We had a blast
at our last get-together, and thanks to everyone coming (here are a few photos). We decided that we will continue with the series, but sharpen the format. I hope you celebrated the 3rd of October without the realisation, “oh, shit, it's a holiday so the shops are closed.” Happy reunification, Germany!
This newsletter venture is constantly improving, and I have a surprise for you, for now still in the "In brief" section ("MP asked"). Let me know what you think in the poll. I believe we need to get closer to the policy makers and demand better and more!
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📌 Pinned
Berlin has always been broke. I've previously pointed to the excellent documentary Capital B, which gives you some great context from the 90s. In a nutshell: extremely poor and also corrupt governance.
Coalition pre-talks (apparently a thing) are still going on between Linke, Greens and SPD. Nothing is official yet. But the budget numbers look pretty shit. An internal finance administration paper says Berlin has to save €4.3B in 2028 and about €5B each in 2029 and 2030 [more, €]. Linke calls the numbers politically motivated and says it has a plan (€): higher property and trade taxes plus a new luxury villa tax, more borrowing, and a balanced budget only by 2034. The SPD warns the debt brake won't allow it. The media offensive against Linke does seem pretty pathetic, and I am an Economist subscriber.
After Söder's push, CDU/CSU leaders in the other states want to cut Berlin's money if Linke governs. What about Saxony-Anhalt and AfD, Mr Söder?
🗞 Berlin
Our AI workshops sold out, so we opened a couple of extra spots: we will build two products and help you understand how you can best use AI (Sat, 10th and Tue, 13th of October). We have also opened registrations for coworking day at The Delta at the end of the month. Join us.
From January, the Deutschlandticket will cost €66.80 a month, €3.80 more. For the first time, that's more than €800 a year. Almost €1 of the rise is there only because the federal and state subsidy is frozen until 2030, while the fuel discount costs €2.5B for just three months, almost as much as the D-Ticket's entire annual subsidy of €3B. Yikes.
Who doesn't love a good day party? Time Out named Sisyphos Europe's best nightclub. If you haven't been yet you should definitely check it out, especially on Sundays. Berghain didn't make the list, but I am guessing they don't care.
Ripieno is a great authentic Italian on the border between Kreuzberg and Schöneberg. I liked pinsa, pasta (Cacio e Pepe was solid; I would prefer the sauce a bit more saucy, but the dish is really hard to serve perfectly) and tiramisu. You should probably reserve on the busy days/times.
And if you reserve, show up. Berlin's commitment issues trickle from relationships over to events and reservations. It has the third-highest restaurant no-show rate among German cities, after Karlsruhe and Frankfurt, according to OpenTable (via TS). Restaurants fight back by charging for reservations; I fight back by always charging for events.
The parliament will get smaller: after a recount in Spandau, AfD's Tommy Tabor won the direct mandate by 35 votes instead of CDU's Bettina Meißner. That cuts the size of the parliament (Abgeordnetenhaus) from 158 to 153 seats: two fewer for Linke, one fewer each for CDU, SPD and Greens.
Last week I mentioned the Koçak affair. He now explained what happened with the Rammos. If we are to believe him, it’s all a coincidence. These situations always make me think about all those chats and messages that never become public.
Stats: Berlin's average age is 42.8, the second-youngest state after Hamburg (42.3; Germany: 45). The youngest districts are Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (39.5), the oldest Steglitz-Zehlendorf (46.7).
In brief
Flink (Berlin, grocery delivery) was hacked, and customers are now being extorted [more].
A few weeks ago Axel Springer (Berlin, media) gave Peter Thiel its Axel Springer Award. The journalists' union DJV calls it a betrayal of values.
Pliant (Berlin, fintech) recently doubled its revenue [more, €].
Galeria (Essen, department stores) is insolvent for the fourth time in six years. Related, competitor Bauhaus can take over three Hellweg stores in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Tagesspiegel: a landlord of a Spandau estate wants to sneak through rent rises of up to 60% [more, €].
Trains between Berlin and Hannover will take detours until the end of 2027 [more]. You will need 80 min more.
After a dispute with its landlord, the AfD has to vacate its Berlin headquarters, and staff are working from home [more]. They are actually struggling to find a new office space in central Berlin, because landlords don’t want the drama that comes with it.
Tagesspiegel: Görlitzer Park stays open at night after the court rejects the Senate's appeal [more].
Studio Babelsberg (Potsdam, film production) opened two new studios [more].
Rogacki (Berlin, deli) returns by opening a stand in the Markthalle Neun.
An unheated basement for about €200 rent, anyone? Studio spaces are up for grabs at the RAW-Gelände [more, €]. And you can possibly keep it for 30 years!
rbb24: renovating the Philharmonie could cost €800M [more].
The Berlin Marathon has a new title sponsor: Generali replaced BMW. According to a Nielsen Sports study, the race generated about €469M in value for the city in 2024.
Consumer prices are up. Berlin +3.4% and Brandenburg +3.6%.
Tagesspiegel: a pig on a spit outraged residents in the row over barbecue rules in Volkspark Friedrichshain [more, €].
MPs (Members of Parliament) asked whether the Reich Chancellery bunker on Voßstraße could become a memorial: no, the Senate backs the owner's plans for offices and flats [more].
An MP asked how long the applications for Elterngeld take: 1-10 weeks depending on the district. It's slowest in Mitte and Spandau [more].
An MP asked what's done about wild boars in south-east Berlin: hunting is often unsafe in residential areas, so fences and secured bins are up to owners [more].
Should "MP asked" stay in the newsletter?
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☕️ Coffee talk
Dinara Bekmagambetova is one of the readers of the newsletter with a fascinating passion project of reading a book from every country in the world -- she writes about the books on her Substack. My Slovenian book tip was "I saw her that night" by Drago Jančar. Here is what she prepared for you:
EthnoYurt - I was glad when this restaurant opened, because I can finally recommend a place with good Kazakh food. I can testify that they serve a decent laghman (Uighur hand-pulled noodles) and bauyrsak (fluffy savoury doughnuts that go with everything). They also serve the traditional Kazakh noodles with horsemeat - besbarmak.
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe - Nonfiction that reads like a horrifying psychological thriller - it's insane what wealthy people can get away with. I devoured it in three days and highly recommend it.
Volunteering opportunities in Berlin - It's a website where you can find volunteering opportunities of all kinds in every Land in Germany. Since I registered, I've partnered with a library to read stories aloud to children in Lichtenberg, and started giving free German lessons for Ukrainian refugees. Giving back to the community is incredibly rewarding.
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🌿 Worth your time
The Test is an excellent post by Jürgen Geuter aka tante about us being tested all the time. "You state something outrageous for example “Lake Ontario is now called Lake America”. People should laugh at you because that is absurd. But some people will instantly call it Lake America (like Google changing what Google Maps says)." Are we really at the point in time where the absurdly rich and powerful are not challenged by mainstream media anymore? Likely.
Related, at least now the football world has united against a common enemy: Manchester City (in short: UAE sportswashing and cheating in the Premier League). The consequences of the rich and powerful doing whatever they please should be massive or else...see the previous point.
NOBODY in this world needs glasses with a camera. Yet, here we are:
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😅 Meanwhile
except in June, July and August
Weekly social
LinkedIn: there was backlash and the Strandkorb (a hooded wicker beach chair) is now gone, but this really is an unbelievably good parody of a modern career politician, Philipp Amthor, now Minister of State for federal–state cooperation.
Reddit: Reichstag during the renovation in 1995/1996. Right after Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped it in summer 1995, Norman Foster's team gutted everything but the outer walls. The Bundestag held its first session in the rebuilt building, glass dome included, on 19 April 1999.
Reddit: recommendations for expensive but poor quality places in Berlin for your enimy. I will explain “enimy” in the next issue. But interesting that Sphere and Coccodrillo are hated so much. Another question is how much does an average Redditor know about food?
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