#379: Antisemitic attack sentence, Bild pays cop €150k, the Ringbahn is back (soon)
A dancing ban in name only
Dear 20 Percent,
Spring is traditionally my favorite time in Germany. Not because of the warming weather or the Spargel. Or even the cutesy strawberry stands on every corner.
No, it’s because of the Jesus holidays. It seems like every other Friday is off because one-third of the holy trinity did something worth celebrating. For most of my time in Germany I got the days off but in the last few years my new sources of income actually necessitate working on those days (hello, 20percent.berlin).
But I still remember the halcyon days of my office life when I was required to do nothing on days that Jesus did something. I’m a little unclear on the lore about my own life but back in the late 90s I claim to have gotten an entire month off at Bloomberg News by linking comp days with Jesus holidays.
I did the math this morning and am pretty sure I exaggerate when I retell my history. I think it was more likely two weeks. I’m not that clever when it comes to scheduling and there aren’t that many holidays.
Enjoy your days off and check our guide on what’s open when nothing’s open if you need to grocery shop anyway.
Andrew
PS: Could the new paid subscriber who wrote to me asking about a mug write to me again? I fumbled your email and can’t find it. I’d like to fulfill your wish. Also, become a paid subscriber if you aren’t already. We’re working on rewarding you with more than just our words.
Bild newspaper sucks worse than we even knew
My exaggerations pale in comparison to the shocking (and trans-phobic) character assasination attempted by tabloid newspapers Bild and BZ last year. The papers’ publisher agreed to pay a record €150,000 in damages after publishing completely false information about a Berlin police officer after she was elected the deputy women’s representative on the force, according to Tagesspiegel. The papers in November reported that the woman was trans and was under investigation for drugging and sexually assaulting two male colleagues. None of the accusations were true. The German police union DPolG had reportedly opposed her election to the position. The Bild reporter, who no longer works at the paper, has connections to the union. The papers were also forced Wednesday to print front-page corrections that were as prominent as the initial articles. €150,000 for the officer seems low to me.
Sentence in antisemitic attack
And speaking of court cases: a 24-year-old former Freie Universität student who assaulted another FU student unprovoked outside a bar on Rosenthaler Platz in February 2024 was sentenced to three years in jail for what the judge saw as an antisemitic attack, according to taz. Suspect Mustafa A. and Lahav Shapira, the victim, only knew each other from student WhatsApp groups that in part were used to criticize Shapira for taking down anti-semitic posters at the university. As the two met outside the bar that night, the suspect attacked Shapira, knocking him down and kicking him in the face — Shapira was hospitalized for days and needed several operations to repair the damage. Shapira is the brother of comedian Shahak Shapira and is the grandson of Israeli athletics coach Amitzur Shapira, who was murdered during the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Palliative doctor may have murdered many, many more
And one final piece of crime news, because we’ve mentioned it before: A palliative doctor who was arrested in August and was accused of killing four patients is now suspected of killing up to 90 patients in his care, according to RBB24. Prosecutores are already charging him with 15 murders, but that figure may still climb. He supposedly committed the crimes for the thrill.
Ringbahn returns April 28
And finally some good news: The Ringbahn between Halensee and Westend will likely begin rolling again April 28 if Berlin can counter Germany’s decades-long inability to complete major construction projects on time. Two crumbling A100 Autobahn bridges over the S-Bahn — the Westendbrücke and Ringbahnbrücke — have been all-but demolished and cleanup work will continue after the Easter holidays, according to RBB24. The more annoying (for me) closure of the S-Bahn between Ostbahnhof and Alexanderplatz will be extended two days to Wednesday — bus replacement service should end Thursday. Workers ran out of ties and other material needed to replace worn tracks on the stretch.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
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🚀 Merz willing to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine
🎉 Russia, Belarus uninvited to 80th anniversary of WWII end
Factoid
Dancing is VERBOTEN on Good Friday in Germany because of the whole Jesus thing but Berlin has the most liberal interpretation of the ban — swinging your hips to loud music is not allowed between 4am and 9pm, which is pretty much when clubbers aren’t dancing anyway. And, like most laws in Berlin, no one’s really enforcing that one either — in Tempelhof-Schöneberg, home to most clubs, code enforcement officers aren’t patrolling because (wait for it) it’s a holiday, according to Morgenpost. Lichtenberg, home to many a techno club, only reacts to complaints and while Neukölln said it actively looks for sinners, it usually finds none. Schrödingers Tanzverbot.
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I can’t tell why, but I now know Space Ghost is Jesus.