Adopted name of Israel Baline (1888-1989) Russian-born US songwriter. His songs include hits such as ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ 1911, ‘Always’ 1925, ‘God Bless America’ 1917 (published 1939), and ‘White Christmas’ 1942, and the musicals Top Hat 1935, Annie Get Your Gun 1946, and Call Me Madam 1950. He also provided songs for films like Blue Skies 1946 and Easter Parade 1948.
Berlin grew up in New York and had his first song published 1907. He began providing songs for vaudeville and revues and went on to own a theater, the Music Box, where he appeared in his own revues 1921 and 1923. Generally writing both lyrics and music, he was instrumental in the development of the popular song, taking it from jazz and ragtime to swing and romantic ballads.
The son of a poor Jewish cantor, Berlin learned music by ear. Many of his songs are “standards”, the most popular and enduring of all time.

1. Borough in New Jersey (USA); zip code 08009.
2. Borough in Pennsylvania (USA); zip code 15530.
3. Capital of Germany; Also called: German capital.
4. City in New Hampshire (USA); zip code 03570.
5. City in North Dakota (USA); zip code 58415.
6. City in Wisconsin (USA); zip code 54923.
7. Town in Georgia (USA).
8. Town in Maryland (USA); zip code 21811.
9. Village in Illinois (USA).
Industrial city (machine tools, electrical goods, paper, printing) and capital of the Federal Republic of Germany; est) 3,446,000. After the division of Germany 1949, East Berlin became the capital of East Germany and Bonn was made the provisional capital of West Germany. The Berlin Wall divided the city from 1961 until it was dismantled 1989. Following reunification East and West Berlin were once more reunited as the 16th Land (state) of the Federal Republic.
features.
Unter den Linden, the tree-lined avenue once the whole city's focal point, has been restored in what was formerly East Berlin. The fashionable Kurfürstendamm and the residential Hansa quarter (1957) form part of what was once West Berlin. Prominent buildings include the Reichstag (parliament building); Bellevue Castle (Berlin residence of the president); Charlottenburg Castle (housing several museums); Congress Hall; restored 18th-century State Opera; the National Gallery (1968), designed by Mies van der Rohe; and Dahlem picture gallery.
The Reichstag is to be rebuilt under the direction of Sir Norman Foster. In 1995 the Wrapping of the Reichstag by the artist Christo Javacheff attracted 5 million tourists. Friedrichstrasse, the Alexanderplatz, and No Man’s Land are being redeveloped. The Tiergarten is a fine park. The environs of Berlin include the Grünewald forest and the Wannsee and Havel lakes. In the Grünewald is the Trümmerbery, an artificial hill 130 m/427 ft high, formed out of 18 million cubic meters/70 million cubic feet of war debris, and now used as an artificial ski slope.
The city contains several research institutes including the Hahn-Meitner Institute for Nuclear Research, the Max Planck Institute, and the Research Institute for Marine Engineering and Shipbuilding. It is also the home of the world-famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
history.
First mentioned about 1230, the city grew out of a fishing village, joined the Hanseatic League in the 15th century, became the permanent seat of the Hohenzollerns, and was capital of the Brandenburg electorate 1486–1701, of the kingdom of Prussia 1701–1871, and of united Germany 1871–1945. From the middle of the 18th century it developed into a commercial and cultural center. After the Napoleonic Wars, Friedrich Wilhelm III was responsible for the squares, avenues, and Neo-classical buildings, many designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, including the Altes Museum and the Schauspielhaus.
In World War II air raids and conquest by the Soviet army 23 April–2 May 1945, destroyed much of the city. After the war, Berlin was divided into four sectors—British, US, French, and Soviet—and until 1948 was under quadripartite government by the Allies. Following the Berlin blockade the city was divided, with the USSR maintaining a separate municipal government in its sector. The other three sectors (West Berlin) were made a Land of the Federal Republic May 1949 and Bonn became the provisional capital; in Oct 1949 East Berlin was proclaimed capital of East Germany. On 13th August 1961 the Soviet zone was sealed off by the Russians, and the Berlin Wall was built along the zonal boundary. Access to East Berlin was severely restricted, although restrictions were lifted occasionally, and a pass system was introduced 1964.
In June 1991 the Bundestag (the lower chamber of government) voted to restore Berlin as the capital of a unified Germany. The move of the Bundestag offices went ahead despite a campaign by some politicians to delay it until 2010 or stop it altogether.

(1909-) Latvian-born British philosopher and historian of ideas. In The Hedgehog and the Fox, he wrote about Leo Tolstoy’s theory of irresistible historical forces; and in Historical Inevitability 1954 and Four Essays on Liberty 1969, he attacked all forms of historical determinism.
Berlin emigrated to England with his family 1920, and was professor of social and political theory at Oxford 1957–67.
His other works include Karl Marx 1939 and Vico and Herder 1976.

ETYM The capital of Prussia.
A limousine with a glass partition between the front and back seats.
Four-wheeled covered carriage, two-seater roofed carriage, with seat or platform behind. Berlin spirit, coarse spirit distilled from potatoes, beetroot, etc. Berlin wools, fine, dyed wool for tapestry, etc.