#408: Disrupting AfD on TV, S-Bahn mess, bitcoin ATMs
German citizenship and recognising Israel's right to exist
Dear 20 Percent,
Today I’m not going to bore you with another anecdote from my struggles as a parent in Berlin. There’s enough provocative material in today’s newsletter to raise anyone’s heartrate, so let’s dive in. But first a message from the back office:
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Acknowledge Israel, beome German
In June the state of Brandenburg that surrounds the city made “acknowledgement of Israel’s right to exist” a requirement of obtaining German citizenship. The requirement was introduced by state premier Dietmar Woidke (SPD) but Woidke’s coalition partner the BSW party has raised objections to the rule: BSW Brandenburg chairwoman Friederike Benda said: “This is the path to an ideological state – and a direct attack on the heart of our democracy.” She said her party was not consulted about the new rule. Such requirements “create new social tensions instead of solving problems,” she said. Berlin mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), however, supports the idea: “Personally, I can well imagine including recognition of Israel's right to exist as a prerequisite for naturalisation.” Saxony-Anhalt became the first state to include recognition of Israel in its citizenship test in 2023. The move was supposed to help combat anti-semitism but critics have called it a knee-jerk reaction that will do nothing of the sort. Or as Die Linke politician Clara Bünger put it: “Above all, we must acknowledge reality and understand that anti-semitism does not originate from just one section of the population, but is deeply rooted in Germany.”
Pointless protest?
The “summer interview” on public TV is a staple of the German silly season: Usually these are unspectacular chats with the party leaders designed to appeal to older TV viewers. On Sunday, though, the summer interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel was aired and received more attention than normal thanks to protesters who disrupted the recording from start to finish. As much as I hate the AfD (now polling at about 25%) and everything they stand for, in my opinion the protesters made a tactical error by disrupting a TV interview that otherwise would have gained way less social media traction. Even worse, one of the protest’s organisers, Philipp Ruch of the Zentrum für Politische Schönheit, told a BILD podcaster that both the TV channel ARD and the police helped facilitate the protest — which of course just plays into paranoid, far-right narratives about elites, the media, deep state etc.
Signal shambles
The S-Bahn saw delays and cancellations on multiple lines on Saturday — particularly in southeastern areas of the city, reports Tagesspiegel (paywall). As usual, the dreaded rail replacement buses were called in. Operator Deutsche Bahn blamed a staff shortage: A signal worker called in sick, leaving a control centre in Schöneweide under-staffed. Railway workers union EVG says there’s been a nationwide shortage of signal personnel for years. Time to pivot to rail, all you unemployed developers? The training programme takes 3 years.
Bitcoin blues
Bad news for petty criminals in need of a quick launder for their cash: The only company running Bitcoin ATMs that convert cash to the cryptocurrency and back has turned off its machines in the city. Austrian company Kurant says the machines will be up-and-running again once they’ve completed a new licensing procedure, as per the EU’s Micar (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation). If you need a Bitcoin ATM asap, the closest ones are across the border in Poland, according to Coin ATM Radar. Authorities cracked down on illegal Bitcoin ATMs in town two years ago.
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Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
🎹 Kiezsalon at Wasserspeicher Prenzlauer Berg
Thu–Sat, 24–26.07, 7–11 pm. Kleiner Wasserspeicher, Diedenhofer Str., Berlin. Tickets: €10/day
A three-day series of experimental, ambient and avant-garde performances in the atmospheric 19th-century Wasserspeicher. Highlights include Jasmine Guffond, Jason Kunwar, Limpe Fuchs, Başak Günak and Cerys Hafana, and others.
🌈 Christopher Street Day 2025
Saturday, 26.07, from noon. Start: Leipziger Str. / Charlottenstr., Berlin. End: Brandenburg Gate.
Berlin’s biggest queer protest returns - loud, political, joyful and needed. Hundreds of thousands of people will be there, along with many CSD after-parties on Saturday!
🪩 Disco Tehran – Open Air Party
Saturday, 26.07, 3 pm – 3 am. Xelor Kesselhaus, Mittelbuschweg 10, 12055 Berlin. Ticket: €20-28
An open-air dancefloor celebrating summer with eclectic global sounds — from disco to Afro house, live bands to vintage grooves, all with the joyful spirit of 1970s Tehran.
🎷 Psicotrópicos Festival
Sunday, July 27, 4 pm. Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Str. 50, 10785 Berlin. Ticket: €35.
This Sunday, the sun finally shines on Berlin as Psicotrópicos Festival kicks off its sixth edition, focused on showcasing contemporary Brazilian music at one of the city’s most iconic venues: Neue Nationalgalerie. A highlight of the lineup is Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal—a true genius known for his playful and limitless creativity, blending jazz and Brazilian rhythms. Also performing, Letrux will bring a unique, intimate set with just voice, piano, and guitar. It’s going to be a beautiful afternoon.
Factoid
In 1802, Georg Adolph Welper, a doctor who believed in the health benefits of swimming and washing regularly, opened Berlin’s first Badeschiff (bathing ship) near the Lange Brücke (today the Rathausbrücke in Mitte) — an idea that lives on in today’s Badeschiff upriver. The vessel had cabins with holes in the floor in which customers could take private dips in the waters of the Spree. The concept was so beloved, Welper opened a Badehaus on nearby Museum Island in 1805 that offered separate bathing for men and women, luxurious steam baths for paying customers, and a free-of-charge basement area for the poor. Sadly, the building was demolished in 1871 to make room for a collonade.
Yeah, disrupting the Nazis is a tricky one, Maurice, for, as you say, it merely highlights and brings them to the fore, when what we really need are for them to be permanently relegated to the background.
But ignoring them, or, worse still, burying our heads in the sand in the vain hope they might just simply disappear isn’t going to work either.
On the issue of recognising Israel’s right to exist, which is a given among most rational people, in order to acquire German citizenship seems plain wrong.
Why should incomers to the country be made to make a pledge that, I’d strongly suggest, the majority of the 20% of the electorate, who most determinedly are indigenous Germans (whatever that means!), that voted AfD would probably refuse to make.
As said before, Germany’s anti-semitism problem is neither new nor imported; so if anyone should be making assertions about Israel’s right to exist, make it the blue-eyed Germans first, and then let’s see…
PS Fabulos evening last week, and a real pleasure to meet both co-founders of this excellent platform!
Cheers!
I want to know more about the DB 3 year course. Do they teach German? Do they pay? Assuming they pay, that it's kind of like an apprenticeship, it could be a steadier income than a lot of people have right now.