This video is sponsored in part by Newsvoice Berlin and Munich Two major cities in Germany, about a 70 minute
flight apart, or a five hour train ride apart, or a six hour car ride apart. Both highly influential, both cosmopolitan,
both highly desired places to live and work due to an overall high standard of living. In fact, my friend Willie from the channel
KhAnubis actually moved from the United States to Berlin, and he loves it there. He loves it there so much he actually also
just released a video all about Berlin over on his channel. Check it out when you’re done here, if you
shall dare. But hey Munich often is at the top of “most
livable cities in the world” lists. So let’s compare these two rivals, starting
with their similarities. First of all, the population of the metropolitan
areas of both is about the same. (B- 6.1 million, M- 6 million) However, in
each city proper, Berlin has a lot more residents than Munich. (B-3.8 million, M- 1.5 million) Berlin also
is MUCH bigger in actual area. It’s more spread out, yo. Both are capitals! Ok, well Munich is just the capital of the
German federal state of Bavaria, while Berlin is capital of ALL OF GERMANY. Oh, and it’s literally its own German federal
state. Both have some of the most prestigious universities
on the planet and finest museums. Berlin has over 100. Both have an oceanic climate, and get about
the same amount of sunshine on average. However, Munich gets much more precipitation. (B- 515.2 mm, M- 944 mm) Berlin gets a bit
colder in the winter, while Munich gets a bit warmer in the summer. Public transportation is amazing in both cities,
but is better in Berlin and yeah more expensive there, too. You’ll see lots of cyclists in both, as
both have highly developed bike lane systems. Because both are in Germany, it’s quite
legal and quite common to see folks out and about drinking alcohol. Both have a stock exchange. Residents of both are not that religious. In fact, around half of all Munich residents
and 60% of all Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation. Both have hosted the Summer Olympics. Berlin, in 1936, and Munich, in 1972. That Olympics is sadly known for the Munich
massacre, in which terrorists killed members of the Israeli Olympic team. The Berlin Olympics is sadly known as the
one in which Hitler was in power and he was trying to promote racism and antisemitism
at the games. Both have giant towers. Berlin has the iconic Berlin Television Tower,
which is the tallest structure in Germany and often a symbol for the entire country. Munich has the Olympic Tower, but the Berlin
Television Tower is taller and definitely more famous ok? Being in Germany, residents of both get universal
healthcare. Both are culturally diverse. 21% of Berlin residents were born in another
country, while 37% of Munich residents were born in another country. I’d argue Berlin and Munich have more differences
than similarities. First of all, Munich has been around longer,
well probably. It all started in the Holy Roman Empire... In 1157, Henry the Lion, the duke of Bavaria
said monks could build a market where the road from Salzburg met the Isar River. And thus, Munich was born. German merchants founded Berlin in the early
1200s, although some settlers were there before that. Berlin isn’t mentioned in writing until
1251, though. In 1255, Bavarian nobles known as the Wittelsbach
family came to Munich, and for the next 700 years heavily influenced the town. One of the Wittelsbach family members was
a king turned Holy Roman Emperor named Louis the Bavarian. He greatly expanded the size of Munich and
gave it a monopoly on producing and selling salt. Much of Munich was destroyed by two different
fires- one in 1327 and another in 1429, but both times the residents rebuilt. Meanwhile, by the 1400s the Hohenzollern family
had now ruled over Berlin. Just like the Wittelsbachs in Munich, the
Hohenzollerns would heavily influence Berlin for hundreds of years. In 1417, Berlin became the capital of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1432, Berlin and the town of Cölln merged. Over the next 200 years, both Berlin-Cölln
and Munich steadily grew in population and wealth, with occasional setbacks like when
the bubonic plague came to town. In 1506, Munich became capital of all of Bavaria. Both cities couldn’t escape the turmoil
surrounding the Protestant Reformation. Berlin ended up in the Lutheran camp, whereas
Munich remained a Roman Catholic stronghold. The Thirty Years War hurt both towns. Berlin lay in financial ruins afterwards and
had its population reduced from 12,000 down to 7500. An epidemic during that war caused Munich
to lose 1/3 of its population. In the 1700s, Berlin was now just Berlin,
and now capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was quickly becoming quite a big deal
in Europe. Meanwhile, the Habsburg family controlled
Munich. Louis I, the king of Bavaria from 1825 to
1848, had a big influence on Munich. His architects basically created the appearance
of Munich we know and love today. The 1800s saw both Berlin and Munich becoming
major cities in Europe, and both attracted lots of immigrants trying to make some money,
as well as some of the greatest thinkers in history. And then folks in Berlin were like, let’s
unite all the German princedoms into a modern state. They even convinced most of Bavaria to join. By 1871, both cities were in the newly created
German Empire. And massive industry helped both cities continue
to grow. By 1900, Munich had around half a million
people, and Berlin had around 1.9 million people. When Germany entered what would become World
War One, spirits were high in both cities, but that ended as the war dragged on. France bombed Munich three times, and the
Allied blockade led to food and fuel shortages in both. After the devastating war was over, things
didn’t get any better in Germany. Berlin remained the capital of what was now
the Weimar Republic, which was constantly under threat by radicals from both the left
and right ends of the political spectrum. The economic situation was horrible in those
post-war years. Due to hyperinflation, many in both Berlin
and Munich lost all wealth they previously had. In response to all these troubles, a new political
group emerged promising to make Germany great again. Yep, the Nazi Party, who had a big presence
in Munich. On November 8-9, 1923, the Nazis tried to
overthrow the German government there in what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Those who conspired were arrested and charged
with treason. One of those arrested was Adolf Hitler, who
later became the leader of the Nazi Party and got elected to power in 1932. The year after, Hitler was the dictator of
Germany. During Hitler’s reign of terror, Berlin
and Munich were both Nazi strongholds. The Nazis opened the first concentration camp
just northwest of Munich. Like many German cities at the time, both
were simply devastated since the Allied Powers bombed the heck out of them during World War
Two. Day after day of bombing after bombing after
bombing. At the end of the war, the good news was that
Hitler was dead, but the bad news was both cities were unrecognizable. The Allied Powers destroyed around 50% of
Munich and 90% of Berlin. This is why Berlin looks so modern today-
most of its older buildings didn’t survive the war, while Munich still has plenty of
older buildings. Anyway, both were occupied by the Allied Powers,
you know since ALL of Germany was. The Soviet Union controlled East Germany and
East Berlin, and Britain, France, and the United States controlled West Germany and
West Berlin, which was completely within East Germany. Now I’d argue that Munich was lucky, since
it was part of West Germany and quickly came back stronger than ever. Berlin continued to be a tense place. Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet
Union, started a blockade to Berlin so that the U.S., Britain, and France couldn’t get
supplies and food to their peoples there. Well, the U.S. and Britain broke that blockade
by smuggling in food and supplies anyway. This was known as the Berlin Airlift, and
really escalated the Cold War. During the Cold War, the democratic, capitalist-leaning
West Berlin and Munich did much better economically than the Communist East Berlin. Look, this is why so many East Berliners fled
to West Berlin, to a point where the East German government put up a wall between the
two on August 13, 1961, and made it so you had to go through checkpoints to travel back
and forth. That wall stood for 28 years, and during that
time around 80 people were killed trying to illegally cross from East to West Berlin. But yeah, after that wall was torn down and
Germany and Berlin reunited and communism fell, for the most part Berlin has been booming
ever since. A reunited Germany once again made Berlin
the capital. Then again, Munich had a big head start economically. Today, while Berlin has a higher GDP, Munich
has a better overall economy (B- €36,798 GDP per capita, M- €75,186 GDP per capita). Its unemployment rate is lower. (B- 8%, M- 5.4%) Berlin also has a higher crime rate overall,
and yes also has a higher poverty rate. (B- 18.2%, M- 12%) Sure, German is the language most spoken in
both, (hey that makes sense) but residents in Berlin speak a different dialect of German
than residents of Munich. The dialect you often hear in Munich, Bavarian,
is actually quite a bit different than standard German. Oh, if Munich residents want to speak standard
German they can, still with a Bavarian accent, of course. The largest religious group other than the
“nones” is EKD Protestants in Berlin and Roman Catholics in Munich. Berlin has slightly worse traffic. Munich is growing at a faster rate. Berlin has a much lower cost of living. That said, the cost of living there has been
sharply on the rise in recent years. Also, the average annual salary is higher
in Munich. (B-€49,000, M-€50,400) Major industries in Munich include technology,
electronics, automobile manufacturing, and media. In fact, Munich is the biggest publishing
city in all of Europe. Major industries in Berlin include retail,
information and communication technology, biotechnology, and transportation. Oh you don’t want to work? You just want to play? Well fine. Major attractions in Berlin include The Brandenburg
Gate, Museum Island, (I'm going to butcher the pronunciation on this, but)Gendarmenmarkt, and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Major attractions in Munich include Marienplatz
and the New Town Hall, the English Garden, Munich Residenz, and Nymphenburg Palace. Berlin also has Europe’s most visited zoo. Munich has mountains nearby, Berlin does not. Yep, those are the Alps. Munich is on the foothills of that dramatic
mountain range that cuts across Europe. Berlin is mostly flat, in an area of marshy
woodlands. Munich is more landlocked, right in the middle
of the continent, while Berlin is just over 200km from the Baltic Sea. Berlin has two international airports, Munich
just one. Berlin is known for its distinct neighborhoods
commonly referred to as Kiez, many formed around the remnants of neighborhoods not destroyed
during World War Two. Berlin has distinct shops, which are basically
convenience stores known for being open either very late or 24 hours a day called spätis. Spätis are not really much of a thing in
Munich. Most say Berlin has a better nightlife, but
Munich is famous for Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, which happens annually
from late September to the first Sunday in October. Well, not this year obviously due to this
dang pandemic. Oktoberfest features lots of, you know, drinking
beer, but also lots of amusement rides, games, great food, and other fun stuff. It’s a proud Bavarian tradition going back
to 1810. While perhaps it's obvious that football,
or soccer, is huge in both cities, Munich has Bayern Munich, the most successful club
in German football history. They’ve won 30 national titles and 20 national
cups, for crying out loud. Berlin has a lot more graffiti. I mean, Berlin is world famous for its street
art, and is just known as a magnet for creative people. And yeah, Munich does seem cleaner and more
low-key. Berlin has the Stolpersteine, or stumbling
stones on sidewalks all over the city that honor folks persecuted by the Nazis between
1933 and 1945. I guess I need to wrap this up. Ok, so culturally, Munich and Berlin do seem
different in many ways. Munich still has a bit of a snobby vibe, and
Berlin still has quite the hipster vibe, but one thing is for sure- both cities are no
doubt, two of the most desired places to live on the entire planet. This video is once again sponsored by Newsvoice because it's a great app. Newsvoice is my favorite place to look at the news. It's a free app that is breaking people out of those news bubbles and is revolutionizing the news landscape. Newsvoice gives you a personalized news feed by aggregating major news sites, including international and independent media. The best part about it? It shows multiple sources for the same stories and tags the bias and perspective of each source. You can upvote stories you find interesting, and add stories or links that are missing. So dig deeper and try Newsvoice by clicking the link in the description and pinned comment. Thanks to Newsvoice for sponsoring this video. A reminder to check out Willie’s video about
Berlin over on his channel KhAnubis. Since he has lived in Berlin, I definitely had
him look over this script, so thank you Willie for doing that. I don't know anyone from Munich, so if you ARE actually from Munich, I want to hear from you.
who lived in Munich, so if you’re from Munich, I wanna hear from ya. Let me know in the comments below. What did I get wrong, what did I get right? (pause) Wait a second, did I get anything
right? What am I doing with my life?
