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In the early 2000s Berlin teetered on the edge of insolvency. Burdened by reunification’s hangover—soaring unemployment, a creaking housing market and yawning budget deficits—the city risked collapse. Enter Klaus Wowereit, newly elected Mayor and master of the soundbite. In 2003 he quipped, “Berlin is poor, but sexy,” reframing municipal misery as a badge of creative freedom. He served from 2001 to 2014.