#196: Pool IDs, Tesla expanding, Social workers

How many clubs does Berlin have?

Great, now I’m hungry. Photo: Olaf via Creative Commons.

Hey 20 Percent!

I’ve got a tip for the heat, just in case you’re looking for tips. Many of you will already know about this secret German weapon but if you don’t — you’re welcome.

Go out and get yourself a spaghetti ice cream. At first, sure, it’s an example of goofy German humor — it’s called spaghettieis because it’s ice cream that looks like a spag bol. But when you get your first bite of the whipped cream frozen beneath the vanilla ice cream, you’ll realize you’re never leaving Berlin (if you haven’t already).

If you’d like to help fund my future spaghettieis (mostly vegan these day) endeavors, you could donate to our little project at our Patreon or buy a 20 Percent mug.

And, as always, please check out this issue’s sponsor, Expath, below.

Have a good week!

Andrew

Speedos don’t have room for IDs

Visitors to all Berlin pools now need to present a photo ID, though press reports say enforcement is, like all enforcement in Berlin, lax. The Columbiabad (officially Sommerbad Neukölln) also re-opened Monday after a sick-out among exasperated staff closed the open-air pool for a week, according to Taz. Workers were tired of what they called the “psychological terrorism” some guests were inflicting on them. Security has also been beefed up at all swimming pools and the cops regularly erect temporary cop shops at more troublesome locations. The slide and diving tower at Columbiabad also remain closed.

Tesla getting huge in Brandenburg

You notice some weird things when you read Berlin’s major media every day. Like how Tagesspiegel Monday made a big deal out of Tesla expanding its new plant in Grünheide southeast of Berlin to make 1 million cars per year, up from current capacity of 500,000. The paper claimed it was the only one to have that information — even though RBB had reported on the expansion a week earlier. I know that’s maybe only interesting to fellow journalists, but it seemed weird. Tesla says they can expand the plant, which currently only produces about 250,000 cars a year, without tapping additional water sources in Brandenburg (northern Germany is running out of water). How? By recycling all their water — they currently only recycle about 65% of it. When done, the plant would be the biggest automotive plant in car-crazy Germany and would require the hiring of 22,500 new employees. Where will they live?

Money for social projects after all

Remember the hullabaloo at New Years? Where people were tossing fireworks at cops? Then-mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) freed up millions for new resources in Berlin’s troubled neighborhoods in response and that money is now being spent — the city hired 60 new social workers to pitch in at 67 elementary, 7 high and 6 vocational schools, according to Berliner Woche. Fifteen new “district mothers” have also been hired to help needy families.

The salary survey

Are you making what you should be making? Igor Ranc over at Handpicked Berlin recently did a salary survey and though the results may not be scientific, they’re interesting. The average annual salary among those who participated is €71,470, and over 90% are full-time employees. Go check it out, data nerd!

Factoid

I wouldn’t normally publish this poor of a photo of Icon but this is basically what I saw every time I was there. Photo: Caspa via Creative Commons

Berlin had 85 clubs in 2021 and 325 locations to catch live music, according to the Clubcommission’s Clubkataster, or club map. The map is an attempt to document where Berliners like to party to prevent developers from building on the sites and forcing the locations out. It’s based on the demise of my all-time favorite club, Icon in Prenzlauer Berg, which was forced out by a new residential project (the club moved and became Gretchen in Kreuzberg).

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