Berlin: Capital of a unified Germany and home of World Cup final

May 17, 2006, 15:50 GMT

Berlin - Germany`s capital city will host four group matches, including defending champions Brazil's opening match against Croatia, a quarter-final as well as the final itself.

The matches will be played at the city`s Olympic stadium, home of Hertha Berlin, which was originally built to host the 1936 Olympic Games and was renovated between 2000 and 2004 at a cost of 240 million euros (282 million dollars) to produce a state of the art 75,000 all-seater stadium.

With more than three million inhabitants, Berlin will be a popular destination for any fans travelling to Germany as it has a cultural life that places it among the most attractive in the world.

The Brandenburg Gate is probably the city`s most well-known monument but Berlin also houses the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament.

Reminders of the most frightening period of Berlin`s history, when it was the power centre of Adolf Hitler`s Nazi dictatorship, are permanently present in such exhibitions as 'The Topography of Terror', which runs in the old central headquarters of the Gestapo.

There is also the Daniel Libeskind designed Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Monument, which document the genocide against the country`s Jews.

In the west of the city, the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche (Commemorative Church) serves as a permanent reminder to the destructive power of war.

In 1961, the city was divided in two systems by the Berlin Wall and although parts of it remain since the country was reunited in 1990, Checkpoint Charlie, arguably the most well-known control point during the Cold War, can still be seen.

Berlin has a very international feel to it with a community of 460,0000 foreigners, of which more than 100,000 are Turkish.

Group games:

June 13: Brazil v Croatia
June 15: Sweden v Paraguay
June 20: Ecuador v Germany
June 23: Ukraine v Tunisia

Quarter-finals:

June 30: W49 v W50

Final:

July 9: W61 v W62