BERLIN city
Berlin is my home from home in Germany.
At first sight, Berlin and Manchester don’t seem to have much in common. Berlin a bright colourful
European capital of over three and a half million people, Manchester a provincial city of about half a million, grey and industrial, where it rains all the time, or so many people think. The fact is that Manchester still has an image problem in other parts of the world. There are differences and parallels between the two cities, but in some areas Manchester just doesn't measure up, as we'll discover in this fact-filled but personal comparison Manchester is situated in North West England, close to the geographical mid-point of Ireland and Great Britain, two hours west of Berlin by plane.
Berlin is situated in the north-east corner of Germany, about an hour and a quarter from the Polish border.
There are two definitions of Manchester: The City of Manchester, population around 550,000, land area 115 square kilometres. Greater Manchester, population 2.8 million, 1,277 square kilometres. Berlin is a city-state, along with Hamburg and Bremen. Its population is 3.6 million, 30 per cent larger than Greater Manchester. Land area 892 square kilometres, 30 per cent smaller than Greater Manchester. Berlin is the capital of Germany and one of the capitals of Europe. Manchester is not a capital city, but if northern England were country, it could be, though shared capital status across the northern cities might be better. Berlin, once two cities on either side of the Wall, became a unified city, its 23 districts or Bezirke were consolidated into 12 districts.
Greater Manchester was created in 1974 when smaller local districts were consolidated into 10 larger districts. The City of Manchester remained the same size, it didn't expand, like other cities. The symbol of Manchester is the bee, the symbol of Berlin is the bear. The mayor of Berlin is Michael Müller, the mayor of Greater Manchester is Andy Burnham. Both Manchester and Berlin are great cities for startups, with lots of independent entrepreneurs and a great lifestyle. Greater Manchester has around 96,200 students, about 18% are international students. Berlin has approximately 150,000 students, including circa 15 per cent from abroad. In both Manchester and Berlin, living costs are lower than more prosperous areas in the south of the respective countries.
They're both international cities with people from practically every country on the globe. In Berlin the Turkish influence is important, in Manchester the Asian influence. Manchester has produced many world-famous music artists: 10cc, the Stone Roses, Joy Division and others recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. David Bowie, U2, Depeche Mode, Marillion and others came to Berlin to record at Hansa by the Wall studios. Berlin has the Berlin Philharmonic, Manchester has the Hallé Orchestra. Both cities are famous for night clubs, many playing house and techno. Marx and Engels both came to England in the 1840s, met in Manchester and spread Communism around the world. Manchester musician and producer Mark Reeder came to West Berlin in 1978 and helped to spread punk rock to East Berlin.
Both cities have striking modern architecture that contrasts with the old. The dome of the Reichstag was designed by Sir Norman Foster, who grew up in Manchester. Both cities have Jewish Museums, the one in Berlin was designed by Daniel Libeskind, who also designed the Imperial War Museum North.
And by the way, Manchester has its
Own brandenburg gate in heaton park.
It's the portico of the old town hall. In Manchester and everywhere in Britain and Ireland, people tend to live in houses - terraced, semi-detached or detached, often bought using a mortgage. Many live in rented council flats. In Berlin and other cities in Germany, most people live in rental apartments, in renovated 19th century buildings or newer blocks.
The ones in the east remind me of Salford. There's a serious shortage of apartments in Berlin. The centre of Manchester is becoming more like Berlin, with lots of new apartments, many for rent. Both cities were damaged in the war. Berlin was flattened completely. Manchester was badly damaged, its tall buildings appeared on the bombsites. Berlin was a divided city. The Wall was built in 1961 around West Berlin and fell in 1989.
Manchester has never had a wall dividing it, but there are divisions: Within the City of Manchester, there's a north south divide. Manchester and Salford are separate cities with an invisible border along the River Irwell and the other boroughs are separate, unlike in Berlin, its 12 districts forming one city, like London or New York. Manchester's influence comes from the Industrial Revolution which spread to Germany and attracted many German engineers to Manchester. Berlin's influence comes from its industrial and political power. It was destroyed, divided but has regained its importance within Germany and Europe. Both conurbations have a big variety of urban and rural landscapes. Greater Manchester is hilly in the north and east, Berlin is mostly flat. Both places have many rivers, canals and lakes, and here there are some differences.
In Germany bathing in lakes is part of the culture. In England bathing in lakes is mostly prohibited. All over Germany there are world-class pools, water parks and lakes where you can swim. In Greater Manchester, outdoor pools are a distant memory. Swimming baths are modest and often under-funded. Historic pools often rely on the support of volunteers and charitable funding. It is possible to swim in Salford Quays. In a wet suit.
Berlin had three main airports, now it has one, the delayed Berlin Brandenburg Airport. The old Tegel and Tempelhof Airports are being converted for new uses. Manchester has one main airport, Ringway. Planes were once made at nearby Woodford aerodrome, now a housing estate. Barton.
Aerodrome or City Airport (Manchester Barton) is
Good for light aircraft and helicopters.
Prior to the pandemic Berlin Schönefeld and
Tegel handled 35 million passengers in 2019, while manchester handled 29 million passengers in the year up to june 2019.
Both cities are cycling cities. They have invested a lot in cycle lanes and encourage people to use bikes. But Berlin is way ahead of Manchester. Manchester has improved its cycle lanes, especially along Oxford Road. The South Manchester Loop Line is great for cycling and walking. Berlin and Manchester are important for transport. Both cities are at the hub of roads, canals and railway lines. Inter-city rail travel originated in Manchester and Liverpool and soon spread around the world.
In Berlin, many stations were destroyed in the war. In Manchester, the Beeching cuts closed two of Manchester's main line stations. Piccadilly station was rebuilt in 1960 and again in 2002, partly funded through the UK's membership of the EU. Berlin has its ultra-modern Hauptbahnhof, opened in May 2006. In Berlin, the mighty S-Bahn along, with the U-Bahn, provide a dense network of services, with unified ticketing. Cheap day tickets are valid on S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams, buses and ferries. In Manchester, trains have been under-funded for decades. Today things are improving.
A new north-south link was built in Manchester city centre, but it's underused as surrounding lines haven't yet been upgraded. In the 1990s the Conservative government privatised rail services, leaving a fragmented system. In Berlin, there are no ticket barriers, saving millions of Euros. Passengers are trusted to buy a ticket. There are occasional spot checks on trains. In Manchester there are barriers everywhere and an army of revenue inspectors, costing a fortune. A trust system wouldn't work here. In Greater Manchester, to raise money, peak hour fares were introduced between 4 and 6.30pm, a nasty sting in the tail for daytime off-peak rail users.
Berlin and Manchester both have yellow trams. East Berlin kept its trams but West Berlin abandoned them. Today trams are mostly in the East. Manchester's old trams were sadly abandoned in 1949, but Metrolink arrived in 1992 and has been gradually extended. Buses in the Manchester area were once run by the cities and boroughs. In the 70s, they were amalgamated, then in the 80s, privatised by Mrs Thatcher's. Conservative government, leading to a fragmented and often chaotic bus system. The mighty Stagecoach have introduced all electric buses on some routes, much better than the polluting older buses, once operated by smaller private companies.
Berlin has had double decker buses since the 1930s and the system is run by the BVG, the Berliner Verkehrsgemeinschaft or transport authority, 100% owned by the state of Berlin.
After 35 years of the failed Conservative
Policy of bus privatisation, a new, london-style system is being introduced in greater manchester, though berlin-style one might be better.
In one respect, buses in Manchester are ahead of Berlin. Nearly all have on-board wifi but in Berlin, only some. In 2016, guided buses or in German 'Spurbusse' were introduced, first the interestingly named V1 and V2, later the V3 and V4. In both cities you can travel using human powered forms of transport. And to finish off, here's an interesting comparison: A Greater Manchester day ticket costs 10,00 GBP - 11,60 Euro with some time restrictions. A Berlin 24-Hour Ticket costs £7,60 - 8 Euro 80, with no time restrictions and you can even take children for free.
If Berlin can have an efficient, reliable and inexpensive 24-hour transport system, why can't Greater Manchester? That's a question I'd like to put to Andy Burnham, after he's watched my article. Look out for future updates. Andy Burnham said that we should all embrace Brexit, but I think Greater Manchester should become more European, more German, at least from the point of view of public transport, cycling and water leisure facilities. Germany is already taking over in the areas of cars, kitchens and kebabs. But change is slow, so I'll keep flying to Berlin, my home from home! So that’s it. Please help me to get to 1000 subcribers, please like, comment, subscribe and hit the bell button for notifications. And also please share with people and media outlets who you think might be interested in my uniquely international perspective on Manchester. So many thanks, vielen Dank from AidanEyewitness, bis bald, see you soon...