Several friends are headed to Berlin this week to study a few real estate development projects there. That seemed like a good excuse to make a short video about the past century of commercial real estate in Berlin. This is a departure from my “interview” style, and won’t be the norm, but I think it’s a helpful introduction. The city has gotten a lot of attention lately and this is the background story to all that attention.

In case you’re headed there any time soon, here’s are a few things I also shared with them. My map of must-see, must-eat locations. A map of where the wall was. A somewhat cliché but nonetheless helpful article about Berlin in The Economist. A somewhat quirky video on the history of techno in Berlin (which reveals a lot about its recent history, even relating to real estate). My notes on some of the daily, surface differences one encounters in a first visit to Germany. And finally a hysterical article about their famed customer service. If you want to really deep regarding culture, pick up this tome, The German Genius. I’ve spent half a decade there and learned something new on every page. Incredibly well-researched.