#324: October 7 demos, expensive rents, Stasi trial, GDR's birthday
Berlin to start training young people in Namibia
Dear 20% Berlin,
Rents in Berlin have been going up for the last 20 years, but until recently we could always say, “Hey, the city is gentrifying like mad but at least it’s cheaper than other places”.
That claim has become untenable.
Berlin is now the third most expensive city in Germany for renters. Asking rents average €14.19 per square metre. Asking rents for new builds, meanwhile, have broken the €20 barrier. Only Munich and Frankfurt are worse.
“Poor but sexy” needs to be replaced by “expensive but dirty” or maybe “still fun, but you’ll need a real job.”
More news below.
Maurice
A warm thank you to our long-time partner, expat-friendly insurance experts, Feather
October 7th comemmorations, demos
On Monday, the one-year anniversary of the brutal Hamas attack on Israel was comemmorated in various events. The Israeli flag was projected on the Brandenburg Gate, while a multi-faith service for the victims of October 7 was held in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis Kirche and attended by German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Meanwhile, at Südstern in Kreuzberg, around 400 people gathered for a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was spotted there — and criticised by some on social media for taking part in an event with the slogan “Glory to the resistance” on the anniverary of the massacre. The police made several arrests, apparently because people threw bottles or chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, a banned slogan in Berlin.
Stasi murder trial
In the murder trial of a former member of East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, the prosecution is seeking a 12-year prison sentence for the accused, an 80-year-old who shot a Polish man in cold blood as he was trying to leave East Berlin in 1974. Czesław Kukuczka walked into the Polish embassy, pretended to be carrying a bomb and demanded safe passage to West Berlin via the Friedrichstraße border crossing. The defendent, who was 31 at the time, then shot and killed Kukuczka at point-blank range after he was ostensibly allowed to cross the border. Prosecutors said the Stasi officer could have shot him in in the legs or arms to prevent him from crossing the border instead of killing him. The verdict is expected October 14.
Berlin training workers in Namibia
The Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry is setting up a professional training centre in Windhoek, Namibia in the hope that the programme will help alleviate the looming worker shortage in the German capital. Hundreds of thousands of boomers will retire in the coming decade, leaving a massive gap in the labour market. Young Namibians who complete a training course in a trade as well as the German language at the new centre will immediately be able to begin working in Berlin. Predictably, critics have pointed to the untapped potential of unemployed people Berlin, where the jobless rate is nearly 10%.
Germany-wide news
📉Economy to shrink by 0.2% this year
🏭German economic model not broken, says minister
😒Top SPD party official resigns
🍺Oktoberfest: 7 million litres of beer consumed
Events this week, in cooperation with The Next Day Berlin:
🎤The Post-Truth Era: Combatting political disinformation and misinformation Thu, 08.10. 6pm. MOOS Space, Moosdorfstraße 7-9, Treptow, free In 2024, we face an unprecedented convergence: the largest election year in history alongside the proliferation of artificial intelligence. This debate will unfold the convergence of these realms, examining how disinformation campaigns and manipulation techniques are not only a threat to democratic discourse but also to social justice efforts—and potentially, to democracy itself.
🎸Diva Heaven
Thu-Fri, 10-11.10, 7 pm. Neue Zukunft, Alt-Stralau 68, 10245 Berlin. Tickets: €2448.
The Berlin-based 🎧 Diva Heaven brings a fierce fusion of grunge, punk, and hard rock, evoking 90s alt vibes. If you like Bikini Kill, you'll love their heavy riffs, raw vocals, and unapologetic energy.
🪩Toy Tonics presents Italomania
Friday, 11.10, 11 pm - 8 am. OXI, Wiesenweg 1-4, 10365 Berlin. Ticket: €22.35/22.60.
Our favorite disco party in town, featuring a cool line-up as usual, occupying both dance floors at OXI. 🎧 Femdelic
🧥Preloved Market
Saturday, 12.10, 11 am - 4 pm. KlubMaison, Lindower Str, 20, Wedding.
There will be plenty of clothes and beautiful items looking for a new owner. Second-hand treasures for children and adults featuring top brands.
Factoid
The German Democratic Republic, aka East Germany, would have turned 75 on Monday. Not that many people are celebrating, but one of the communist state’s last leaders, Egon Krenz, appeared at an event to mark the birthday in Kino Babylon in Mitte at the weekend. At some point in the evening, the 87-year-old said, “There are many reasons to like the GDR. The GDR never waged war. It was the peaceful German state.” At far as I can recollect, West Germany never started a war either. Neither did it murder people who tried to leave.
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"Expensive but dirty" is brilliant
I was at the Babylon for a small AI book release event Monday, and that was the only way I know about 75 years DDR. There was a huge turnout to see some films from the country. We could probably reduce some of the East's resentment of the mainstream parties if we all acknowledged that there were indeed good things about the East like better gender equity and recycling. Not to in any way brush over the autocracy. But I had a PhD student who had been involved in the protests as a pre teenager, they had expected to improve their own state, not to be coopted by the West. Did you know that there were huge East German protests in 1968 against DDR troops being used to put down the Prague Spring? Brutally repressed of course. But the DDR people really did have a socialist ideal they thought the USSR was limiting.