#394: Berlin job market, healthcare inequality, Tschüss U12!
Uniformed man drives into Stasi prison, wants to reopen prison
Hi 20 Percent,
Scene at the bio bakery yesterday: Older guy and wife in beige pensioner outfits cut in front of a younger guy with long curls and Patagonia gear.
“You cut in front of me,” says Patagonia Guy.
“Have some decency!” says Old Guy.
“Decency? You’re nothing but a fascist-Nazi. Don’t talk to me about decency. Open your eyes, look around you.” Then Patagonia Guy said some rather insulting things about Old Guy’s wife. And so on.
A few weeks ago, spring might have brought out the nicer, more tolerant side of these two grouchy Berliners. But for them, summer disillusionment (it’s too hot!) has already kicked in, making them incapable of navigating a minor conflict.
A friend from Hamburg once gave me advice on how to deal with rude Berliners: If they start browbeating or lecturing you, just say, “Und wer sind Sie genau?” — “And, who, exactly are you?”
This, my friend believes, activates their inborn Prussian sense of hierarchy and subservience. In other words, it puts them “in their place”. I’ve actually tried this method. Sadly, it worked. Another time, in a road rage incident, it didn’t work. A large skinhead chased me down the street with a machete, but that’s another story.
If you’re a US academic and are considering relocating: We’re not all like this! We try out best to smile in summer. And Berlin is truly full of incredble, lovely people. Like the loyal readers of this newsletter. ❤️
Scroll on for news!
Maurice
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Job market paradox
The city’s unemployment rate rose to 10.2% in May, 0.5 percentage points higher than in May 2024. At the same time, companies are struggling to fill positions, writes Tagesspiegel. Although the Berlin-Brandenburg unemployment office registered just 21,671 unfilled jobs, the Chamber of Trade and Commerce believes the city lacks 90,000 trained specialists across the economy. The shortage of skilled workers could rise to 400,000 by 2035. Particularly affected are the care sector, IT, hospitality and the craft trades.
Access to doctors uneven across the city
Outer areas of Berlin, especially in the East, suffer from a shortage of doctors, reports taz. The city’s Versorgungsgrad metric bundles various statistics and tracks the level of healthcare provision in different neighbourhoods. Well-off Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf has an oversupply of GPs (Hausärtze) with a Versorgungsgrad of 121%. Out East, in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, that number is just 79%. The discrepancy is more extreme when it comes to gynecologists: Here Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf tops the league at 184% versus Treptow-Köpenick at 87%. There are multiple reasons for the discrepancy: rising rents; docs going into retirement; population growth in outer districts with no increase in the number of doctors. Politicians are looking into solutions such as subsidies to encourage docs to set up shop in underprovided neighbourhoods.
Tschüss, U12
The temporary U12 U-Bahn line, which confused the hell out of me when I first encountered it, will end Thursday. The U12 was set up in March to compensate for construction-related closures on the U1, U2 and U3 — regular service will resume on those lines on Friday.
Meanwhile, at the Stasi prison…
On Sunday, three and half decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a man dressed in an East German military uniform drove a Trabant Kübel, a GDR military vehicle, onto the grounds of the former Stasi prison in Hohenschönhausen. According to witnesses, he parked the car and declared, “We will be putting this back into operation soon,” meaning the prison. I’m sure he’s fun in bakery queues. Employees at the memorial site asked him to leave but he only did so when the police were called. Hohenschönhausen director Helge Heidemeyer commented, “Such an appearance is unacceptable not only for us as a memorial site, but also for everyone affected by the GDR dictatorship. Especially in a place where so many people suffered.” The foundation that runs the site has filed a complaint with the police. If you haven’t visited the prison, do so. It’s a real eye-opener.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🤨 How the Gaza War Is Changing Germany's View of Israel
💧 How Germany can cope with drought
🛣️ Autobahn chaos thanks to Google Maps glitch
Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
📷 World Press Photo 2025 Exhibition
Opening Reception: Thursday, 05.06, from 7 pm. Exhibition until 29.06 - Tue-Sun, 12 - 6 pm. FkWBH, Stresemannstr. 28. Admission: Free
Award-winning photojournalism from six global regions. Highlights stories from Gaza, Amazonia, Georgia, and more.
👄The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Live
Thursday, 05.06, doors 6:30 pm, show 8 pm. Große Arena, Landsberger Allee 77. Tickets: from €61.25
Celebrating 20 years of their cult album, The Flaming Lips bring their surreal, sci-fi-fueled live show to Berlin. Expect giant bubbles, a psych-rock spectacle, and the full Yoshimi experience - the kind of show that reminds you how fun music can be.
🏖️ Gop x Balearic Banana: Berlin Takeover
Saturday, 07.06, 2 pm – late. Strandbad Plötzensee, Nordufer 26, and Sameheads: 10:30 pm – 7 am, Richardstr. 10. Tickets: €5–25
A day-to-night sizzler with Tornado Wallace, Millos Kaiser, Alicia Carrera, and more. Lakeside grooves at Plötzensee, then down the rabbit hole at Sameheads. One of my favorite DJ crews from Brazil, Gop Tun DJs, lands in Berlin to bring their sun-drenched grooves. Marathon mode: ON.
🪴 Großer Pflanzenverkauf – Berlin
Friday to Sunday, 06–08.06. Kühlhaus, Luckenwalder Str. 3. Entry: Free (tickets required)
Germany’s biggest plant sale is back with 80+ indoor plant varieties, baby plants from €1.99, cute pots, and green gear. Card payment only.
If you missed our latest pod:
Factoid
Berlin’s 240 public drinking fountains run from April through October. Which is a great improvement over just a few years ago, where you had to buy bottled water or sneak into a cafe bathroom with your bottle to hydrate while on the move. One quirk about Berlin’s fountains: They’re always on, which seems wasteful. Water utility Berliner Wasserbetriebe explains that the constant flow “prevents the water from heating up and avoids contamination.” BWB says it’s working on ways to channel water from the fountains to nearby trees and plants where possible.
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Germany and freedom in one sentence is quite ironic, given the +400 Palestinians writers and public speakers who have been deplatformed and silenced... 😒
While I’m sure it wasn’t funny when it happened, I couldn’t stop myself from releasing a laugh on the train when I read the section about being chased by a skin head 💀
Fun newsletter as always, Berlin’s Ad in NYT is also pretty funny considering how cheeky it read to me. Great job!