Religion

Christianity is the largest religion in Germany with 59,981,000 (73.14%) per end of 2006 adherents. The second largest religion is Islam with 3.3 million adherents (4%) followed by Buddhism and Judaism.


Christian

The city of Berlin is rich in the number and in the kind of churches it has to offer for Christians from other countries.

Christian Churches:
Gateway International Church
Gospel Believers Center
Intl. Triumphant Church of Christ
International Baptist Church
Open Door Mission Church e.V.
Oromo Christian Fellowship
Protestant Faith Fellowship (PFF)- Pentecostal Church of Berlin
…



Buddhist

Not only Tibetan Buddhism is represented here, but also Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Korean - with more or less westernised traditions, or actual Korean or Chinese Buddhist communities. All centres offer meditation sessions and talks, some also organise courses, weekend courses, and retreats.

Buddhist centres:
Buddhistisches Tor Berlin
Buddhistisches Zentrum Berlin
Das Buddhistische Haus
Dharmakaya, Schloss Sommerswalde
...



Islamic

It is a little known fact that Berlin had a small islamic community, with its own mosque before the First World War. Currently the islamic population of the city numbers some 200,000. A list of the location of 34 Berlin mosques is available from the Zentralrat der Muslime .



Jewish

Berlin was once one of the great Jewish cities of the world. The Jewish Community organization maintains five synagogues, most of them renovated buildings dating from before the 1930s.

Synagogues:
Pestalozzistrasse
Joachimstaler Strasse
Fraenkelufer
Herbartstrasse
...

Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle TV programmes

- Journal

- euromaxx

- People and Politics / Politik direkt

- Made in Germany

- European Journal / Europa Aktuell

- Bundesliga Kick off!

- drive it! / motor mobil

- popXport

- Discover Germany / Gute Reise TV

- KINO

- Arts.21 / Kultur.21

- Tomorrow Today / Projekt Zukunft

- Quadriga

- Capital Cities

- Documentaries on DW-TV

Music

Germans have played an overwhelming role in world music.

Many of the best classical musicians such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Handel, Brahms or Mahler were ethnically German.



PUNK
German punk has a long and diverse history. Important rock band like Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen originated from the underground punk scene in the 1980s.

HEAVY METAL
Heavy metal bands from Germany include Scorpions, Accept, Helloween, Blind Guardian and Rage.

ROCK
Neue Deutsche Härte is a style of rock music. It combines the common sound of metal with electronic samples and is mostly sung with German lyrics.


Germany has the largest electronic music scene in the world.
The band Kraftwerk was one of the first bands in the world to make music entirely on electronic equipment, and the band Tangerine Dream is often credited as being among the originators and primary influences of the "Berlin School" of electronic music, which would later influence trance music. Some other bands like Liaisons Dangereuses, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft and Die Krupps created a style later called Electronic body music.



FAMOUS MUSICS OF GERMANY

Carl Friedrich Zelter
Richard Strauss
Aribert Reiman
Arnold Schönber
Felix Mendelssohn Barthol
Albert Lortzin
Frederick Loewe
Paul Hindemit
Clara Schumann


SOCIAL ACTS

Sarah Barsamian - BBRAVO
Cheryl Duggan - Production of RUMORS at the 1870 Hall
Maryanne MacLeod - The Indians of Berlin
Tahanto Music Parents Organization - Quintessential Brass Enrichment Program
John Porcino - To Life! Celebrations of Life and Songs
Berlin Lions Club - Christmas in Berlin
Evelyn Dueck - Summer Community Band
Martin Miller - Shaping the Environment, Farming in Berlin
John Root - Senior Citizen Musical Program
Tahanto Music Parents Organization - Worcester Jazz Orchestra Workshop/Concert
1870 Town Hall - Youth Summer Band Woekshop
Art to Gogh - Wild About Art Workshop
Berlin Memorial School - Tales for Peace & Tall Tales and Whoppers
Nicole Reardon - Publishing Children’s Book
Tahanto Regional High School - Boston Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert Series
The Bolton Fair, Inc. - Kids Country
Berlin Memorial School - Worcester Art Museum
Berlin Public Library - Cooking with Katie
Berlin Art and Historical Society - National Registry Photo Documentation
Berlin Country Orchestra - Free Family Dance
Worcester County Horticultural Society - Five-Star Concert Series
Berlin Public Library - Science Quest
Calliope Productions, Inc. - 2008 Youth Theatre Program
Hudson Area Arts Alliance - River’s Edge Participant & Performance Program
Berlin Country Orchestra - Free Contra Dance

German Cinema.

Alhambra Berlin 1-7:
(Seestr. 94, Berlin, Tel.: 0180/505 03 11)

Das Lächeln der Sterne
15:15 17:30 20:00

Der Mondbär - Das gro&szl...
13:00 14:35 16:15

Eagle Eye - Außer Kontro...
13:00

Hellboy: Die Goldene Armee
15:00 17:30 20:00

High School Musical 3: Senior ...
12:45 15:10 17:40 20:15

House Bunny
15:15

James Bond 007: Ein Quantum Tr...
20:00

Kung Fu Panda
13:00

Leg dich nicht mit Zohan an
13:00

Mirrors
17:55 20:20

Super-Agent K9
17:20 (OmU)

Ulak - Der Bote
17:15 (OmU) 20:00 (OmU)

WALL·E - Der letzte r&a...
13:15 15:30 17:45 20:00

Winx Club: Das Geheimnis des V...
13:00 15:00

Sports

Hertha BSC Berlin

The club was formed in 1892 as BFC Hertha 92, taking its name from a steamship with a blue and white smokestack. One of the four young men who founded the club had taken a day trip on this ship with his father. The name Hertha is a variation on Nerthus referring to fertility goddess from Germanic mythology.

Hertha performed consistently well on the field, including a win in the first Berlin championship final in 1905. However, their on-field success was not matched financially and in 1920 Hertha merged with the well-heeled club Berliner Sport-Club to form Hertha Berliner Sport Club. The new team continued to enjoy considerable success, while also enduring a substantial measure of frustration. The team played its way to the German championship final in six consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1931, but were only able to come away with the title in 1930 and 1931 with BSC leaving to become an independent club again after the combined side's first championship. Even so, Hertha emerged as the Germany's second most successful team during the inter-war years.


ALBA BERLIN basketball team

The newly aligned team. On December 4, the longest game in the European: ALBA wins against Bosna Sarajevo, 141-127 after five overtimes, but does not manage to qualify later for the next round. In February ALBA manages to bring Immanuel McElroy and Aleksandar Nadjfeji from Cologne to Berlin. ALBA its eighth German Championship. ALBAs NBBL-Team becomes German youth champion runner-up.


Record of achievements
94/95 Korac Cup victory; runner-up in BBL
96/97 National champions; relocation to Max Schmeling ArenaDBB cup victoryTeam of the YearFirst German team to reach the European League play-offs
97/98 National champions Team of the Year
98/99 National champions; cup victoryTeam of the YearGolden Ribbon (oldest German athletics award)
99/00 National championsEuropean League play-offs
00/01 National championsTeam of the Year
01/02 National champions; cup victoryTeam of the Year
02/03 National championsCup victory
05/06 Cup victory
07/08 National champions







German Football Association



The German Football Federation (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund or DFB) is the governing body of football in Germany. The founding member of both FIFA and UEFA organises the German football leagues, including the national league, the Bundesliga and the men's and women's national teams. DFB is based in Frankfurt, it is divided into five regional federations with 21 regional organizations.


Sebastian Vettel


Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim) is a German race car driver. He is currently contracted to the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team alongside Sébastien Bourdais after replacing Scott Speed on July 31, 2007. He was previously the third (test and reserve) driver for the BMW Sauber Formula One team from the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix to the 2007 European Grand Prix.

Food

Currywurst

One thing that is typical and must not be missed in Berlin is the "Currywurst", a spicy sausage with curry flavoured tomato sauce and sold at fast food stations throughout the city.
The "Currywurst", this typical Berlin delicacy, was honoured in June 2003 with a memorial.



Bauernfrühstück

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
4 potatoes, cooked and finely diced
6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup milk


Directions:

In a frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Remove the bacon fat from the frying pan, add the butter and saute' the onion until soft. Add the potatoes and brown lightly. Beat the eggs lightly and add the salt, pepper and milk, and finally the chopped bacon. Pour the egg mixture over the onions and potatoes and stir occasionally until cooked.




Schwäbische Maultaschen



Schwäbische Maultaschen are dough pockets with a filling made from minced meat or vegetables. A particular feature is the use of spinach in the filling. They are rectangular or strudel shaped and are blanched or fried before being eaten. The weight of each individual pocket varies between 40 and 150 g. Maultaschen for soup are smaller and weight between 10 and 40 g.

Berlin

INTRODUCTION

Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the ninth most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area, comprising 5 million people from over 190 nations.Berlin is a major center in European culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector.


GEOGRAPHY

Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the border with Poland in an area with marshy terrain.Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. The highest elevations in Berlin are Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge. Both hills have an elevation of about 115 meters (377 ft). The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.


CLIMATE

Berlin has a temperate/mesothermal climate, according to the Köppen climate classification system. The mean annual temperature for Berlin-Dahlem is 9.4°C (48.9°F) and its mean annual precipitation totals 578 millimeters (22.8 inches). The warmest months are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 16.7 to 17.9 °C (62.1 to 64.2 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of −0.4 to 1.2 °C (31.3 to 34.2 °F).