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Messe Berlin is a service company specializing in the organization of regional, national, and international trade shows, exhibitions, and conventions. With a program of nearly 80 international trade events taking place at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds each year, Messe Berlin ranks as one of the world's top ten exhibition companies. The trade show and convention industry is a key economic factor in the Berlin-Brandenburg area. It attracts significant buying power and brings in additional tax revenues. Trade shows and conventions play an important part in Berlin's role as an international center of communications and commerce.
The city of Berlin lies in the middle of the state of Brandenburg, just a few miles from countless lakes, historical castles, stately homes, abbeys, heaths, pine forests, river valleys and tree-lined country roads. Few cities have such a wealth of unspoiled natural and cultural attractions in the direct vicinity. Berlin is linked to its surrounding areas both by the Spree and Havel rivers and by their common historical heritage, reflected in the many fascinating sights.
The reunited city of Berlin is once again the capital of Germany. Berlin was almost bombed out of existence during World War II, its streets reduced to piles of rubble, its parks to muddy swampland. But the optimistic spirit and strength of will of the remarkable Berliners enabled them to survive not only the wartime destruction of their city, but also its postwar division, symbolized by the Berlin Wall.
Structures of steel and glass tower over streets where before only piles of rubble lay, and parks and gardens are again lush. Even now, in the daily whirl of working, shopping, and dining along the Ku'damm, Berliners encounter reminders of less happy days. At the end of the street stands the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, with only the shell of the old neo-Romanesque bell tower remaining. In striking contrast is the new church, constructed west of the old tower in 1961, in a futuristic design.
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