#320: Brandenburg boomers save the SPD, Paris rail link, Deutschlandticket
Berlin has the most self-employed folks
Dear 20 Percent,
At first glance, it’s some good news: The centre-left Social Democrats (the party of our wildly unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz) managed to eek out an electoral victory in Brandenburg on Sunday with 30.9% of the vote. They are now suggesting talks with the centre-right CDU and “left-conservative” BSW about forming a very awkward coalition government in the state surrounding Berlin.
The far-right AfD was expected to win but came in second place with (29.9%), so the result could be interpreted as evidence that the eastern part of the country isn’t in a all-out free-fall into extremism.
We shouldn’t be celebrating yet, for a few reasons:
The AfD was the most popular party for voters aged 16-59. Only the 60+ crowd favoured the SPD, which doesn’t bode well for the future.
The popular encumbent leader of the state Dietmar Woidke (SPD) threatened to resign from politics if the AfD won, essentially blackmailing voters.
Woidke asked Chancellor Scholz to stay away from Brandenburg during the election campaign, even though he has a flat in the state capital Potsdam — not a great look for the nation’s leader.
None of this suggests the long-term rise of the AfD has been stopped in any sustainable way.
More news below.
Maurice
The 20 Percent News Quiz is back Saturday at Comedy Cafe Berlin! An hour of improv hilarity as funny expats/immigrants give us their takes on German and Berlin news. Hosted by 20 Percent’s Andrew Bulkeley. Tickets. And please check out insurance specialists Feather, which is sponsoring this issue. More from them below!
Attack on culture boss’s residence
Police say the building where Berlin’s senator for culture Joe Chialo(CDU) lives was covered in red paint and slogans like “Genocide Joe Chialo” and “Meet the demands”, suggesting attackers connected to the Palestinian protest movement. A week and a half ago 40 activists disrupted an event Chialo attended in Moabit. The politician is under police protection. Chialo has been targeted by activists since the Berlin government removed funding from the Oyoun culture centre in Neukölln because it hosted a supposedly “antisemitic” event by the anti-Zionist organisation Jewish Voice for Peace last fall.
Deutschlandticket price-hike
Once upon a time, there was a country where you could travel to your heart’s content on trains, trams and buses for just €9 / month. Millions loved the inflation-busting, climate-friendly deal. It was too good to be true. The €9 ticket was little more than a reward for putting up with the restrictions of the corona pandemic. And it cost the government too much. And maybe it prevented Germans from buying cars! But the idea of a Germany-wide flat-rate for local public transport lived on in the €49 ticket. But now that too is considered too cheap for the country’s over-stretched budget. And so, next year, the Deutschlandticket goes up to €58 per month — which I suspect is over quite a few people’s pain-point. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
New Paris-Berlin rail link
The first direct train connection between Paris and Berlin launched in 1896. The Nordexpress travelled from the French capital to St. Petersburg via our fair Prussian metropolis. The link was interrupted during both world wars. Post World War II, Deutsche Bahn operated a nighttrain between Beriln and Paris through 2014. After that service was ditched by DB, Austrian’s Nightjet took the baton. Now DB and French rail operator SNCF have announced a direct daytime link starting mid-December. The 878km journey will take 8 hours. Too bad German trains travel at a snail’s pace. By comparison, the 775km Paris-Marseille journey takes just 3 hours by TGV.
Events this week in partnership with The Next Day Berlin:
🎤Privacy Paradox Tuesday, 24.09, 6:30pm, Moos Space, Moosdorfstraße 7-9, Treptow, free (but register online) This debate explores the erosion of privacy and its regulatory challenges. Key topics include the cost of sharing personal data, safeguarding privacy rights in an increasingly exposed world, and the role of collective action. Join the debate on how technology impacts activism, human rights, and society.
🎸The Dandy Warhols
Thursday, 26.09, 8 pm. Huxley's Neue Welt, Hasenheide 107/113, Neukölln. Tickets: €45.
If you like bands like The Velvet Underground, The Brian Jonestown Massacre (with whom Dandy’s frontman Courtney Taylor has a longstanding beef), or Blur, you’ll probably enjoy The Dandy Warhols' mix of psychedelic rock, and alternative, with some pop elements! 🎧 Welcome to the Monkey House
😂Revolver Friday, 27.09, 6:30pm. Wowsville, Ohlauer Straße 33, Kreuzberg, €10 The Revolver English comedy show (“with a bang”) features 6-8 funny people from all over planet Earth under a Kreuzberg record shop and is hosted by Berlin’s “favourite immigrant”, Rohit Bhatia.
Dream On - Berlin, The 90s
Until 22.01.2025. Daily 11 am - 8 pm. C/O Berlin, Amerika Haus, Hardenbergstrasse 22-24, Charlottenburg. Tickets: €6/10.
Over 200 works by the OSTKREUZ photography collective, capturing Berlin’s transformation after the fall of the Wall. The exhibition highlights the city’s dynamic evolution in the 1990s, from subcultures to new opportunities through images of social, political, and cultural shifts. MUBI has launched Reclaiming Spaces: Berlin, the '90s, a film collection in partnership with C/O Berlin. This collection explores German cinema's depiction of a nation undergoing cultural and political transformation during the 1990s.
For more event updates, subscribe to The Next Day Berlin!
Germany-wide news
👨🦲Scholz meets Zelensky in NYC
🪧Large Fridays for Future protests
🚘Germany’s attempt to kill EV import tariffs
🥙Turkish gov wants döners regulated
💡Handpicked Berlin: Career, tech, startup, and Berlin news, plus timeless inspiration. Mondays in your inbox.💡
Factoid
Twelve percent of employed Berliners (229,000 people) are self-employed, meaning we have the highest rate of self-employment of any German state. According to the IFO think tank, the business climate among self-employed people has sunk to its lowest point since the beginning of the year. Small businesses, feeling dragged down by the overall downturn in Germany, are also pessimistic about the future. Read the full report in English.
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For my wife and I retired it¡s a great deal but once I than 65 I will move the Seniorenticket which is cheaper
58€ is a lot but not for those of us who travel often to the airport from AB.