The third generation storage ring BESSY II is in operation since 1999 and provides ultrabright photon beams from the long wavelength Terahertz region to hard X-rays with complete control of the energy range and the polarization of the radiation. The facility is operated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. A LINAC (LINear ACcelerator) injecting into the full energy synchrotron boosteris currently under commissioning, in preparation of the implementation offull top-upmode scheduled for the second half of 2012. In order to further improve the stability of the beam,a fast orbit feedback systemwill be implemented in 2012. With its more than 50 beamlines, BESSY II offers a multi-faceted mixture of experimental opportunities: unique undulators provide circular and rotating-linear polarization; world record energy resolution (e.g. > 100.000 at 60 eV) has been demonstrated by BESSY II beamlines. Experimental facilities include state-of-the-art x-ray microscopy, x-ray polarimetry, spectromicroscopy, high-resolution photon and electron spectroscopy, nanotechnology (e.g. x-ray lithography), and pump-probe spectroscopy with temporal resolution ranging from 50ps down to 100fs at the uniqueslicing facility. Recently, HZB has extended its suite of state-of-the-art experimental chambers for the studies of liquids by the new measuring chamber for x-ray emission spectroscopy of free micro-liquid jets,LiXEdrom. The combination of brightness and time resolution makes BESSY II the ultimate microscope for space and time, since both femtosecond time and picometer spatial resolutions are available.