#245: IT trouble, mayor dating minister?, S-Bahn shutdown, anti-vaxxer judgement

Another iconic East German building bites the dust.

The Dark Rooms exhibition inhabits an old car factory at a secret location and is only up through February 4. Tickets are already sold-out but you might be able to get in by getting on the waiting list or by volunteering there for a few hours.

Dear 20 Percent,

I posted something on X about the Berlin government’s current computer problems (more below). NY Times theatre critic A.J. Goldmann responded:

“To paraphrase and tweak a judgement Bertolt Brecht made 100 years ago, ‘The dysfunction of Berlin distinguishes itself from all other dysfunction through its breathtaking shamelessness.’”

Brecht actually wrote “swindle” instead of “dysfunction”, but you get the point: Berlin has been a mess forever. A city of con-men and shifty characters, in both the private and public sector, marred by a mix of corruption and incompetence. And cloaked by the fact that it’s the capital of reputedly efficient Germany.

Despite this mess, now well-publicised around the world, young people, from tech-folk to culture-folk, keep moving here from abroad, and they’re largely attracted by the city’s smorgasbord of culture, nightlife and, probably more than anything, Berlin vibes, the famous Berliner Luft (“Berlin air”) that was talked about even in Brecht’s time.

But we’re gradually chipping away all that. The unnecessary A100 autobahn extension through Friedrichshain, as one example, will bulldoze loads of the city’s best clubs and venues when it gets built in the next few years. No more indie nightlife.

Add to that the ongoing housing crisis and at SOME point, Berlin life ain’t gonna look all that attractive to foreign artists, entrepreneurs and others. And without its vast, fluctuating international communities, Berlin is little more than a rather dull collection of buildings built on a swamp.

News below!

Maurice

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Citizen services crash

The Bürgeramter, the frontline of Berlin bureaucracy, have been crippled by a database issue for days, drawing ridicule on expat social media — but surprisingly little outrage in local media. At least the left-wing outlet taz put out the headline “Analogue but sexy”, in reference to ex-mayor Klaus Wowereit’s (SPD) one-time proclamation that Berlin was “poor but sexy”. Most Bürgeramt services were unavailable between Christmas and New Year’s and many appointments had to be pushed back. However, Bürgeramter were open on January 2 for basic services such as registering a flat — using old-school pen-and-paper methods. At the time of writing, services such as applying for ID cards, and passports were still facing problems and largely unavailable. It’s supposed to be fixed next week, the Senat (the city government) said, according to RBB. The timing of the software fail is unfortunate as the normally overstretched and understaffed Bürgeramter are particularly overstretched and understaffed because bureaucrats are preparing for the partial repeat of the 2021 Bundestag election in Berlin in February (because we screwed that up too). It’s also unfortunate because I have an appointment on Tuesday. Daumen gedrückt (Fingers crossed).

Mayor dating education minister? And so what?

According to Tagesspiegel, it’s been an open secret in the Berlin CDU for months: a romantic relationship between Mayor Kai Wegner and his education minister Katharina Günther-Wünsch, both members of that party. Germans could normally care less about the private lives of pols, but the fact that Wegner hired Günther-Wünsch and is her boss is rather awkward. Complaints about nepotism are bubbling to the surface. Wegner recently asked all departments to tighten their belts, except the interior affairs office and Günther-Wünsch’s education department. Eyebrows raised. The rumour mill only really got going over the Christmas break when Wegner announced he was separating from his long-time partner and mother of their children, prompting a parliamentary question about whether the rumours of a romantic relationship were true. Neither politician has commented publicly.

Six weeks no north-south S-Bahn

The north-south S-bahn, specifically the stretch between Gesundbrunnen and Südkreuz, will be out-of-service for six weeks from Friday, thanks to work in the tunnel. The affected lines are the S1, S2, S25 and S26. You’ll have to board two separate replacement buses (Schienenersatzverkehr 😩) to travel between the two stations — the S1A takes you from Südkreuz to Friedrichstraße, the S1B from Friedrichstraße to Gesundbrunnen. Don’t ask me why they couldn’t just set up one bus line. If you need to traverse the city from north to south, you’re probably better off taking the U6.

Anti-vaxxer found guilty of incitement

A Berlin judge has convicted 62-year-old vocational teacher Rüdiger B. of incitement for posting two inflammatory anti-vaccination videos on YouTube in summer 2021, according to Tagesspiegel. He was fined €3,000. The phrase “Impfen macht frei” appears in one of the videos, an obvious reference to the “Arbeit macht frei” sign over the gate of the Ausschwitz death camp. In a second video, Rüdiger B. directly compares government corona policies to the Holocaust, a sure-fire way to get you busted in Germany. The defendant was laid off from his post as media studies teacher at a Berlin vocational school immediately after he was accused of the charges by state prosecutors in mid-August 2021 — and later won €72,000 in damages for wrongful termination but did not get his job back.

Berliners hack Tesla

This story broke before the holidays, but it’s worth a mention, because it shows Berliners do sometimes possess technical competence: A trio of security researchers at the Technical Univsersity (TU) say they hacked into Tesla electronics that control the cars’ autopilot. Students Christian Werling, Niclas Kühnapfel, and Hans-Niklas Jacob deployed a device that creates a “voltage glitch”, according to Cybernews. Access to the circuit board made it possible to extract code and user data from the system and even found a video from a previous driver including GPS data. The researchers said they were able to activate “Elon mode” aka the car controlling itself without any driver monitoring whatsoever. The hardware hack was only possible in a TU lab, so Tesla owners need not worry.

Factoid

The SEZ in 1987. Photo: Gerd Danigel, CC BY-SA 4.0

Another East German landmark will soon vanish forever: the SEZ (Sport- und Erholungszentrum) at the corner of Landsberger Alle and Danziger Straße in Friedrichshain. The leisure centre included an indoor waterpark with saunas and a cutting-edge wave pool. It opened in 1981, but has lain dormant since 2002, with the exception of some spaces used for bowling, badminton and table tennis. Berlin sold the whole place to an investor for €1 20 years ago. But following years of legal back-and-forth, last year the SEZ fell back into the hands of the Senat, which plans to demolish the complex and build 500 apartments and a school.

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