Misplaced Pages

#951048

101-520: Deutsche Tiefbohr-Actiengesellschaft was founded in Berlin on 10 January 1899. In 1900 the headquarter was relocated to Nordhausen . The new company specialised in all types of mineral oil product and, among other things, raw lignite , briquettes for domestic heating and industry, lignite tar and paraffin . Its managing director was the Krefeld businessman Rudolf Nöllenburg. It first struck oil with

202-765: A 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL , a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured. In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany . Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at

303-501: A Slavic-derived name: Pankow , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Marzahn-Hellersdorf , Treptow-Köpenick , and Spandau . Of Berlin's ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke , Alt-Treptow , Britz , Buch , Buckow , Gatow , Karow , Kladow , Köpenick , Lankwitz , Lübars , Malchow , Marzahn , Pankow , Prenzlauer Berg , Rudow , Schmöckwitz , Spandau , Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow , Steglitz , Tegel and Zehlendorf . The earliest human settlements in

404-481: A camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin . The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After

505-691: A center of the Enlightenment , but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806 , but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg . The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during

606-782: A city district separate from Brandenburg. In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building . In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased

707-517: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, there

808-469: A far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first announced in 2018, whereby the international renewable generation portfolio of E.ON and Innogy were transferred to RWE. The company was founded in Essen in 1898, as Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk Aktiengesellschaft (Rhenish-Westphalian Power Plant) by Elektrizitäts-Actien-Gesellschaft vorm. W. Lahmeyer & Company (EAG) and others. The full name

909-683: A majority stake in the lignite company Braunkohlen- und Briketwerke Roddergrube AG. In 1923, it acquired its founder company EAG. Three years later, the company acquired a stake in Rheinische Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft (Rheinelektra) and became a shareholder in the newly established Ruhrgas gas company in exchange of its gas grid. In 1927, RWE and Prussia swapped their holdings in the Brunswick and Cologne coalfields and RWE became an owner of Braunkohlen-Industrie AG Zukunft. In 1932, RWE acquired

1010-649: A majority stake in the coal company Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft für Braunkohlenbergbau (Rheinbraun). In 1936, it acquired Niederrheinische Braunkohlenwerke AG, an operator of the Frimmersdorf Power Plant . On 1 May 1933, the executive board including Ernst Henke joined the NSDAP as a unified body. Since autumn 1943, the Essen state police had been investigating Wilhelm Ricken, RWE's technical director and designated general director, for "subversion of

1111-417: A microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement . Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and

SECTION 10

#1732787361952

1212-424: A monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture . Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania ; these were never implemented. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in

1313-540: A rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin , divided by the Berlin Wall . East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became

1414-443: A result of the assets swap with RAG AG , RWE gave away its stake in the power company STEAG . It received almost full control of the renewable energy company Harpen AG. The full control of Harpen was achieved in 2005. In 2003, RWE also achieved full control over Thyssengas. In the same year, it decided to divest its American coal company Consol Energy . In 2011, RWE unbundled its transmission system by selling its majority stake in

1515-482: A separate company named Innogy , which is listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange . The new entity combined RWE subsidiaries RWE Innogy, RWE Deutschland, RWE Effizienz, RWE Vertrieb and RWE Energiedienstleistungen. In March 2018, it was announced that E.ON will acquire Innogy in a complex €43 billion deal of assets swap with RWE. As a result, RWE will take a 16.7% stake in E.ON. Following

1616-413: A small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography , part of

1717-580: A source of important findings which supported the design and operation of commercial nuclear reactors. RWE's nuclear operations started in 1961, when RWE and Bayernwerk (now part of E.ON ) started to build the first German industrial nuclear reactor—the Kahl Nuclear Power Plant . In 1962, they started to build the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant. In 1965, at the request of the surrounding municipalities,

1818-538: A subsidiary of Thames Water. In 2006, RWE sold Thames Water to Kemble Water Limited, a consortium led by Macquarie Group . RWE previously owned American Water , the United States' largest investor-owned water utility, but this was divested in 2008. In 2002, RWE acquired the British electricity and gas utility company Innogy for £3 billion (US$ 4.3 billion). Innogy was subsequently renamed RWE npower plc. As

1919-546: A well of its own in 1901, in 1906 crude oil is officially declared the new main business. Since 1907 the companies headquarters were again moved to Berlin. In 1911, DTA and its subsidiary Vereinigte Norddeutsche Mineralölwerke AG were merged with Deutsche Mineralölindustrie AG to create Deutsche Erdoel-Actiengesellschaft (DEA) , based in Berlin. DEA had stakes in oil fields in Alsace , Austria-Hungary and Romania from 1905/1906, but lost most of its foreign production when

2020-617: A €2.6 billion compensation payment to RWE to phase out lignite in the Rhine region. No details of the deal, or its timing, have been released. RWE operates in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. The group is organized around four core areas: In addition to these core areas, there is a Coal/Nuclear segment. In the UK, RWE fully owns RWE Generation UK plc., which operates a number of natural gas and renewable energy power stations across

2121-472: Is Germany 's capital and largest city by area and by population . With over 3.85 million inhabitants, it has more population within in its city limits than any other city in the European Union . The city is also one of the states of Germany , and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg , and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam

SECTION 20

#1732787361952

2222-468: Is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of

2323-614: Is around 2 million m of crude oil (about 365,000 BOE ) ) and 3 billion m of natural gas (about 18 million BOE, 49,300 BOE) a day. In March 2015, RWE closed the sale of RWE Dea to a group led by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman despite opposition from UK regulators. The $ 5.6 billion deal, announced in 2014, required approval from 14 countries where RWE Dea operates in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On 1 April 2016, RWE transferred its renewable, network and retail businesses into

2424-648: Is commonly known in German history as the “Miracle of Lengede” ( Wunder von Lengede ). By 1965, the DEA Group was generating revenue of DM 2.01 billion and had 26,400 employees. Texaco took over more than 90% of the shares in DEA in 1966. DEA became Deutsche Texaco AG in 1970. The mines it owned were contributed to Ruhrkohle AG (RAG) around 1970. The takeover of Deutsche Texaco by RWE AG in 1988 created RWE-DEA Aktiengesellschaft für Mineraloel und Chemie . From then on,

2525-467: Is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union . Berlin was built along the banks of

2626-620: Is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex and the list of films set in Berlin is long. Berlin is also home to three World Heritage Sites : Museum Island , the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin , and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates . Other landmarks include the Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building , Potsdamer Platz ,

2727-526: Is threatened by the planned expansion of one of the group's coal mines . RWE also operates some of the largest coal-fired power stations in Europe. In 2018, RWE was the largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe. Since 2012, environmentalists have protested against RWE because of the Hambach surface mine situated in the area of Hambach Forest . In November 2017, in the lawsuit filed by Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND),

2828-671: The Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera , Charlottenburg Palace , Gendarmenmarkt , Alte Kommandantur , as well as the City Palace . The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz , City West , and Alexanderplatz . Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, with the Großer Tiergarten , one of

2929-517: The Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie . West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his " Ich bin ein Berliner " speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining

3030-698: The Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte . The first written records of towns in

3131-750: The Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen , a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons , personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, and Neptune on top of it. The Brandenburg Gate

DEA AG - Misplaced Pages Continue

3232-949: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , and the Berlin Wall Memorial . Berlin has numerous museums , galleries, and libraries. [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1237–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1867 [REDACTED] North German Confederation 1867–1871 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany 1990–present Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. Most of

3333-511: The Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau . The city incorporates lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee . About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens , rivers, canals, and lakes. First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin

3434-530: The Urenco Group with E.ON . The remaining stakes are held by the British and Dutch governments, with one-third each. In 2019, RWE produced a total of 153.2 TWh of electricity from the following sources: 33.2% natural gas , 32% lignite , 13.8% nuclear power , 10.7% renewables , 9.3% hard coal and 1.2% pumped storage . In 2019, the company generated 88.1 Mt of CO 2. Electricity production at

3535-667: The Wayback Machine and still impacts urban planning decisions. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became

3636-573: The World War I broke out. However, DEA drilled the world's first oil shaft – in Pechelbronn in Alsace – in 1917. Unlike extraction close to the surface or by means of wells, this involved the first-ever application of the complex shaft construction method, in which oil is “mined”. However, domestic oil production was not able to secure the company's survival and so DEA focused on coal mining until

3737-769: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin , while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when

3838-700: The ordinary shares in Wintershall Dea. To consider the value of the midstream business of Wintershall Dea, BASF further received preference shares which results in a current overall participation of BASF of 72.7% in the entire share capital of the company. The preference shares will convert into ordinary shares of the Company on May 1, 2022, or upon an initial public offering, whichever comes earlier. Berlin Berlin ( / b ɜːr ˈ l ɪ n / bur- LIN , German: [bɛʁˈliːn] )

3939-747: The 1920s, Bonn , Cologne , Krefeld , Duisburg , and Düsseldorf also became shareholders and municipalities owned the majority of RWE's shares. In 1925, the Prussian state became a shareholder in RWE. In 1929, municipalities and the Rhine Province combined their shareholdings into a holding company Kommunale Aufnahmegruppe für Aktien GmbH. In 1920, RWE acquired Niedersächsische Kraftwerke AG, located in Osnabrück . In 1922, it expanded its coal business by acquiring three anthracite mines in Essen and

4040-637: The 1950s. In 1956, Wintershall and DEA contributed Deutsche Gasolin to Aral . However, DEA left the Aral Group in 1960 in order to build its own service station network. In 1963 an employee of DEA, Rudolf Dittrich, and his team in Wieze were instrumental in rescuing 14 miners who were trapped for many days in a collapsed coal mine in Lengede , Lower Saxony . They did so, together with others, by applying very innovative drilling techniques. The successful effort

4141-598: The 1990s, RWE acquired a number of assets in the former East Germany , including stakes in the mining company Lausitzer Braunkohle AG (LAUBAG) and the power company VEAG. In 2000, RWE and VEW merged to create a "new" RWE, and stakes in LAUBAG and VEAG (now both merged into Vattenfall Europe ) were sold to avoid competition violation. In 2001, RWE took over the British company Thames Water . In 2002, it acquired American Water Works Company, based in New Jersey, which became

DEA AG - Misplaced Pages Continue

4242-423: The 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding , Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . In 1881, it became

4343-502: The 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture . Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed , including

4444-690: The Borna branch in the administrative district of Leipzig and consisted of various lignite works, briquette factories, an earthenware factory and a brick factory in the region. The company was relocated to Hamburg in 1948. NITAG's headquarters at Mittelweg in the Hamburg district of Rotherbaum were closed as a result of the merger between Gasolin and Wintershall's subsidiary NITAG. DEA then moved into them. Its headquarters were then moved to Hamburg City Nord around 1970. DEA developed various new fields in Germany as part of expansion of domestic oil production in

4545-505: The Czech gas transmission network operator, for €1.6   billion to a consortium consisting of Allianz and Borealis . The company (named Transgas A.S. then) was privatized to RWE in 2002. In the 2000s, RWE also acquired energy companies in Poland (STOEN S.A.) and Slovenia (VSE a.s). It also owned RWE Dea (now DEA AG ), which produced some of the oil and gas RWE sold (annual production

4646-795: The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany . West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin

4747-419: The German arm of Friends of the Earth , the Higher Administrative Court in Münster ruled to end the tree cutting. According to BUND, Hambach Forest is a habitat type 9160 of annex I of the European Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992). Opponents also argue that an environmental impact assessment study for the mine was never conducted. The Administrative Court in Cologne denied

4848-408: The German branch of RWE had the following environmental implications in 2006: 700 μg/kWh radioactive waste and 752 g/kWh CO 2 emissions . In 2007, the company ranked between the 28th and the 29th place of emitters by country. RWE has long been among the top targets of climate activists, in part as a result of a long-running, high-profile battle to preserve a forest in western Germany that

4949-426: The Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia . In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia , as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia . Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg . This

5050-411: The Karnap power plant in Essen started to burn domestic waste. In 1969, RWE acquired a stake in Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktiengesellschaft which allowed its expansion into the oil industry. However, in 1974, it was sold to VEBA AG . In 1971, founded Gesellschaft für elektrischen Straßenverkehr , a company to develop an electric car for commercial scale production. The prototype presented in 1983

5151-481: The Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5. A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace , was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. The legal basis for

SECTION 50

#1732787361952

5252-530: The Reisholz Power Plant and acquired a stake in the tram company Süddeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft AG. RWE also started to build its own gas supply network in 1909. Deliveries of coal gas to the Bergisches Land region started in 1912. In 1914, RWE opened Vorgebirgszentrale power plant in Hürth . By 1920, the plant had installed capacity of 190 megawatts, which made it the largest in Europe. Before World War I , municipalities of Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr , and Gelsenkirchen , became shareholders in RWE. By

5353-548: The UK. RWE's last coal-fired power station in the UK, Aberthaw Power Station in South Wales, was closed in March 2020. The company owns the gas-fired power stations Staythorpe in Nottinghamshire, Pembroke in West Wales, Little Barford in Bedfordshire, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Didcot 'B' Station in Oxfordshire. It has previously closed its Didcot 'A' Power Station in Oxfordshire, Littlebrook Power Station in Kent, Fawley Power Station in Hampshire, and Tilbury Power Station in Essex. RWE jointly owns one third of

5454-410: The US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany. In 1989, with

5555-406: The Volksgerichtshof (People's Court), partly because of his statement that "the war would end like 1918". On 2 May 1944, Wilhelm Ricken was executed in Berlin-Plötzensee. In 2015, a " stumbling block " was placed at this final address in Essen to commemorate Ricken's fate. During World War II, the infrastructure owned by RWE was severely damaged but mostly repaired by 1948. In 1952, the company

5656-440: The Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift , conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949,

5757-436: The area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era , Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties . The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts,

5858-403: The area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture . In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture . Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD,

5959-419: The area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes , one was known as Via Imperii , and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod . In 1307

6060-419: The beginning of 2014. One of them came from L1 Energy, a subsidiary of the LetterOne Group. The LetterOne Group is an investment company that is headquartered in Luxembourg and whose main owner (indirectly through the Alfa Group) is the Russian business magnate Mikhail Fridman . RWE reported on 16 March 2014 that it had in principle agreed with LetterOne to sell DEA. RWE Dea was valued at €5.1 billion as part of

6161-459: The capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". The economy of Berlin is based on high tech and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , startup companies , research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network . Tourism in Berlin makes

SECTION 60

#1732787361952

6262-448: The cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic languages -derived names. Typical Germanization for place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in , prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch . The name Berlin has its roots in the language of the West Slavs , and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs , five bear

6363-432: The city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry , biomedical engineering , biotechnology , the automotive industry , and electronics . Berlin is home to several universities such as the Humboldt University of Berlin , Technische Universität Berlin , the Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin . The Berlin Zoological Garden

6464-403: The city lost half of its population. Frederick William , known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots . By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of

6565-438: The city. The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. RWE Europe RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen . It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed

6666-512: The coldest was January 1709 , with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F). The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall. Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during

6767-412: The company's downstream business (refineries, logistics, service stations) was integrated into a joint venture with Shell named Shell & DEA Oil GmbH , which was taken over fully by Shell effective 1 July 2002. Since mid-2002, RWE-Dea has focused on upstream business. From 2004, most of the DEA service stations were reflagged to “Shell”, while some were sold. The last DEA service station in Germany

6868-424: The company's service stations once more bore the name “DEA”. After German reunification , the service station network was expanded to Eastern Germany . The chemicals division Condea was sold to the South African company Sasol in 2001. The joint venture Fuchs Dea Schmierstoffe GmbH & Co. KG between the partners Fuchs Petrolub AG and DEA Mineraloel AG was terminated effective 31 December 2001. In 2002,

6969-409: The country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź , and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium

7070-452: The deal. RWE announced on 30 March 2014 that the agreement with the LetterOne Group had been signed. In June, the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel , ordered an examination of the sale, which lasted for two months. The takeover was finally approved by the German government on 22 August 2014. In October 2014, the Financial Times reported that the British Secretary of State for Energy Edward Davey would not agree to

7171-490: The early 1930s. DEA benefited from the seizure of power by the National Socialists , such as in the form of loans under the Reich Drilling Programme from 1934 onwards. Greater self-sufficiency in German's supply of raw materials had been an official goal of the National Socialist state since Adolf Hitler's Four-Year Plan Memorandum in 1936. The company began production operations in Czechoslovakia and in Alsace by participating in consortia such as Kontinentale Öl AG , which

7272-593: The end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic , plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport , beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020,

7373-717: The end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development Archived 16 December 2023 at

7474-499: The first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move

7575-577: The humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power . Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna , and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had

7676-518: The largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here,

7777-726: The low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to

7878-921: The lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest. Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates . Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates

7979-790: The manufacture of mining machinery and equipment. In 1943, its subsidiaries and equity interests included Deutscher Mineralöl-Verkaufsverein GmbH in Berlin, Deutsche Viscobil Oel GmbH in Berlin and Braunkohle-Benzin AG (BRABAG) in Berlin. Its hard coal operations in 1938 comprised the Graf Bismarck Colliery in Gelsenkirchen and the Königsgrube Colliery in Wanne-Eickel . Lignite operations were grouped at

8080-455: The military". The then First Mayor of Essen, Just Dillgardt, who was also second chairman of RWE's supervisory board, had reported Ricken to the state police. Previously, he had received a tip from the then commercial director and fellow board member of Ricken, Friedrich Praedel. This "board member" of RWE is said to have pushed Dillgardt to press charges. Wilhelm Ricken was then arrested on 20 October 1943, and sentenced to death on 8 March 1944, by

8181-496: The necessity of such a study in November 2017, because the permission for the mining operations was given in the 1970s, long before environmental impact assessment studies became mandatory. In October 2018, an estimated 50,000 protesters turned out against the company's planned continued forest clear-cutting for its open-pit coal mine expansion while a court order delayed the process until at least late 2020, to explore if it violated EU environmental regulations. In September 2021, it

8282-467: The purchase of E.ON's renewables business and nuclear electricity generation assets, RWE is expected to become Europe's third-largest renewable energy provider behind Spain's Iberdrola and Italy's Enel , and the second-largest in the market for offshore wind power. On 1 December 2023, it was agreed that RWE would be part of an £11 billion investment in the UK's Dogger Bank wind farm project. The German government received EU approval in late 2023 for

8383-484: The sale in view of the tighter sanctions imposed on Russia . The multi-billion transaction was finally closed, despite the misgivings of the British government, at the start of the first week in March 2015. A binding agreement to merge DEA and Wintershall was published on 27 September 2018. The merger was carried out with official approval in May 2019. It created Europe's leading independent gas and oil company. BASF holds 67% of Wintershall Dea and LetterOne holds 33% of

8484-531: The seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder . Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin. Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. In

8585-783: The town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille"). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and

8686-646: The tramway companies Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahn AG and Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG. In 1908, RWE signed demarcation contracts with Städtische Elektrizitätswerk Dortmund and Elektrizitätswerk Westfalen AG. Together they created Westfälische Verbands-Elektrizitätswerk AG. RWE contributed to the newly established company by its power station in Dortmund–Kruckel and the supply grid in Witten/Dortmund. Later all these companies formed Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen AG (VEW). In 1909, RWE opened

8787-418: The transmission system operator Amprion (RWE Transportnetz Strom GmbH), but keeping 25.1% in the company. On 14 August 2012, RWE AG announced that the company would cut 2,400 more jobs to reduce costs. Previously the company had announced to eliminate 5,000 jobs and 3,000 jobs through divestments as anticipated of closing all nuclear reactors by 2022. In August 2013, RWE completed the disposal of NET4GAS,

8888-474: The two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated. Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and eventually as German emperors . In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of

8989-455: The vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley ), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in

9090-693: The west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto

9191-590: The west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and

9292-477: Was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became

9393-411: Was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by

9494-487: Was built. During World War II , Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,

9595-598: Was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as a scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment , Neoclassicism , and the German revolutions of 1848–1849 . During the Gründerzeit , an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered

9696-487: Was excluded from the Allies' control. In 1957, RWE acquired the coal company Neurath AG. RWE and the Bavarian state-owned 'Bayernwerk' joined forces to build Germany's first industrial nuclear reactor . The Kahl experimental nuclear power plant (15 megawatts), constructed right next to RWE's Dettingen hard coal fired power plant, supplied its first electricity in 1962. Until its closure in 1985, this plant would serve as

9797-543: Was founded in 1941. In 1937/1938, Jewish members were excluded from the management board and supervisory board. DEA also employed forced labourers on a large scale. The precise ties between company management and the NS regime have not yet been investigated. At the time, the company's business activities covered a large part of the production and supply chain: extraction, processing and utilisation of mineral oil products and their resale, acquisition of and trading in mining rights, and

9898-490: Was granted only to American, British and French airlines. The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn . In 1961, East Germany began to build

9999-534: Was located in Haltern ; Shell AG continued running it so that it could secure the rights to the “DEA” trademark permanently. The service station was closed in 2017 and replaced by an old Shell service station with the DEA branding in Lichtenfels . In March 2013, RWE announced its intention to sell DEA and use the proceeds to pay some of its €33 billion in debt. RWE received at least three bids in an auction up to

10100-430: Was produced in cooperation with Volkswagen and named City-Stromer . In 1988, RWE again expanded into the oil industry by acquiring Deutsche Texaco, formerly known as Deutsche Erdoel AG, which was renamed RWE-DEA AG für Mineralöl und Chemie (RWE-DEA). RWE was reorganized to hold energy, mining and raw materials; petroleum and chemicals; waste management; mechanical and plant engineering; and construction divisions. In

10201-490: Was used until 1990 when it was renamed to RWE AG. Its first power station started operating in Essen in 1900. In 1902, EAG sold its shares to a consortium formed by Ruhr industrialists Hugo Stinnes and August Thyssen . In 1906, it expanded its operations beyond Essen by acquiring Elektrizitätswerk Berggeist AG in Brühl , and Bergische Elektrizitätswerke GmbH, Solingen . During the same year, it also acquired shareholdings in

#951048