#317: Crazy car thefts, striking teachers, pigeons
Your Kaufhof is now a Lidl, and we're all better for it
Dear 20 Percent,
German really is an all-or-nothing culture. Just look at the weather.
Last week I was considering permanently installing a fan under my desk and was getting used to spending Sundays in my favorite Brandenburg lake to keep cool.
Now I’m wearing a wool sweater and looking longingly at my long underwear.
The fall weather is supposedly here to stay and it may get rainy again, so maybe see if you can find a vintage rain jacket. You look really good in one.
Andrew
This is the last time I will shill for my German comedy show ‘Aus Versehen Deutsch’ because there are only a few tickets left and it’s next Thursday at Downstairs Comedy Club, if you speak German and like to laugh. Tickets here if you missed the link (feel free to book the discount tix because you’re a 20 Percent reader).
Daycares considering permanent strike
Teachers at Berlin’s public daycares will vote on a potential unlimited strike after the city-state refused to discuss a new labor contract — the teachers want seven hours of planning per week (for organization and parent meetings) as well as a set ratio of teachers per children, according to RBB24. Berlin says it can’t negotiate a contract directly as it’s part of a broader state-level labor network. About 2,000 teachers struck Thursday and plan to stop work next Thursday ahead of the vote for an unlimited strike. The teachers have struck since April and their actions are leading to lower enrollment as parents opt for private providers with fewer strikes. Are you looking for a kita spot? Readers reached out this week to tell us of openings in two bi-lingual Kitas in Prenzlauer Berg — Kita Billabong and Zebra Kita, which I can recommend as both my kids went there.
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That’s a lot of stolen cars
It’s little surprising that Berlin is the capital of car thefts in Germany but the numbers are actually shocking — about 4,300 cars were stolen last year in the Hauptstadt, according to Handelsblatt, or essentially one very two hours(!). It’s a jump of 46% over 2022 when we were dealing with a pandemic. In North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, just 2,915 cars were stolen and in Bavaria, Germany’s most beer and white sausage state, a scant 596. The cops say Berlin’s pro-level organized crime and proximity to Eastern Europe are to blame. At least we’re good at some things.
I like Lidl more anyway
The discussion about the contentious and ambitious reconstruction of the department store on Hermannplatz has now degenerated into a discussion about its future since the perenially troubled Kaufhof deparment store chain is once again troubled. The groundfloor of the store will now become a Lidl, according to RBB24, proof that Germany prefers discount corn flakes to upscale clothing brands. The Kaufhof on Kurfürstendamm will also get a groundfloor Lidl. And those buildings should count their blessings as three other Kaufhofs in Berlin will just close — Lichtenberg, Tempelhof and Spandau. The stores are now called ‘Galeria’ after the chain was bought by a US investor last spring. Kaufhof has been stumbling for decades because shoppers prefer smaller boutiques and online stores to one-stop stores that offer everything from bikes to clothes to moldy French cheese.
Germany-wide news
🌉 Dresden bridge collapses as infrastructure crumbles
🛂 Border controls threaten EU project
🍊 Foreign ministry shoots back at Trump energy claims
🚃 Deutsche Bahn sells cargo unit to make railway better
Factoid
As many as 19,000 pigeons live in Berlin — as much a part of the urban tapestry as Döner places and faux angst. That would be the end of the factoid except that Berlin has now formed a committee to find ways to ethically reduce the number of flying rats in Berlin, according to Tagesspiegel. Weird because the city-state just recently all-but eliminated the budget for Stadt Tauben, a club that was working with Berlin’s animal welfare office to … ethically reduce the number of pigeons in Berlin. My suggestion: Don’t defund working organizations and replace them with committees.
Berlin having a pigeon committee is the most German bureaucracy ever, I love it.
an entire family of those pigeons has made its home in my building for the past three years. please help, pigeon committee!