London vs. Berlin

By Pia

Although a river flows through both of them, London and Berlin are two cosmopolitan cities with their own characteristics and histories.

When taking a first look at London coming from Germany, there aren’t too many differences to Berlin one is able to realize. People are busily walking around, the traffic is bad, tourists are blocking the footpaths all over the place, and the whole atmosphere is nothing else but hectic. Those are characteristics that London and Berlin share, but when you take a second, closer look  at London, there are more differences than one would have thought in the beginning.

The first rather obvious difference are the buses and taxis. Many tourists get attracted by the look and system of the buses since they are double deckers, but the system is the same in Berlin; so, that doesn’t draw a lot of attention. However, the colour does. London is famous all over the world for its red buses.  In Berlin, the buses are yellow. Also, the look of taxis  differs from the one in Berlin. While in Berlin they are a kind of yellow and don’t need to be a specific type of car, the taxis in London are all black and from the same company.

Another difference are the older buildings. During the war, most of Berlin was destroyed, which caused the population to build new apartments but also buildings for public use. Therefore, Berlin has much newer and higher building than London.

In general, people seem to be more dressed up and wearing business clothes in London while in Berlin, clothing is more casual even in the business district.

Another point which makes the cities differ is that London is known for its great musicals while Berlin isn’t a musical city at all but well known for theatres.

Another characteristic to mention is that Berlin has far more parks and forests within the city and even downtown than London.  London does have its green areas just not as many.

One of the biggest differences between Berlin and London is probably that the United Kingdom still has a monarchy while Germany doesn’t. In London, you see pictures of the Royal Family in almost all the stores while in Berlin, it’s just not part of the society.

All in all, one can say that although both cities are well known in the world, are the capitals of their countries and have citizens who seem to have the same daily life, they still have their own individual characteristics which make them both interesting and important in their own way.