The bear is the mascot animal of Berlin, and we saw many decorative bears like this one up and down the famous central avenue of Berlin, "Unter den Linden" (Under the Lime Trees, of which there are many planted along the center of the street). Some of these bears were decorated quite bizzarely!

The Japanese Animation fans reading this will also remember that Hayao Miyazaki's recent film, Spirited Away won a "Golden Bear" award at the Berlin Film Festival. Well, now you know why the festival award is a bear!

Berliner Bear