This gene is one of our Geography Genes, which apply to artists who have lived in or were born in a particular region or country. You might wonder why we have combined these three countries into one gene. One reason is that they share a common language—German (Switzerland’s official languages, it should be noted, also include French, Italian, and Romansh) —and in many ways a cultural and political heritage. Germany and Austria were nearly united, then went to war in the 19th century, and finally Austria was absorbed into Germany under the Third Reich in 1933 While it may be controversial to “lump together” three distinct countries with distinctive regional differences, dialects, cultural accomplishments, etc., a brief look at the states that have exercised jurisdiction over Berlin throughout the course of its history highlights the difficulty of creating geography genes that correspond to any fixed, national boundaries. In chronological order, then, these are: the margraviate of Brandenburg, the German Empire, the Third Reich, the Soviet Occupied Zone and the three Allied Occupying powers (Britain, the United States and France), The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and now since 1990, just a re-united Federal Republic of Germany.