#412: U5 down, record number of demos, clean Berlin campaign

I met some Schauze while on vacation

Aug 05, 2025

Dear 20 Percent,

I just spent four days on a sailing boat in the waters between Denmark and Sweden, so Berlin felt very far away. Until, during a stop in the port of Helsingør (Elsinore), a stone’s throw from Hamlet’s famous castle, there it was: the grating sound of Berliner Schnauze.

“Your boat’s too low in the front,” a sailor told me with that grating Berlin-Brandenburg dialect we’re all familiar with. I attempted a “Danke für die Info. Und Gute Fahrt” but the Schnauze crew just ignored me and went about their boat business as if they hadn’t just talked to me.

I’ve lived in Berlin a quarter century and I still think, hey didn’t your parents teach you the basics of human interaction? Honestly, up here I don’t miss that side of Berlin life. Thank Gott there are so many other kinds of Berliners — including you, the 20 Percent — that help keep Berlin liveable.

I’ll be back in a week.

Some news below.

Maurice

Fewer refugees

“Currently, twice as many people are leaving our city as new people are arriving in Berlin.” That’s Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) explaining in an interview that he feels that Friedrich Merz’s CDU-SPD coalition government’s stricter immigration policies are developing positively. Wegner believed German cities had “reached their limit” when it came to the ability to accept refugees. Wegner predicted, “We will have more capacity to integrate people who are under our protection and who are staying with us.”

Scooter crash

Three people were injured in a crash between a car and an e-scooter in Prenzlauer Berg Saturday, one of them critically. Police say two 21-year-olds were scooting through a red pedestrian light when the 61-year-old driver hit them. The scooter driver sustained life-threatening injuries and had to undergo immediate surgery. Sometimes, waiting for the Ampelmännchen to turn red isn’t such a bad thing.

U5 closure

An eastern stretch of the U5 line between Frankfurter Allee and Tierpark was shut down Monday morning due to construction work and will remain closed til September 21. Replacement buses — look out for Schienenersatzverkehr signs — are bridging the gap.

Clean city?

Not sure what to think about this new anti-littering campaign other than it’s so Denglish that a lot of non-German speakers will understand it too, so I guess that’s a good thing. Mayor Kai Wegner is on bit of a mission to clean up Berlin (good luck). The city has bumped up fines: Illegal disposal of bulky waste like matresses will soon cost at least €4,000 instead of the previous €150, and dropping cigarette butts will cost €250, up from €55. Fun fact about Berlin: a lot of rules about stuff, not a lot of enforcement.

🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺

😢Domestic violence at all-time high

😦AfD still polling at 25%

💸 “Mother’s pension” boosted

Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin

🪩 Cruel Machine presents: Cruel Thursday
Thursday, 07.08, 9 pm – 1 am. Bar Neun, Pücklerstr. 34, 10997 Berlin. Tickets: €7 before 10 pm, €10 after.
Dark wave meets acid techno in this fresh bimonthly night with live shows by Schnallo and Acida Dominga, plus DJ sets from Jennifer Touch and Lichene.

🐟 All the Way from Tokyo – Sakana Popup & DJ Set
Sunday, 10.08, from 5 pm. Unkompress, Revaler Str. 99, 10245 Berlin.
Grilled oysters, summer fish, and a DJ set by JINI straight from Tokyo. A sunset gathering by Sakana with food, sound, and summer air.

🥘 African Food Festival Berlin – Summer Market
Sat-Sun, 09–10.08, 12 pm – 10 pm. Jules B-Part, Luckenwalder Str. 6b, 10963 Berlin. Tickets: €7.
A celebration of African cuisine, culture and music with over 50 Black-owned brands, DJs spinning Afrobeats and Amapiano, design market, and lots of delicious food & summer vibes.

🌍 EcoMarkt Schöneweide
Saturday, 09.08, 10 am – 6 pm. AEG Industrial Park, Schöneweide, 12459 Berlin.
A market for conscious living: organic produce, handmade design, street food, music, workshops, and talks on climate and sustainability—right by the Spree.

Factoid

There were a record 7,665 demonstrations on the streets of Berlin in 2024. That makes 21 protests per day. In 2023, there were just 6,000. If you’re planning on organising a march or protest, just make sure you register it with the police here at least 48 hours in advance.