Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany. The city is one of Germany's 16 federal states.

The first records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in 1237 and Berlin, across the river Spree in 1244. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod.

The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) is a museum for modern art, designed in 1962 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Construction began in 1965 and was completed after almost three years in 1968, one year before Mies’ death.

The Neue Nationalgalerie is the only building that Mies van der Rohe built in Germany after the Second World War. The square pavilion, a steel and glass structure, sits on a 105 × 110 meter granite terrace that compensates for the slight slope along the banks of the Landwehr Canal. The square roof, which dominates the building, measures 64.8 meters in length.

Due to extensive renovation work on the museum was closed for five years at the beginning of 2015. The renovation cost approximately 140 million euros.