On the other hand, it is the largest World Heritage site in Germany. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser until 1918. It was planned in the Age of Enlightenment with a careful balance of architecture and landscape. Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which would remind its people of their relationship with nature and reason.
Around the city there are a series of lakes and cultural landmarks. The parks and palaces of Sanssouci are the centre of the World Heritage Site. The Soviet Union did not return many of the Potsdam art treasures, and they remain to this day in Russia. The library of Frederick the Great was returned, but only 36 oil paintings.
The Potsdam Conference in 1945 was held at the palace Cecilienhof.
Bremen
Bremen is a city in north Germany. It is the capital of the State of Bremen.
About 545,000 live in Bremen. It has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).
The city's official name today includes the name "Hansestadt" (hanseatic city) in memory of its history, where it has been important part in the hanseatic league. The architecture of the city and the region as well is influenced by this historic period.
Other hanseatic cities today are: Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Lübeck, Greifswald and Demmin.
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden (; Hessian: "Wissbade", Latin: "Aquae Mattiacae") is a German city near Frankfurt am Main. It is the capital of the federal state of Hesse. Wiesbaden is on the right (north) bank of the Rhine (German: "Rhein"), near the city of Mainz (about away from Wiesbaden centre) the opposite side of the river, and a short distance, about , from Frankfurt am Main, to the east. About 274,000 people live in the city (2005).
Wiesbaden has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).
Wiesbaden is the capital of the state Hesse, which is located in middle of Germany.
Hanover
Hanover (German: "Hannover") is a German city. It is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony. Hanover has 522,944 inhabitants (1 February 2007).
In Hanover there are some big industry companies like Volkswagen (Cars and Vans), Continental (tyres), Varta (batteries) and TUI (tourism).
Hanover has a very modern zoo and an international airport.
There are some very big fairs in Hanover like the CeBIT - "Ce"ntre of "O"ffice, "I"nformation and "T"elecommunication (B is for Büro that means office) and the traditional Hanover fair that shows classical industrial products.
In the year 2000 the Expo-2000 was in Hanover.
Hanover has a large forest near the inner city, it is called the "Eilenriede". There is also a lake (the "Maschsee") of about three km length and 500 m width near the city centre. The famous gardens of Herrenhausen (Herrenhäuser Gärten) are also in Hanover. The gardens were heavily destroyed in WWII, but they are currently under reconstruction.
People in Hanover get around town by using the Hannover Hauptbahnhof, which has been around since 1843.
The mayor of the city is Stefan Weil who followed Herbert Schmalstieg in 2006. Both are from the social democratic party SPD. The city has been administered by social democratic city councils since the 1950s.
The (new) town hall is one of the famous buildings in the city, others are the Marktkirche (market church), the old (medieval) town hall, some castles like the "Leineschloss" and the "Welfenschloss".
Hanover is located at the river Leine.
Some internationally famous inhabitants of the town are:
The classic rock band "Scorpions", the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the association football player Per Mertesacker.
Key employers in the region are Volkswagen, Continental, Talanx, Hannover Re, Nord LB and VHV.
Hanover has an Oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification).
Hanover has a famous football club, Hannover 96, since 2002 (again) a member of the first German football league, the Bundesliga. Its home stadium is the AWD-Arena (capacity: 49000). Hanover is also a center for ice hockey.
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ((, , ; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: "Düsseldörp" ; archaic , Latin: "Dusseldorpium") is a German city. It is on the east bank of the river Rhine. It is the capital of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Düsseldorf has about 600,000 inhabitants. About 1.3 million people live in the city and surrounding areas. The city has one international airport, a university, and the headquarters of many international companies.
In the 7th or 8th century there was a fishing or farming settlement at the place where the little river Dussel (which gave the name to the city) flows into the Rhine. Kaiserswerth is the first part of the city to be mentioned in writing. This was in 1135. Kaiserswerth became part of Düsseldorf in 1927.
In 1186 the Counts of Berg got to rule Düsseldorf and they made it their residence in 1280.
On 14th of August 1288 there was a great battle between the Archbishop of Cologne and the Duke of Limburg against the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Berg. The Duke of Brabant won and the Archbishop of Cologne became a prisoner of the Count of Berg. So he could not do anything against Düsseldorf getting the status of a city. So Düsseldorf became a city with full City Rights in 1288.
The Counts of Berg became more and more powerful and Düsseldorf became the capital of the Duchy of Berg-Mark-Kleve-Jülich in 1380.
in 1680 the Dukes of Berg-Kleve-Mark-Jülich died out and after some struggles the Earls of Palatine (they were Prince-Electors) became the new rulers of Düsseldorf. The most important duke of this line was Johann Wilhelm II. (1690-1716), called Jan Wellem. After Johann Wilhelm the Dukes moved to their new seat in Heidelberg, because they also got to rule the Duchy of Bavaria.
In the Napoleonic Wars the French won the Duchy and Düsseldorf. Napoleon gave the Duchy of Berg-Jülich to one of his generals, who married one of his nieces. This general became later King of Naples.
In the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century Düsseldorf grew a lot and had more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1882. This number had doubled by 1892.
Düsseldorf was almost completely destroyed in World War II. In 1946 Düsseldorf became capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Düsseldorf is one of the most important commercial centres in Germany. It has an International Airport, which is the 3rd largest in Germany (after Frankfurt and Munich) with more than 16,000,000 passengers per year. The airport offers 180 destinations on 4 continents, and is served by 70 airlines.
Düsseldorf has two stations in the German high speed train network (Intercity, ICE) - its Central Station and the Airport Station. The Main Station offers international trains to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland, too.
North Rhine-Westphalia has the closest network of motorways in Europe. Düsseldorf is one of the crosspoints. Düsseldorf is joined to the interstate motorways A3, A44, A46, A52, A57, A59 and A524.
Düsseldorf is one of the most important economical centres in Germany. It has a regional stock exchange.
More than 170 national financial institutions and 130 insurances work in Düsseldorf.
Two of the four leading mobile phone companies of Germany have their seat in Düsseldorf like 18 internet providers and more than 400 advertising agencies. Düsseldorf is one of the European centres of fashion industry and has one of the most important trading shows.
The TV channels CNN and NBC Giga have their German centres in Düsseldorf.
There is a lot of manufacturing industry too - like the chemical company Henkel.
Düsseldorf is the most important seat for Japanese companies in Europe.
Düsseldorf is one of the cultural centres in Germany. The poet Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf in 1797. The classical musicians and composers Clara and Robert Schumann lived most of their lifetime in Düsseldorf and the romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy spent two years in the town in the mid-1830s.