The City of Chances

They say Berlin is the city where you can be and become whatever you want to. Be it a Sneakerhead owning a shoe label, a family business with the oldest takeaway in town, or a Dutch model who left New York to pursue her love for producing electronic music.

Every story different, yet united by the city they are all written in. As we're currently in the capital of the land of poets and thinkers to finish our debut season, also the most intense finale in motorsport history, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet these inspiring people. People, who like us, are passionate for what drives them, to learn more about themselves and the special city in which they live.

Born and raised in Berlin, Hikmet Sugoer almost feels like belonging to a minority. It appears to him as if most people living in Berlin are nothing but not born here. So, what is it that makes this city so appealing to people from all around the world? It's diverse – that's one thing that makes it the best city in the world for Hikmet: "There is something for everybody. "Each district stands for a different way of living. Whether you prefer a snobby lifestyle, a party-like one, or just a calm family life. If you want to live a happy life, you will undoubtedly find it here.”

Not only one, but three-lifetime stories is what Family Konnopke can share. Running the oldest takeaway in Berlin with over 90 year’s history, this family's journey is the perfect example of what chances German's capital offers to everyone. Looking back in history, the family learned to adjust to the ever-changing city. Despite all of the challenges that the business was thrown during these 90 years, Family Konnopke’s perseverance paid off - it is now run by three generations.

And it's this diversity again, that makes Berlin unique to Family Konnopke. Between a city with all its trouble and noise, one can quickly retreat to places surrounded by nature: "It's like flipping a switch."

Like Dutch Model Estella Boersma, who flipped her career to pursue her real passion – making electronic music, "I never felt more at home in a city than I feel in Berlin." Here, she found what even cities like Amsterdam or New York couldn't offer her: space, time to breathe and to learn how to produce music. It's the fast pace at which this city is changing whilst, in the meantime, allowing anyone to take their time, which makes it unique to her. Even as someone not born in Berlin, the city's diversity is what makes it so versatile not only to Estella, but also Family Konnopke and Hikmet.

With someone like Estella, a young woman who found herself a new home in Berlin to fulfil herself; a Sneakerhead turning his passion into a profession to the point of owning a shoe label; and, a family business withstanding every political and cultural shift over the last 90 years – we feel like this is the place to be for us to finish our debut season. Welcome to the City of Chances.