Philosopher Walter Benjamin posited in 1935 that while Paris was the capital of the nineteenth century, Berlin was the capital of the twentieth. With this idea in mind, we will examine texts from and about Berlin throughout the last century. We will move from the turn of the century (when the city's population had recently tripled in size) to the establishing of Berlin as a world capital in the 1920s, then through Nazi-era transformations, wartime destruction, and the postwar East/West division of the city. We will conclude with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the return of the German capital to the increasingly multicultural city, and the Love Parade (the annual event for which Berlin is best known among youth around the world). Films and readings may include Walter Ruttmann's Berlin, die Sinfonie einer Grosstadt, Irmgard Keun's Das kunstseidene Madchen, Peter Schneider's Der Mauerspringer, Tom Tykwer's Lola rennt, and Thomas Brussig, Am kurzeren Ende der Sonnenallee, and various online resources. Readings and discussion in German. Format: seminar. Requirements: frequent short writing assignments, all of which will be revised in consultation with the instructor, take-home midterm and final exams. Prerequisite: German 201 or equivalent. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 8). This course is writing intensive.