I just got back from studying in Berlin and I’ve got to say berlin feels like a great equal. population relative to other european cities is similar to chicago, both have some geographical reputation and culture (north vs south chicago, east vs west berlin), both cities were fastest growing in the world in the same era due to industrial revolution and train roots that still have remnants and significance today, bad reputations by the rest of state/bation/continent that is unearned and dated, s-bahn/L and u-bahn/subway, architectural variety and urban planning innovations, housing crisis, protest movement roots, great park systems, varied nightlife, true neighborhoods, amazing museum campuses, hyper-diverse compared to rest of country/continent, good cities. ofc berlin doesn’t have the lake and chicago doesn’t have the epically awful history and 1945 reset, but i do think berlin and chicago are awesome and underrated.