@ottomanempire2463 u hate ur ottomans then, because berlin has the most imigrants than all of other cities in germany.
I live in Berlin and it's where my heart belongs. You probably don't know the smell of a warm June afternoon in a coffee shop in a smaller Street in Berlin, or the sunset you can see out of parks, or sitting on the roof of a skyscraper, or being on a flea market in Charlottenburg/Kreuzberg/Friedrichshein. I'm currently in a student exchange it's beautiful here and I really like it but I already miss my Berlin
I agree totally !!! What a you le istagram ???
Ja aber das ist auch bloß dieses Hipster Berlin was du da beschreibst
Hi Luisa! I wanna study german and still dont know if i wanna go to Berlin or Munich ...what you recommend me?
Berlin has a very special atmosphere, a heavy past, big scars, a bad reputation and it certainly feels very different from the rest of Germany. I can see why Germans wouldn't necessarily feel totally at home there, because it's more like misfits central in contrast to the regular German lifestyle. Let's not forget that it was also technically occupied by several foreign forces for decades and most of its famous landmarks bear an imprint of some kind of tragedy that is vivid to this day. It naturally has to be harder for Germans to celebrate their capital city. But yes, despite all that, I love Berlin, ever since I discovered it East and West in the 80s, and that was for the incredible vibe that has always been legendary and reinvented itself since the 20s.
Interesting
--- Contrasting to the regular German lifestyle -- this is HUGH lucky for me Berliner. so just stay hating Berlin please and dont visit here
Well, Berlin "has got a bad reputation" among the Germans that live in small cities, and in the town & country; but then, so do cities like Hamburg, or München (have "a bad reputation" among the small city/town & country Germans)!! Another group of individuals that, generally, hate Berlin, are foreigners "dropping by" from countries where English is the (main) language of communication!!
*Hate* is the wrong term considering your German viewers. "To hate something" is much more casually used in English than in German. More fitting would be "can't stand" or "can't bear" Berlin. And that would indeed mean the self-perception or attitude of people living on Berlin. (I do live here, so I know what I am talking about. ^^)
About any German I know tells me he/she likes to visit Berlin, but would never want to live here. Too "kaput".
And that about sums up the relationship between the rest of Germany and Berlin.
I grew up in a very small german village and moved to Berlin when I was 23 (already 17 years ago). My personal experience is not that other Germans hate Berlin, many like to come for a few days or so. But most of them wouldn't want to live here. The "hate" that you see in your comments is probably more a political thing, that Berlin is a "money-taker" whereas other Bundesländer like Bayern are "givers" (richer), and because of that Berlin has more problems than some other cities. Another reason, maybe: Our Government is in Berlin. Many seem to see Berlin as the place where bad decisions are made. Another reason is: Many ppl are just stupid! ;-)
If Berlin would be independent it would be a failed state, gouverned by international socialists. It sucks money from others and burn it.
@@BerndGSchneider What do you expect when it has been bombed into extinction and separated into 2 for decades? Any city would struggle economically under such conditions.
na i lived in Berlin for 6+ years, berlin is not germany, it is poor, stressfull and no place for children.
"Bayern =givers"?😂🤣
Aber dieser Glaube ist der Grund, warum wirklich keiner in Deutschland Bayern mag!
Noch weeeeit vor Berlin... 😉✌🏼
@@wavyy 30 years after reunification still struggeling?
That's just bad management!
As my grandgrandmother said in the 1920ies: "The reds don't know how to use money."
We don't hate Berlin only complaining about the citizen of Berlin and bavarians and the weather and the taxes and loosing soccer games against England and Holland (all in all not that often) and "Durchzug" and Trump and......
Teasing each other and grumbling makes us happy.
That sounds like why you should move to Berlin.
I agree 100%
Thinking exactly the same haha
@@stevehbrnd let's go to Berlin.
@@subhub9129 do it, very open and green and friendly and you don't even need to speak German as a tourist, English will usually get you by. I've neen here 19 years and still love it
Hi! I'm thinking of moving to Berlin soon. Still not sure though as it is a big decision. I would love to talk to some locals.
That is brilliant Diana. I do the same, tell my guests that that the chocolate cake in the fridge is really really bad :)
Visiting Berlin is like leaving Germany all together.
That’s what people typically say!
Which cities you like then?
The police recently published that there were around 4,000 registered demonstrations in Berlin in 2019 - large and small.
So every day about 10.
Is it a bad thing to demonstrate? To demonstrate is part of our culture in Berlin. This is something I am proud of.
@@abenaawitidikeledi4993 Completely okay.
The number should only confirm that traffic obstructions are always to be expected - as mentioned in the video.
@@EmilLotter I guessed you meant it like that. It's all good. Best wishes 🍀
Berlin is the capital and the by far biggest city in Germany. Its very normal that cities with more people also have more demonstartions. And its even more common, that the most demonstrations are done in the capital. Thats usually where the goverment they demonstrate against is located.
Beside that, 10 people can already be a deomostration, but hardly a noticable event in a city with more than 3.8 mio people.
@@jeanyluisa8483 what kind of demostration are you talking about? Musicians or protests?
„Trains are always on time and immaculate“ and shows the S-Bahn 😂
New Berliners usually love Berlin (that‘s why they came here, most of them for the party). But many born Berliners hate how Berlin has changed and dream of going elsewhere.
Da haste Recht. Berlin war früher einfach ruhiger.
I was there over 30 years ago for a few months and it sounds pretty much the same to me.
As a Berliner, I can only confirm this.
Berlin is big! There are districts which are clean and well "well-maintained" for the most part...
I don't hate Berlin, I just think it's over-hyped.
True. I live here and it’s not a nice place for everyone.
I’m so glad that you recovered from covid-19 I’m hope that it isn’t severe or too damaged
Thank you, but it was not the Flu 😊 test came back negative 🙌🏻
@@DianaVerry there is not one " Flu".
I visited Berlin about 2 weeks ago and absolutely loved it. Already miss it actually. Seemed like the perfect big city and was very clean considering the population density. Also went to Munich and Fussen, enjoyed those too. Everyone seemed so chill.
you clearly live in a dump if you think those cities are decent
Are you on Crack???
again this is just the perspective of a tourist
I recently spent a week.there, and I'm sorry to say that there are some very unfriendly people there, especially in Brandenberg airport.
"hate" is a strong word! ☝🏼
not really. My German Stepfather when he talks about Berlin he describes it as a "fallen city". Something that wouldn't be out of place in mad max. Of course he doesn't visit berlin and the last time he was there was decades ago
??? I am german and I literally know NOBODY who hates Berlin. Maybe not want to live there, ok. But hate???
„Disagree with the Berlin mindset“ would be the correct description
This is probably more an attention grabber, but yeah a lot of Germans would never want to live in Berlin.
It's pretty common in Baden-Württemberg to hate Berlin
@@MsYolost Hate?
@@MsYolost It‘s pretty common among Berliners to dislike swabians (people from Baden-Würgeberg) 😀
What i truly hate about Berlin is people littering everywhere.....streets and parks are way too dirty
I was born and raised in Berlin but my family comes from Munich and have many friends from Hamburg and Cologne. I agree to the uniqueness statement you touched upon in this video and I appreciate that you gave both a pro and con view of all your points.
However, I disagree with the statement that people outside of Berlin hate the city. In Germany every city believes that they are the best city, which is because of their respective differences. Munich is almost the opposite from Berlin and represents the south German culture. Hamburg is a city with a beautiful port atmosphere and has many similarities to Berlin; however, it is completely different when it comes to living in these places. Similarly, Cologne has their own way.
I completely disagree with your argument that Berlin is not fashionable. Berlin has its own fashion week and every district in Berlin has their different styles. You won’t see the same clothing style in Neukölln that you see in Charlottenburg. The “fashionable” clothes that you mentioned, which seemed to be big-brand clothing styles, is very much worn in Berlin but it depends on what district you live in. If you walk around Ku’damm you will find more people wearing the fashionable clothes that you compared Berlin to Hamburg with. You can also relate that to the clubbing scenery as clubs around Ku’damm are more expensive and represent a very different party atmosphere than clubs on the east side around Frankfurter Tor or Ostkreuz. In these eastern places the clothing style is not the brand-style that you mentioned but rather the second hand. Great point by you! In my opinion Mitte satisfies both styles.
Similarly, I would like to mention that the difference in opinions is what makes the diversity between Berlin’s citizens so great. You simply cannot talk bad about the difference in opinions but talk good about its diversity. I believe that the high difference in opinions is only beneficial as Berlin is setting an example of internationalism as well as freedom of belief and speech. For example, there is no other city in Germany that has that many demonstrations for the better. Sustainability and innovation is also more present than in other German cities.
With regards to the BVG, I completely agree; however, it could be much worse. Although it’s a bad example, I want to relate it to my experience in Austria where I worked as a ski instructor for a few months. Buses often came once every 50 minutes, whereas in Berlin a 5-20 minute gap between buses is not the worst. Nevertheless, I hate the BVG system.
Overall, I believe Berlin is a city where not only cities in Germany but also in Europe can look up to. If you do not like Berlin due to personal reasons then I believe your opinion will change the more you adapt to the Berlin life.
I subscribed to your channel and hope to see a video about reason to move to Berlin or why Germans/Europeans love this city. :)
Berlin is not Fashionable dude.
90% of people dress like shit "comfy" clothes. It's just bad.
@@Hugo-zk6vu that depends on where you are in Berlin.
@@BalthasarvD Nope. When you say "Paris is fashionable" or "London is rich" you mean in general, not just in some areas.
it's kinda like "french people hate paris" it's not really a hate-hate, just a lot of complaining haha
No it’s really hate hate because Paris brings money/is a win for the whole country and actually contributes something to Frances economy while Berlin is dirty, ugly and would definitely be a failed state if it was independent. Fun fact: Germany’s whole GDP would be 4% higher without Berlin.
Just like in the United Kingdom, or France (where Only those living in the small cities, and the town & country are constantly/relentlessly Bashing London/Paris, as "their minds" Are Matching the places where they live), Germany Is No Different when it comes to the Divide between the large cities (And The Sections Of The Society that they represent), And the small cities/town & country (Stuck in ethnic/national identity, and a past that's Long Since it had entered the history books)!!
what is shocking is how people in Berlin says "we are open minded and tolerant" and at the same time " if you are not like us we don't want you here " ROFL
That´s exactly the mind set of the red rats ruling Berlin.
The other day a older lady (neighbor) said to me „you are not from here right? If you were, I would have punched you in the face!“ I was like wtf
@@othnaley18 What have you done to the older lady?
It's pretty much the same with most capitals/big cities. Americans like to hate on NYC. Brits like to hate on London. Russians like to hate on Moscow. etc
That's true, but the difference is that the kind of conventionalized animosity you describe is often an expression of something of an inferiority complex, the less educated/wealthy/etc. others versus an intellectual/snobbish/rich/... capitol that's usually a great contributor to a country's wealth or esteem. The peculiarity about Berlin is that it's seen as a dirty, dysfunctional, pisspoor drag on the rest of its nation, and the fact that the GDP per capita would rise if Germany got rid of Berlin tells you all you really need to know.
@@lpcaiser same could be said about NYC and Paris. There are super dirty and run down.
Not sure about GDP but Berlin is the biggest city in EU so that is a factor. Also because it's a capital and a big city there are a lot of poor people. Also, you have to remember its past. It's only been 30 years. Berlin is contributing more and more to Germany. It's basically the tech startup capital of Europe. Most German tech startups are in Berlin. They pay a lot of taxes and since London is out it will attract more tech people from around the world.
As a Murican who's Lived in NYC - and loved it - I'm guessing there are some parallels between NYC and Berlin. As in, I'm guessing that Berlin has plenty of hipsters, great restaurants, culture, museums, a cool music scene , artists galore, ETC. Am I close?!
@@charlies.5777 yes i've been to NYC multiple times. It has a similar vibe. Berlin is kinda like NYC of Europe. Super diverse with lots of immigrants/expats from all over the world. I love that most people speak English as well. But do prefer NYC though and would like to live there.
@@nicktankard1244 I agree about the cleanliness thing, but I think you'll in turn agree that there's also a prestige to living in Paris or London, cities which outshine most if not all other places in their nations. And Berlin is all the (depending on your perspective) negative things I named to a degree that's above average even for large German cities. Both Munich and Hamburg are much cleaner even though they're also 1M+, and both cities economically outperform Berlin in relation to their population. And in addition to all that, Berlin is notoriously by far the greatest receiver of money from other states within the states' Equalization Payments framework.
Canadian Here.. If I had to move to Germany from Canada I would love to move to "Hamburg" not Berlin..
You‘re welcome in Hamburg:
ruclips.net/video/8xT3QzIBgYg/видео.html
@@ruhri0411 Thank you very much..
@@mgtowp.l.7756 To be honest, these riots were an exception because of the G20 summit in Hamburg.
Thousands of anti-globalisation activists from all over Europe gathered there. Normally, Hamburg is a peaceful city. Apart from the traditional left-wing demonstrations on May Day, when things can get pretty heated.
I would love to live in both cities, Hamburg is great because of the countless waterways and the proximity to the coast, Berlin also has so much to offer!
In Munich they are all stuck-up and posh, I wouldn't want to live there!
The German government is hosting the G7 summit again in 2022, the current chancellor Scholz was mayor in Hamburg at the time of the G20 riots, he as chancellor and host of the next big summit doesn't want to risk anything this time and invites his international guests to the very conservative Bavaria and there to the Alps. These activists will not be able to penetrate that far LOL.
@@ruhri0411 Thank you very much for that info..
2:50 so basically any Bavarian?
Basically u just described every nordic capital. I've spent a while in Copenaghen, it's basically the same
Berlin is different. To the rest of germany. One of my first experiences in Berlin: 2002 Loveparade. One of my friends I went with had acolleague who was from Berlin. The Colleague said "yeah bring your stuff and you can refresh". We went there dropped our stuff and then it was up for partying. Next morning around 10:00 we got back to the colleagues apartment. They were already awake and told us to get up there. So we got. Next thing we saw were 6-7 people in various states of undress, heavy on the undress. Was a little shock.
Actually, in most countries, the capital or main metropolis is hated. E.g. British people love to hate London and the Londoners. (West)-Germany didn't have a real capital for 40 years and especially West-Germans have problems adjusting to the fact that there is now one city much larger and important as any other.
Whilst I do understand many criticisms, like the general rudeness, the shabbiness etc., I do think that it comes down to personal preferences: If you like big cities, you're going to fit in after the appropriate adjustment time, if you prefer neat, clean and quiet surroundings, probably you won't enjoy it too much - despite Berlin having a lot of such neighbourhoods (I grew up in one of them and it's still like this).
Greetings from Switzerland - I needed time to adjust to the totally opposite lifestyle, too.
you can not compare that. Germany is a federation where life, culture, business, innovation, wealth etc. is happening decentralized. Berlin is not a big influencer and driver in those things at all and thus not representable for the german federation. This is difficult to understand for many foreigners/tourist who think if they visit the capital of a country they will be in the cultural hub.
Moreover, germany is mentally still ruled by a western/south german spirit. The politics moved to berlin but the mindset did not.
The rudeness of the Berliners is mostly just on the surface though. People in Berlin appear to be pissed 24/7, at least that's what the look on their face makes you think.
But frankly, I've had some of the most heart-warming experiences with complete strangers in Berlin, for instance the MediaMarkt cashier who offered to give my a ride home in her car when I mentioned I'd be carrying the newly-bought microwave oven over to the subway station.
I lived in Southern Germany for about ten years, and I made a lot of friends there, but never ever did anything like the "MediaMarkt incidence" happen to me there. I find that Berliners actually often go out of their way to help others, although with a grim look.
Not gonna argue about the shabbiness of at least some parts of the city though. ☺️
It’s not even closely comparable!!! For example: Paris brings money/is a win for the whole country and actually contributes something to Frances economy while Berlin is dirty, ugly and would definitely be a failed state if it was independent. Fun fact: Germany’s whole GDP would be 4% higher without Berlin.
As an American, it sounds like Berlin is similar to Venice Beach, CA. I lived in Santa Monica for several years, but spent a lot of time in Venice and we used to call it ‘ghetto by the sea’. Graffiti, artists, hippies, celebrities, homeless, etc.. it’s got it all and Never a dull moment. I can only imagine a German/ European version.
Comparing European and US cities may make little sense. But if I were to describe Berlin through American cities, it would be a mixture of Boston (urbanity), NYC-Williamsburg (hipster), Detroit (debt) and Las Vegas (land prices and party).
ah sorry that is way to much. Then tell me where is the beach in Berlin ?
I don't hate Berlin, I love it. Everytime I visit Berlin, I enjoy it a lot.
I only would hate to live there. ;)
Haha that’s what I mean.. to live here! 😊
I was once in Berlin. Hated it, hate to have to support it financially.
Go to Marzahn in the winter my secret tip
Depends on the quarter. You could find a place becaus the City is big.
Omg everything you've said about Berlin in this video has made Berlin seem even more rad to me :D
Haha all of those "negatives" sound like positives to me. I love the vibe in Portland, Seattle and the Netherlands so this sounds exactly like it to me.
I lived in Berlin for three years (Neukolln and Wedding). Berlin has a lot of creative people doing really interesting things, the museums are great, and the amount of history in the city is phenomenal. However, for me personally, this didn't make up for all the negatives. At the street level, Berlin is mostly just a bummer. Gloomy, dirty, cold, grubby, and gray are the first words that come to mind if I wanted to describe Berlin (and I've heard non-Berliner Germans say the same thing about Berlin). And yes, some of the street art is phenomenal. Some of the very best I've seen is in Berlin. But for every piece that took some real time, talent, and effort to create, there are 10,000 pointless tags assaulting your eyeballs wherever you look that took no time, talent, or effort to make (making tags largely only requires a paint pen or spray can, and a bunch of unjustified narcissism). And Berliners are generally cold and rude (I found the ethnic Turks and Lebanese to be a lot more warm and friendly than Berliners). And though this isn't Berlin-specific, but more generally about Germany, the food is incredibly meh, and the beer is overrated too (yes, I just said that). The only thing on her list that I actually liked about Berlin is its lack of fashion sense (since I not only don't care about fashion at all, I hate all the temporary fashion trends, it was nice to be around people who also didn't seem to care about it). It is an interesting place to visit, but living there, in my experience, just generally... sucks.
Sry u lost all credibillity when u shat on food and beer
@@miceatah9359 Ha right. German food? I'll just mention Mexican, Italian, Thai, and Indian foods. What else is there to say? As for the beer, the beer there that's good is good, but on the whole, beer in Germany is overrated. I'm from Colorado, which has an incredible beer culture. Colorado's beer is *easily* a match for Germany's, and is also just more interesting since people who claim to care about beer in Colorado don't spend 90% of their time drinking garbage macro pils unlike Germans at .90€/500ml (or Radler... or mix it with banana juice or cola at the bar... what a horrible idea). Go into any Späti in Berlin, and if you're lucky you *might* find a Schofferhofer Weizen, or perhaps a crappy Köstritzer Schwarz, but other than that it's just going to be hundreds and hundreds of crappy macro Pils that all taste identical. I don't even know why they bother to put labels on them. German beer culture? It simply does not live up to it's reputation. I went across the border to Poland on a trip, and Poland's breweries are just as good as Germany's, and Poles aren't afraid of a pale ale, stout, or IPA. Germany has become irrelevant by sticking to it's beer purity laws. And now I'm living in Japan, and they're totally catching up to Germany as well, and the craft beer scene here is more interesting than Germany's. Stone Brewing (from California) tried brewing in Berlin and couldn't make it work because most Germans like drinking crappy cheap pils. Stone wrote a blog post when they announced they were pulling out of Berlin: "STONE BREWING BERLIN: TOO BIG, TOO BOLD, TOO SOON". That pretty much says it all. For more info, look for the documentary: "The Beer Jesus from America". German beer is totally overrated. Boom.
Bing bong your opinion is wrong
@@morgothbauglir5186, An opinion based on personal preference and tastes is "wrong"? For example, I prefer hot coffee to iced coffee. I like hot coffee more. Am I "wrong"? If you like iced coffee better, are you "right"? Obviously neither is right nor wrong. So, no, I am not wrong. If people prefer bland food and cheap pissy beer, then Germany is the place for them, and I'm happy for them. They're where they need to be. Besides, telling someone they're "wrong" with no explanation as to why you think so? At least I try to support my claims with an argument.
@@skreeeboy my guy, with all due respect, but isn't beer from the USA known for tasting like water? Germans are renowned for their beer world wide, surely you can't deny that the rest of us seem to think it's good. Perhaps it's the beer in Berlin, could that be a thing? I have tasted beer from Stuttgart and other places and thought it was quite lovely to be honest.
If you'd like to try something a bit different I'd recommend Belgium as they have endless variations when it comes to beer.
You easily could have named this Video "WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE TO BERLIN"!
And I say that as an "Hamburger", so good job Diana!
IKW 62 Hamburg isn’t soo different
As a Berliner, I must say Hamburg is a _very_ beautiful city. Places like HafenCity, Speicherstadt and the Elbufer are extremely eye-pleasing. ;-)
Just because a city is as shabby as some of its citizens are rude doesn't necessarily mean, we hate the city. I liked visiting Berlin. Okay, once was enough, but I don't hate it. I'll just stay away. =;-)
9:10 ... seems like your mind is pretty closed yourself. Berlin is the way it is bceuse we don't let people tell us what we can't do!
I am from South Africa and I am sorry to say that Berlin is crap. Probably the only City that I have traveled to that I will NOT be visiting ever again in this lifetime 🫰🏻
As an American/Canadian who have been and lived in all 3 countries. Berlin gets the same hate that Toronto, NYC and LA get in their own respective country and region of their country. It’s a multicultural city in an area that is mainly homogeneous. Naturally the rural cities will have hate. I’m sure the cities around Hamburg and Munich (I have not lived there) have the same hate for the same for them being their respective major hub. Politically and socially the the major cities are different form the rest of the respective country/region.
Berlin isn't Germany is a common universal complaint. You hear it everywhere like Toronto isn't Canada, Tokyo isn't Japan, Paris isn't France, NYC isn't USA and London isnt UK.
Actually, many Americans don't consider Florida to be USA . Nobody says that NYC isn't USA. Florida is like its own country and not in a good way.
@@SpringLeafWolf lol I live in Florida and its awesome here thanks ♥️ Were in the top 5 fastest growing states in the nation and real estate is booming in my city. Must not be that bad.
@@Arginne I was refering to the whole Florida man Florida woman thing, crime out of Florida regularly gets roasted, so slow down, yall still have high poverty, poor access to Healthcare etc. No state is perfect but Florida certainly ain't the best of the best. Should always be proud of where you're from tho so good for you.
Thanks for watching! I have a *Free Guide for you 🙂 -Here are Top 11 in-demand jobs in Germany: bit.ly/2GShmOC
Crime and violence rate in Berlin are pretty high, that is why I would not move there (street-robberies, a lot of drug dealers and gangs beating you up in the subway). Of course, here in Hamburg with 1,7 million inhabitants we also have bad quarters you better should not go to (Billstedt, Jenfeld, Wilhelmsburg etc), but altogether life is more peaceful and orderly here. Nevertheless, in the late evening/night I neither would use the subway in Hamburg any more... But spending some days and walking around in Berlin is nice. It was nearly 12 years ago since I was last in Berlin, sometime I go there again.
@@janpracht6662 - Billstedt and Jenfeld (in HH) are "places you should better not go" if you don't want to risk encountering "gangs" or "street robberies" or to be "beaten up"?? I've lived in Billstedt for almost ten years, and relatively recently, not some decades ago, Ive walked and driven through both of these neighborhoods every single day, day and night.
Your statement is an extreme dramatization and exaggeration in my experience! First of all it doesn't apply to the whole of these neighborhoods but only certain parts. There are areas in Billstedt and Jenfeld, that are perfectly "normal" workers class residential areas with none of these problems (ie not more than the average everywhere in Germany), like in and around my former place I've never seen or heard of any of this. And even the very few areas that are in fact rougher than the average German neighborhood, it's nothing compared to other countries like the US or even within Europe. What you described are still exceptions, with the risk of them occurring being a bit higher there than elsewhere, but still low. They're no no-go areas, that would be exaggerated.
This is at least my personal experience.
@@omayrasanchez2877 I have got a colleague, together with her husband and her 12 year old daugther she recently moved away from Billstedt (because she does not want her daughter to grow up in an enviroment of criminals and drug dealers. When the kid gets older, she easily can meet the wrong "friends" in this area). Every day police is visiting the neighbours, many alcoholics and aggressive people walk around there. Ask any policeman, In their files Billstedt is the most problematic "Sozialer Brennpunkt" in Hamburg. ruclips.net/video/Hg-c1YrJU7w/видео.html
Hey how can I send u my family 👪 🙂 😔 ☺ ❤ 😊 history story's of Berlin Germany 🇩🇪 and now
i think the other germans don't like Berlin because the goverment have there her headquarter.
In the last times with the rules of corona, the people don't understand no more her own Goverment ministers.
Being in Berlin feels like being in a crowd of 14 year-old kids.
Berlin is very different from Germany particularly Munich & Stuttgart
How is living in Stuttgart?
@@kimberlybjrc Stuttgart is a town with village feeling and with one of the highest living standards in Germany and Europe.
The mentality there is: "do it slow but right"
Moreover homeland of very ecofriendly non hipsterish people. Also the place where most of german technical inventions are originated.
@@hanszimmer9224 cool! Thanks for your description
Munich and Stuttgart are very different from Hamburg, Köln, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Düsseldorf........ Does that mean all people living in those cities have to hate Munich and Stuttgart? ;-)
I‘m a born Berliner and lived half of my life in Munich. Berlin and Munich have a lot in common, the public transport system, a lot of culture, a good nightlife, many festivals, the universities, a big startup scene. Yet Berlin has more water surfaces within city limits and is greener, while Munich is more dense and quite overcrowded.
I wast waiting all video long for you to talk about the tax system, this is sth I'm very curious about. I'm wondering how the city is for entrepreneurial endeavors, how's the tech scene, how's the theater scene. Maybe for next video! 😊😉🥰
What bothers me about Berlin is that when you walk over manhole covers, you get the impression that someone has left the door to hell wide open down below, it stinks of crap. The BWB has its difficulties there, although there is so much water in and around Berlin.
I have never experienced that and I have lived in Berlin my entire life.
@@andreasvogler1875 Besonders schlimm um den Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten herum.
@@steeler54combathamster52 Naja, das ist generell nicht unbedingt die sauberste Ecke aber selbst dort habe ich noch keinen stinkenden Kanalisationsdeckel bemerkt. Nach meiner Erfahrung stinkt es hauptsächlich dort, wo Partygänger und Obdachlose wild dem Ruf der Natur folgen.
@@andreasvogler1875 Ich wohne zwar nicht in Berlin, aber bin seit 2007 jedes Jahr mit meinem Bruder 1-2x da. Wir machen stets unsere Witzchen über den 'Status'...hat sich nix geändert...stinkt immer noch...
As a neutral european from Norway i love Berlin, but i also have friends that prefer cities like London or Barcelona for a weekend getaway. I love the «crazyness», off Berlin snd that it is not snobbish and up tight. . Me and my friends are going next week. Can’t wait 😎
First ☝️
Living in Berlin isn’t a good idea if your new to the country & it’s too expensive to live in apartment or own a residence, but it is nice to visit provided you have enough salary to cover the expenses and have safety net to fall back into just to be financially safe....
Thanks for sharing your perspective 😊
Hamburg, Frankfurt and München are more expensive for living in an apartment. For us is Berlin cheap. I have here all what Berlin have, smaller but nicer and the houses are higher
@@Oldmarty how affordable are the apartments of Berlin, what else can it offer what about the food and other expenses like clothes, gears, electronics & paying the rent including medicines & stuffs for gifts & job prospects...
Berlin is not cheap sure but also it has a lot of jobs and opportunities. Other major German cities are often more expensive and have fewer jobs. Sure there are a lot of cheap cities but as a new person in Germany it will be hard to find a job or even move to Germany in the first place. I might consider to live in some other cheaper city but there is no way i can find a job like i have here in Berlin. Also language. You can get by with only English in Berlin. Not so much in the rest of Germany.
And to be honest it's not THAT expensive and salaries are pretty good.
@@nicktankard1244 hmm interesting Berlin could the only capital city affordable for beginners and immigrants like myself firstly I’ll go there as a tourist because I want to experience traveling then planning again to go back there with a working visa, which are the 2 would you recommend it?
I couldn't disagree more about the fashion statement. On the contrary, Berliners are very mindful about their appearances. It is a fit in culture, where everyone should look the same, wearing black, appearing edgy, hipster, don't care about you attitude.
Not really a big fan of it but accept everyone as they are which is the biggest positive about Berlin, you don't judge, live and let live.
Wow, Berlin is a city just made for me
😊😊
Historically, Germany didn't unify the first time until the 1880s, so it was never as central to Germany as London is to the UK or Paris to France. Then for the first 40 years of the Bundesrepublik it was the capital of the Cold War and of tremendous global geopolitical importance, but to the German economy Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich were far more important than the rump half-a-city a hundred miles behind the Iron Curtain.
East Germany styled their half "Berlin, Hauptstadt (Capital) der DDR" but it too was half a city and the wall they built was not just ugly but a resource suck which was a big part of why East German consumer goods stagnated to the point they were un-exportable by the '70s and a sad joke by 1989.
This seems to be a very charming place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!
I think that the thing with Berlin being different from the rest of Germany is something that happens with many major cities compared to the rest of their countries, it’s like that city has its own subculture and vibes, for example NYC compared to the US or Bogota and the rest of Colombia. I think is a cool thing
As a visitor to Berlin (10th time) as well as Munich & Cologne, I think you are very wrong. My friend has lived in Cologne for 25 years and would love to live to Berlin. Is this your idea of clickbait?
Im planning on moving there , my girlfriend told her parents ( they are from Freiburg) and her Mother almost had a stroke.
As far as you described it, sounds like my DREAM place 🙌🏽
😊😊 it’s not perfect but it is a great place!
I am living in a suburb of Berlin and work in Berlin. ... Common saying (from a lot of Germans) about Berlin is: "Berlin may be capital city of Germany, but it´s not a german city at all!"
Which suburb of Berlin is not German at all?
@@IlluminatedDisplays Visit Neukölln with streets like Hermannstrasse and Sonnenallee and you will understand.
@@aepfelchenapfelbaum9536 Most West German cities have their own Neukölln.
Komisch, warum sind immer alle Kommentare nur auf englisch?
Superinteressantes Video und ein tolles Plädoyer für unsere Hauptstadt!
Freut mich, dass es dir dort so gut gefällt. Du hast das Lebensgefühl sehr gut beschrieben.
Als Westfälin habe ich früher Berlin nur 1x auf einer Klassenfahrt kennen gelernt. Doch seit der Wiedervereinigung habe ich Berlin regelmäßig besucht, war auf Kongressen, auf Kirchentagen oder zu priv. Treffen mit viel Kultur und Sightseeing. Ich habe dort einzigartige Gadtfreundschaft erlebt. Und es war immer superspannend, die jährlichen Veränderungen mitzuerleben. Ich erinnere mich noch, wie der Potsdamer Platz eine Großbaustelle hinter Bauzäunen war und die Ubahn dort endete und man erst ans Tageslicht zurück musste, um in die Anschlussbahn einsteigen zu können. Und wie billig damals alles war, eine der preiswertesten europäischen Metropolen. Schade, dass sich das inzwischen wohl rapide wandelt, ich war jetzt 3 Jahre nicht mehr dort.
Dass jemand Berlin hasst und die Stadt kritisiert, habe ich persönlich noch NIE erlebt!
Berlin hat eine einzigartige Geschichte und deshalb sicher auch ein ganz besonderes Flair. Ich hoffe bald mal wieder hinfahren zu können.
Als größte deutsche Stadt hat es trotzdem keine Skyline, sondern viel Fläche und viel Natur und Seen. Gott sei Dank! Ich könnte niemals in einer Megacity leben, die gibt es zum Glück mehrheitlich außerhalb Europas. Ich bin froh, dass unsere Städte vergleichsweise überschaubar sind.
Und ich liebe die Graffitti!
Und fast alles, was du von Berlins Besonderheiten beschrieben hast, macht die Stadt erst richtig liebenswert.
Hast du viele Abonnenten, die sich für Deutschland interessieren, aber gar kein Deutsch verstehen? Ich kann notfalls auch englisch kommentieren, aber sah bisher keinen Sinn darin. .....
Thank you very much Diana! Quick question, I’m a professional in USA in my 40’s . Do you think I have chances to move to Berlin and obtain a job with an A2 German level and my age?
Hi Chistian,
Germany on the whole has a huge demand for skilled workers in general. Whether you find a job in Berlin depends largely on your trade, because not all fields are well established here. If A2 is proficient enough will also depend on your field, but should definitely be enough to feel out the market. We are an immigration country, and not being perfectly fluent in German is often not a big problem. In fact, depending on your Job, being a native English speaker might work in your favor. Your age should not be a problem at all! If you have matching work experience, you can get very good jobs. I just switched jobs (I'm in my late 30's) into an adjacent, but not the same field: Got the job within two days after application and have a very good salary. I would suggest, you just apply if you really want to move here and feel things out. You can mention a possible starting date in your application letter, so you would have enough time moving here and get things settled if you get a job. Most interviews are held online nowadays anyway.
Just one thing you need to consider, when checking salaries: The ratio of gross to net salary in Germany is very different to the US: Usually salary is negotiated as gross (because rates for net are very different between people depending on having kids, being married and such), so this will not be what you get at the end of the month. Depending on your salary level, you should deduct around 40% (as a rule of thumb) from your gross, to get net (taxes and social security are deducted directly from your salary, so you get only what you can keep). The plus is, that you have full health coverage and state-pension, it's already included in the deduction (although I'm not exactly sure how the pension works if you don't become a European citizen).
That was a bit of a long answer, but I hope I could help you :)
Have a nice day (and good luck, should you chose to apply here!)
The problem of Berlin is to find a well paid job, because Berlin has not many companies. Berlin is "just" the capital city, has clubs and nightlife and art galleries. Okay, some other companies are there, too, for example startup companies, because they need cheap, young people ;-) But, for example, if you are are working in the financial business the chances to find a job in Frankfurt are much much higher than in Berlin, because Frankfurt is the financial place in Germany. Cologne is more in media business, Düsseldorf is more communication, business consulting and fashion, Munich & Stuttgart are more in technology and car industry, etc. Berlin is not for Germany what is London for England or Paris for France, the big center point, the capital city that dominates everything.
Berlin ist easy to love in summer, but in winter it´s perhaps a different story.....Many Germans from other regions often are fascinated by Berlin but he most wouldn´t like to live there.
Born and raised in Berlin, moved to Stuttgart 15 years ago. I find it hilarious how the locals, who literally have a saying "if I say nothing (bad) that is praise enough" somehow believe that Berliners are rude.
Coming from South Germany ,what I hated there, was this extreme cleanliness and all the white houses. On the other side Berlin seems to be a bit too dirty sometimes, but I think thats normal for such a big city.
From one extreme to another 😅😅
The problem with graffiti in Berlin is that at least 80% of it is just stupid tagging. It looks pretty ugly most of the time. They tag everything shops, historic buildings, public information stands etc.
I admit, it’s annoying. I hate the tagging too!
Nothing against creative graffiti on an ugly concrete wall, but the vandalizing of beautifully renovated historic buildings is a sacrilege.
From october 2022 to march 2023, I travelled across Europe and visited 42 cities. Among them all, Berlin was like 40th place in my personal ranking. When people are ice cold + arrogant, I magically stop caring about how great the party scene is, how much the city offers etc. What makes Berlin a great city for most people is the diversity. At least. This helps the city with not becoming literally a 80s model fridge.
Actually it’s January 2023… so something is not ok with your comment…
Great video. Thanks a lot for that and I loveee Berlin.
Lots of non-Londoners hate London, its common for people that don't live in the capital to dislike it same with Parisians
Also, don't move to Berlin unless you're prepared to spend at least 6 months looking for a place to live.
Berlin sounds like the perfect place for me 😍 but I'd love to move somewhere a bit out of the city, maybe 30 mins drive out, are there suburbs or something around Berlin where I can just catch a train to get in and out of the city for a night or day out?
You don't need to go that far out. The outskirts of Berlin are much quieter, cheaper and greener yet you still have everything you need close by and a 20 minutes train ride gets you into the city.
@@andreasvogler1875 ooh awesome! Are there like suburb names for those kind of areas or is it all just called Berlin? (I'm from Australia and in Melbourne we have inner city suburbs then outer suburbs etc.)
@@kimdersurprise en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boroughs_and_neighborhoods_of_Berlin
@@andreasvogler1875 Ooh interesting thank you. Do you know which areas would have full houses with backyards etc? When I look online it seems to be all apartments..
@@kimdersurprise You can find that in every borough except Mitte. Although your chances to find such houses increase the farther away from the center you are.
I heard Canadians "hating" Toronto, Spainards hating Madrid, French hating Paris etc
This sounds like all the reasons to forget moving to any other place but Berlin. Time to move in🚶🏾♂️
I love Berlin. I have visited the city twice and I just love the vibe there. I really enjoy it's roughness, the graffitti, the open-minded athmosphere. I've visited other German cities as well but I haven't enjoyed those as much as I enjoy Berlin. 😌🙌🏼
Me too especially of open minded everyone so open and warm excited full of love fashionable not like other cities in Germany
Berlin is a underclass shithole, where you have lots of people from Russia or the Middle East and Germans, who where heavily fucked up. It's not as bad as Sofia or Moscow, but it's clearly visible, that it won't survive any longer without real improvements and resettlement of it's many criminals and problematic people. Graffiti in Germany always had a more free-sprited approach, in Berlin it's just crazy and lacking any style and is just destructive. And Berlin is completely close-minded, besides some small parts of the Western part. Especially also the tourists coming in, most of them are not open minded. So you don't have a feeling being in a capital with historic might, but more on a peasant farm in a big size.
You absolutely right, I spend a lot of time in Berlin, and I‘m in love with this city since I can thought.
But i have to visit Amsterdam& Utrecht, it’s like the Netherlands is whole country of „Berliners“
but you are talking as a visitor. The titles says "don't MOVE to Berlin". Thats something different. I could go into a Brasilian favela, find it fascinating and fly back home. But certainly i would not move there.
@@schadelharry4048 Berlin is not as bad as Moscow? wtf. Moscow is way wealthier than Berlin
I am connected with Berlin since 1998. I know Berlin. I have lived in Berlin for many years. And I sincerely don't like it. Berlin, and please excuse this horrible analogy, is like a raped woman. And Berlin was indeed raped. Several times. Such a woman will never ever be the same. She will suffer under this horrible deeds till the end of her life. Berlin was raped by the Nazis, some years later by the communists. Berlin witnessed the rise of National Socialism, it witnessed the horrible persecution of jews. It witnessed hundreds and thousands of crimes that were committed in the streets of Charlottenburg, Spandau and Köpenick in the name of a bizarre Ideology. It witnessed its own complete destruction (have any of you the slightest idea how Berlin looked like in June 1945???), rape and murder committed by the Soviets. People nailed to the doors of garages etc. After that Berlin was devided by an idiotic wall. People trying to flee their part of the city in order to get away from another bizarre ideology, called communism, were shot to death from towers close by. This division went on till 1990. 40 years of communism change the people. If you have lived in Vietnam, you will recognize the difference between the people in the north and in the south. Some of them, and that counts for Berliners swell, are rude because they did not learn the gentle and civilized distance between humans. Communism teaches: we are all equal. Therefore they treat others as disrespectful, as they treat themselves. Fun fact: they sell it as "being direct". LOL Can you imagine, that in the early 20th century Berlin was said to be among the most beautiful cities of Europe? Right up there with giants like Paris and Rome? It's sad. I don't hate Berlin. I pity it.
I live in Berlin since 1986 in the east part. In the early 90s Berlin was a special place (in a goody way). So many little clubs, bars and communes with artists and other creative people. At that time i lived in Prenzlauer Berg (east part). It was an amazing time. But that time is long gone. Since the early 2000s all that stuff, that makes living there special faded away. It became more smooth with shopping miles and condominium. So the creative people, which aren`t rich move away. These people (artists, free minded, and other) were the part of Berlin, which made Berlin interesting (in my eyes). Other parts of Berlin have other problems, like crime from arabic clans, drugs and so on. If you are on a short trip, maybe these points i have written don`t come to your mind, but if you are living in Berlin for more than 30 years, you will notice these changes. Now Berlin is a lifeless shithole full of shopping miles.
Very informative. I was there two decades ago and didn't get those impressions but I guess things have changed a lot.
If you really think, Berlin doesn’t have the money for positive changes, you‘ve never heard of Länderfinanzausgleich…
The same happend in almost capitals of Europe; Not hate, but there living the politians...etc! Lisbon, Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Warsaw, London, etc
I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE 5 CITIES IN GERMANY 1. MAINZ 2. KASSEL 3. MUNCHEN 4. PASSAU 5. AUGSBURG
I was expecting something horrible, this is actually nice. I like cleanliness and orderliness, but I come from a place that is probably worse than Berlin so it would be okay.
Berlin used to be cheap for a Metropole but that changed unfortunately. One good point is this City is tolerant. Chilled. Like Most of Germany is narrowminded.
@@susannabonke8552 It changed? :o I just recently started to look into the finance part, as I started to apply, but it looks like it is still cheaper than other big cities in Germany.
@@Lumors Wish you luck. Compared to Munich it May be cheaper, but the income is less also. But I like the chilled atmoshere.
I am living in Berlin and I love it. I spend a year on the countryside and I just wanted to go back home. Every corner is different and you just have to find the Right one for you! I love the thrift shops and vegan restaurants!
I wish we could live together in a constructive manner. Take the best of every culture and appreciate the comfort we still have in this city. Poverty is taking over, desperation makes people open for radical opinions. We had this one before and we all know where this ended. We must find a different way.
"Other Germans hate Berlin" well that is ok, Berlin hates the rest of germany, so i think it works just fine XD
Also you cant realy compare berlin with the other german citys, compared to berlin the other citys are villages so of course they are cleaner, bigger citys tend to be less clean....
Berliners are not rude, they are honest: if they dont like you you will know it, we are only rude to our friends, that is our love XD
I have to agree. I was shocked how tiny cities are when I came to other places in Germany. Berlin is not even a big town at all if you compare to other capitals.
It’s not even true that Germans don’t like Berlin
@@emma0268 Thank you!! "Ich bin ein Berliner", and I couldn't live anywhere else ❤️
I never was in Berlin, and i dont know a single person "hating" Berlin. Dont know what this is about. "Hate" is a strong word... I'm sure most people who dont "like" Berlin would never use the word "hate".
She’s not talking about foreign tourists, she’s talking about Germans and there is definitely a strong disliking of Berlin as it is a huge burden to Germanys economy.
@@linajurgensen4698 Could you please do following: read -> think -> comment. In that exact order.
Its kind of important that you understand first before you make such comments. Thanks ☺👍
Rough around the edges just like the 2 Berliners who invaded my home, strangled me for one od the two and for one to smile with his sunnies on when I was struggling to recover and essentially took my money away.
it doesn't matter whether others hate Berlin. As long as you feel comfortable and happy here, everything is fine. It's nice that people like you make our city so unique :-)
Well, I don't like the generelization in the statement "all germans (exept those who were born/raised there or moved there by choice) hate Berlin".
It's true, that Berlin is definitely less popular than other ones (like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, etc.) by non-Berliners but the word "hate" feels wrong when it comes to the emotions for it.
It's always a question of whom to ask about it. Ask X people and you get way more diffent views and answers.
It's certainly not less popular than Munich. Is that even possible? 😆
great video thank you! I`m moving there
I love Berlin. But that´s maybe because I am a Berliner who is still living here. But I know from own experience that the city has a dark side. I was twice victim of criminality and a friend of mine was beaten up twice in my neighbourhood and there is a warning sign in my street that many crimes have taken place in it. And that´s in Schöneberg, a district which is considered to be among the rather harmless Berlin districts.
The home city of the old German Capital with a host of its own palaces and castles, I would definitely like to move to such a historic city.
I know a lot of people don't like the Kaiser but its not like Imperial Germany is around anymore, history is rich in these places!
There are no Castles in Berlin. Just alot of palaces and a few forts from the 17th and 18th century. No castles though. I wished we had a castle.
Tell me you’ve never been to Berlin without telling me: there is not a single palace or castle in Berlin (in what world do you live in?) the whole city got bombed to ashes in WW2. The only thing you’ll find there is ugly communist buildings and a bad taste in fashion.
As a German from Munich I never particularly warmed to Berlin...don´t like most of the architecture and it seems very messy compared to Munich. It´s more liberal and alternative though...so it depens what you´re looking for.
I'm from the Ruhrgebiet and even in my eyes Berlin is pretty fu--ed up in many areas. A friend moved to Augsburg a few years back (due to the insane rent in Munich proper), best decision he could have made for him and his family. Plus, mountains and lakes are basically around the corner.
@@Mediaevalist Augsburg is beautiful but I hear rents are rising too, due to its vicinity to Munich.
I love Berlin, I visited 4 years ago and I am in the process of searching where to move. I would move there in a heartbeat, everything that you mentioned are the reasons why I would move to Berlin. It reminds me of home here in Washington, DC.
Berlin is Beirut 😂
Warum hängt der Putzlappen für die Klos an der Wand?
Oh by the way, as an expat your gonna meet different people anywhere you go! By definition. This has nothing to do with Berlin
The mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, said about Berlin in 2018: "Wenn ich dort ankomme, denke ich immer: ‚Vorsicht, Sie verlassen den funktionierenden Teil Deutschlands.‘“" (When I arrive there I always think "Careful, you're leaving the functioning part of Germany".) That's how a lot of people in Baden-Württemberg feel. That plus the fact that Berlin is a real money pit and sucking the money right out of Germany's South to just burn it (the money I mean).
It’s really not true that all Germans outside of Berlin hate Berlin. I never met anyone in neither Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt nor Cologne that told me that they hate Berlin. Berlin is very different and many people of other German cities might say that they wouldn’t want to live in Berlin because of this and that, but except from very few people (like for example football hooligans) you wouldn’t here the sentence “I hate Berlin”.
Great video. A lot of it is also rivalry. The Hamburg - Berlin rivalry for example. People from smaller places find the big cities daunting.
This alleged rivalry only exists in the minds of some Hamburgers.
@@IlluminatedDisplays I'd second that. I am from Berlin but Hamburg is my favorite place to visit outside of my hometown. I think Hamburg is an amazing city, just a little too posh for my taste (although Berlin seems to try very hard to get there as well very fast).
I like your opinion.....awesome...😊
Stay safe and stay healthy 🙏🏻😊
Thanks a lot Joko!! 😀😀
@@DianaVerry ...you’re welcome 🙏🏻
Berlin is a major metropole. A city of roughly 4 million people . It is NOT Nurnberg or Munich. Berlin is busy, Berlin is chaos, Berlin is metal, punk, techno and jazz. Berlin is dirty, crowded, no BS city life. If you want Mayberry or twin peaks, don't come here. It's depressing, hilarious, and fascinating. What the heck do you expect when you go to one of the biggest and most important cities in Europe? Shangri-la? If you hate big city hustle and bustle stay away. If ya like it or want to feel it, it's a great learning experience.
I used to love Berlin. I hate what an incompetent bunch of Social Democrats, post -Communists and others made of it. The embarrassment of the BER airport is driving me nuts, and that's just part of it.