Berlin was before the fall of the wall maybe more an American Island trying to copying NY. After the unification it did become a strange mix of an attempt to be Cosmopolitan and the strife of Prussian marching. But concerning your note, Berlin is international - it is it - due its big variety of the cultural scene which you did not touch...great museums, a very interesting club cinema scene and finally world class theatres and music houses...

Good place for visit!

i would gladly to rate Berlin as a comfort city, looks safe and pretty good transportation arrangement with S-bahn and U-bahn. But, you need to prepare yourself better should you visit Berlin during Winter. It might fall down to minus 2 degree of Celsius when it's close to Christmas. There are a lot of place to visit. I like the representatives building where you can go to the glass roof top. Branderburger tor is also always a nice to view. Don't forget to take picture with bears along the city. Plenty of them have funny dresses.

Berlin is my most favorite and admired place in Germany, all those structures and story behind it fascinate me. In fact we go there every 1-2 years since you can never get bored seeing all those nice structures again and again.

During my short business trip to Berlin able to glimpse on the marvelous monument around Brandenburg gate and it was such and amazing experience