Berlin, August 16, 2012 Berlin has just cracked the 1.5 million mark on Facebook. This means that Berlin’s presence on Facebook is the by far most successful of a German city and the third largest city page throughout the world – after New York and Paris.

“The curiosity about Berlin is unbroken and Facebook is an ideal tool for communication,” says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. “Not only the extraordinary growth in terms of fan numbers, but in particular the high interaction with our fans reflects how Berlin is enthralling people throughout the world.”

“Our city is full of opportunities for talented people, entrepreneurs and investors,” says Melanie Bähr, the managing director for Berlin Partner GmbH. “The increasing enthusiasm for the German capital is reflected by the tremendous growth of our fan community. Facebook is an ideal platform to promote Berlin and conduct an intense dialogue with our fans.”

The capital’s promoters active and creative on the Internet

Since the million mark was exceeded at the end of last year, another 500,000 fans have clicked the “like” button of the Berlin Fanpage facebook.com/Berlin. A decisive element for the Facebook success of the city page is the creative interaction with the fans through effective posts such as the vote on a new profile picture, which reached 1.1 million users or attractive prize games, exclusively for the fans of the Berlin page.

“Berlin – the place to be” – new name for the Facebook profile page

The successful Berlin Fanpage on Facebook will be replaced today by the new name Berlin – the place to be instead of the previous destination name “Berlin.” Facebook decided in spring that fan pages cannot have the same name as a city, according to its rules. However, the change demanded by Facebook does not concern the URL. Consequently, facebook.com/Berlin continues to be available as leading web address.

Berlin fans are female and international

The majority of the Berlin fans are female (57.2%) and between 18 and 34 years old (34.1%). Little less than 26% of the fan community are accounted for by 18 to 34 year-old men. Berlin has its fans not only in Germany but all over the world: Berlin enthusiasts come mainly from Italy, Spain, Poland, USA, France and the United Kingdom.

As an important and efficient marketing tool for the capital, the Berlin page facebook.com/Berlin was launched by the beBerlin campaign in December 2009 and has been operated since the beginning of 2011 together with visitBerlin.