Denmark

When I checked into my hotel on a recent trip to Berlin, I was surprised to find a little shop next door called Hygge. It was a Danish theme store, right in the middle of the German capital city. It had soft pillows, candles, wooden figurines, and other home items designed to create a cozy Copenhagen atmosphere in the raw rough streets of Berlin.

Of course, it’s not uncommon for one city to have tiny tributes to a different city. After all, Copenhagen has a Berlin Bar, and a clothing store called New Yorker, and an Old Irish Pub. But it inspired me to compare the two cities, Copenhagen and Berlin, two national capitals which are relatively close – less than an hour’s flight – but very different in spirit.

In my youth in Berlin

Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I used to live in Berlin, long before I lived in Copenhagen. This was when I was young and pretty, so quite some time ago, and at the time Berlin was a demilitarized zone, which meant that military draft notices could not be sent there.

That meant that a lot of young German men from around the country chose to live in Berlin as an alternative to joining the army, which meant that the male-to-female ratio at any party was very much in my favor.

Copenhagen vs Berlin

Berlin was fun and exciting then, and it’s fun and exciting now. It has much more of a nightlife scene than Copenhagen, being one of the capitals of techno music, and more of a classical culture scene too.

Berlin has eight symphony orchestras and three opera companies, in part because in the days when the wall was up and the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin, there had to be an opera company on both sides, and symphony orchestras on both sides.

Berlin also has two zoos, one in the West and one in the East.

Copenhagen has one opera company, and one zoo.

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