[[Image:DSC00590_1.jpg|thumb|300|right|The Brandenburg Gate (''Brandenburger Tor''), viewed from the newly restored Paris Place (''Pariser Platz'').]]
'''Berlin''' is the capital city of [[Germany]], and formerly of the [[Prussia|Kingdom of Prussia]] and the [[Margraviate Duchy of Brandenburg]].
During the [[Cold War]] it was divided into an Eastern and a Western part. Both were considered to be under the control of the four [[WWII]] Allies. However, in fact, the [[USSR]] and East Germany (a.k.a. the German Democratic Republic) made [[East Berlin]] into the capital of [[East Germany]], whereas the Western Allies (USA, UK, France) and West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany) insisted on the allied status of all sectors of Berlin and made [[Bonn]] into the provisional capital of West Germany. A [[Berlin Wall|wall]] between the two parts was built by East Germany in order to stop people escaping from East Berlin to [[West Berlin]] for economic as well as political reasons.