West Berlin
5
5.1
- proper noun
:
Berlín Occidental
- On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all highway, rail, and water routes to West Berlin.
- Free University West Berlin
- West Berlin Free
Examples
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Well into the seventies, those who lived in West Berlin felt themselves to be the endangered outpost of democracy.
Academic text (1992) -
In 1975, he and his family left East Germany for West Berlin, where he eventually studied philosophy and art history.
Fiction book (2002) -
No, but I had a little trouble in West Berlin.
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We will take over West Berlin.
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If you wish, I can call for a car and you could be in West Berlin in half an hour.
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My father met her when she was performing modern dance in a club in West Berlin.
Fiction book (1997) -
For half a century, the city of West Berlin was something of an ecological island.
Fiction book (1990) -
Among the contacted parties was the West Berlin correspondent of Reuters.
Academic text (2013) -
I'm talking to you from Tegel Airfield in West Berlin.
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During the Cold War, West Berlin was a symbol of freedom and democracy.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'West Berlin' is a straightforward compositional combination of 'west' + 'Berlin' meaning the western part of the city, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the core locational sense. Although the specific historical/political status (occupation by Allies until reunification) is extra encyclopedic detail that is not derivable from the words, the basic meaning is transparent and cross-linguistically obvious.
Etymology
West Berlin was the name given after World War II to the western part of the city that the United States, Britain and France controlled. Because it was like an 'island' of the West inside East Germany and cut off by the Berlin Wall, the name now brings to mind the Western-controlled part of Berlin until Germany became one country again in 1990.