It is particularly interesting to see the different way in which the two major cities relate to their geography. 

In earlier maps of Berlin, the Tiergarten appeared typically not in the middle but way to the left, reserving the center of the drawing for the historical core of the city, let's say between Parisier Platz with its Brandeburg Gate and Alexanderplatz with its Soviet-era TV Tower.

After the war, Berlin was in ruins and its reconstruction became the first--and no doubt foremost--exercise in Cold War urbanism.

Not long after the end of the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) Berlin embarked in the construction of massive defensive system of walls and bastions in the star-shaped Renaissance manner.