Berlin is a dynamic and cosmopolitan city located in the centre of Europe offering a wide range of lifestyles, cultural events and entertainment. It is Germany's largest city with a population of 3.4 Mio and it offers many economic, scientific and academic opportunities as well as cultural events and entertainment. Berlin has four universities, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Universität der Künste and many other research institutes and attracts many young people from all over the world.

The federal state of Brandenburg has a population of 2.5 Mio. It surrounds Berlin and provides a pleasing complement to the greenery of the city with its beautiful country-side, idyllic towns and villages, castles and churches and its many tree lined rural roads. Potsdam is the capital of Brandenburg and has its own University. Potsdam is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. One of Potsdam's most popular attractions is the Sanssouci Park with its palaces and leisure grounds of the former Prussian Kings. 

Life

Compared to other capital cities, living costs in Berlin are moderate and affordable accommodation is easy to find. Berlin has a dynamic and very lively scene with lots of pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafés and plenty of leisure amenities whether you look for entertainment, sports, or enjoy being out in the open air. There are large areas of forests, nature reserves, country parks , lakes, rivers within the city boundaries. Berlin offers a truly metropolitan lifestyle, but with a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. The continental European climate is moderate with the average temperatures from 22°C to 24°C in summer and from -1°C to -4°C in winter.

For cultural entertainment there is a wide variety of theatres, operas, concerts , musicals, cabarets and cinemas to choose from. In February each year Berlin is the scene of the International Film Festival Berlinale , the city's largest cultural event and one of the most important dates of the international film industy. Over 175 museums covre nearly every aspect of about history, art, and science. Most visited are the Pergamon Museum with the pergamon altar; the Old National Gallery displaying a fine collection of 19th century paintings and sculptures and the German Museum for Technology showing the historical development in transport, communication, energy and production engineering. 

Further Information

The official websites for Berlin and Brandenburg provide plenty of information about tourism, politics, economy and services in Berlin. Discovering Berlin and Brandenburg is exciting and there are plenty of guided tours either by bus, car, bike, boat or on foot to choose from. The federal state of Brandenburg is also an ideal tourist desination for sight-seeing and other acitivties. Berlin's and Brandenburg's integrated public transport system is very efficient, user friendly and getting around and about in Berlin and Brandenburg is no problem at all. Students of the BSRT will receive a student travel pass which allows them to use the entire integrated public transport system in Berlin including Potsdam to fairly cheep conditions.