The Analogies for Berlin

Berlin isn't a center of leading industries the way say New York or London or Paris would be but it's also something more than a merely political capital. So what cities do come to mind? You mentioned Chicago but that seemed to be more an analog with the kind of late 19th century industrial period. I was beginning to think is it a little bit like Hong Kong, which has now been very fundamentally overtaken by Pearl River Delta region and Shanghai as a financial center.