Berlin’s partnership with Los Angeles dates back to 27 June 1967.
Originally launched by former Berliners who had emigrated to the U.S. and worked in the film industry, our partnership has led to a steady exchange, thanks to many individual activities, projects, and visits to both cities. Culture and the arts have always been a priority, and countless exhibitions and guest performances by theater companies or musicians have taken place over the years. Cooperative projects in film and television played a major role from the very beginning. Berlin’s Film Museum (Filmmuseum Berlin) has long-standing, close ties to Hollywood, and our sister city has strong ties to Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Studio Babelsberg as well.
Another mainstay of our partnership is sharing our experience in areas like urban development, architecture, public administration, judicial practice, and the work of police officers and firefighters, to name just a few. The zoos in Berlin and Los Angeles also work together and organize staff exchanges. Both Los-Angeles-Platz, a square near Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm, and the Berlin Forest in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park are visible signs of the friendship between our two cities.
Economic ties; knowledge sharing in the areas of climate action, environmental protection, and renewable energy; and cooperation in the startup sector and vocational education are growing in importance. Cooperation partners in Berlin include the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Families; Berlin Partner for Business and Technology; visitBerlin; the Adlershof business and technology park; the Berliner Energieagentur; and Cleantech Business Park Berlin. Los Angeles partners include the World Trade Center Association Los Angeles (WTCALA), the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC ).
On 20 September 2022, Berlin Partner joined forces with the Berlin Business Office USA and other partners in Los Angeles to mark the 55th anniversary of our city partnership with a “Berlin meets Los Angeles” business event, where more than 50 experts focused on smart mobility technologies. Due to the mayoral election in Los Angeles held in November 2022, no high-ranking official visits were made in connection with the anniversary.
In the interest of involving as many people as possible from both cities, the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation – established by the state of Berlin in 1994 – assists with and funds sister city projects not initiated by the Berlin state government. The foundation carries out a number of annual programs in the context of the Berlin – Los Angeles partnership, including activities organized in cooperation with the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
You can find more information at www.cc-stiftung.de.
