28 de maio de 2021
If you’ve been thinking about living in Berlin, you’re not alone. The city has always attracted a constant flow of migrants, for different reasons along the decades. Before the reunification, young German men flocked to West Berlin in order to dodge the draft. After the Wall fell in 1989, the unified Berlin started to look very desirable to the eyes of artists, punks and, more recently, startups.
Over 20% of the Berlin population come from somewhere else, which has been turning the German capital into a multicultural hotspot. Groups of immigrants like the Turkish and the Vietnamese have become part of the city’s fabric over time, while others have been leaving their imprint little by little, such as Koreans, Americans and even Brazilians. Until a decade ago, having services in languages other than German was unthinkable, but even that has been changing rapidly, in an effort to make Berlin a bit more friendly to the international audience. The availability of international products from other countries has suddently shot up, and it’s easier than ever to find authentic cuisines in restaurants and other outlets, brought by the new immigrants.
Berlin today has several different faces: from chic Kurfürstendamm and its wealth of brands and luxury cars, to wild Kreuzberg and its graffittied walls and lively nightlife. And let’s not forget the neighborhoods populated by young hipster couples or large families of diverse origins. And yes, lots of students.
As a large city formed over many centuries, Berlin doesn’t have a “downtown”. It’s composed by 12 districts (Bezirke), each with their own administration, divided in neighborhoods, and these, into smaller subdivisions (Kiez). The Ringbahn, a circular 37 km long train track that encapsulates the inner city, is what delimitates the closest to a “city center”. But that doesn’t mean the areas outside of the Ring are undesirable or devoid of attractions, quite the contrary. Actually, thanks to the mostlly flat land, lots of bicycle lanes and an extensive public transportation system, living in “the center” is quite unnecessary.
Berlin is also a very green city, in all senses. In terms of nature, it has an abundance of parks, squares, lakes and woods, most of them accessible by public transportation, which turns those areas into large open-air hotspots on sunny days. But it’s also green in the environmental sense, with sustainability-focused initiatives in all spheres of society, from ecological power suppliers to the recycling/reuse habits of the population.
You can say the quality of life in Berlin is quite high, considering its size and structure as a city, Living in Berlin can mean sharing a house or squeezing into a small apartment, cleaning up with no hired help, moving around on foot, on a bike or by public transportation, and leading a very simple life in general. In return, you will be able to enjoy life with more ease and free time, experience different ways of life and connect with the world in a way that only those who dare to step out of their comfort zone will ever know. Shall we?