Berlin: Neil Taylor suggests that the starting point from which to explore the full and varied history of Berlin is the apparently empty space at its centre.

CAPITAL CITIES WILL OFTEN ARGUE about the location of their centre; is it a cathedral, a parliament building, or a royal palace? It is unlikely to be a blank, but that is what faces Berlin now. The Potsdamer Platz is awash with skyscrapers; the new parliamentary offices crowd the banks of the Spree, and even Checkpoint Charlie has succumbed to the financial inducements of the developers. The Schlossplatz (Palace Square), however, without doubt the heart of the city, remains empty.

Under all earlier regimes, this was never the case. Prussian dukes, German emperors, the Nazis and ...

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