The open-air exhibition celebrating the 775th birthday of Berlin has drawn 250,000 visitors in its two months. Opening on 25 August for the Long Night of Museums, the show has reflected the “nerve of people from every era”, said the head of Kulturprojekte Berlin (Berlin Culture Projects), Moritz van Dülmen, on Friday.

Enlarge image Berlin celebrates 775 years (© Kulturprojekte Berlin) The official highlight city celebration took place on 28 October – the exact date 775 years ago when the village of Cölln, which later fused with old Berlin to create what is now the heart of Germany’s capital city, was first mentioned. The origin and migration history of Berlin had been brought to public attention in unusual ways throughout the historic center of Berlin over the past two months, said van Dülmen.

Enlarge image 'City of Variety' exhibition in front of the Berlin Cathedral (© picture-alliance/ dpa) The projects were accompanied by numerous excavation tours with archaeologists, as well as a lecture and film programme on the Middle Ages. Schlossplatz, the site of both the former Hohezollern palace and the East German parliament, was a particular highlight of the eventh. A walkable city map, scaled at 1:775, at the currently vacant city plot-come-park, was visited by 2,500 visitors daily, estimated van Dülmen. The 154 immigration stories displayed there was an impressive show of Berlin's growth, dynamism and vitality, demonstrating that the city has always been cultivated through immigration and cultural exchange, the director added. Tourists especially liked the idea that Berlin was a city of immigration, he added.

Enlarge image The original document with the first documentary mention of Berlin (© picture-alliance/ ZB) Hundreds of visitors were able to tell their own stories, which were then displayed on the edge of the map. One of the more eye-catching features of the installation was the 3-metre-high pins stuck in the map attached with stories and other information. Each pin acted as a kind of orientation point for the 2,500 square-meter Berlin city map. Accompanying the map installation is a book (available in German: "Von Hugenotten, Russen, Türken und anderen Berlinern – 775 Jahre gelebte Vielfalt"), which is a compilation of the research and uncommon stories found in the exhibition.

At dusk on 28 October, around 7pm, the French artists from “Companie Carabosse” and the theatre group “Titanick” put on a twilight fire show in the area between Schlossplatz, the old town area of the Nikolaiviertel and the Berlin TV Tower. The two month-long celebration exhibition came to a close with fire-breathing sculptures, lighted garlands and flaming pots.

Read more: berlin.de