Hi 20 Percent,
Today, Berlin is officially commemorating the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel. In reference to the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas to the Gaza Strip, the words “Bring them home” will be projected on the Brandenburg Gate, along with the Israeli flag. The names of the victims will be read out loud.
Meanwhile, the Nova Exhibition, which opens at Tempelhof today, has already polarised Berliners. For example, journalists at The Berliner (which I co-founded but am no longer linked to), say they’re putting down their pens because the magazine ran ads for the show, which thematises Hamas’ brutal assault on the Nova Festival in Israel. They claim the owner has “pressured the magazine to suppress coverage of Palestine.”
Meanwhile, some 1,400 additional police officers will be out on the streets today. According to the police, a pro-Hamas demo is planned for Alexanderplatz. This morning 10 people were detained at a spontaneous protest in Friedrichshain, that police say “mocked the victims of terrorism”.
Since October 7th, Berlin’s streets have become less safe for people who show signs of their Jewish faith, officials say. The police warn of wearing a kippa or openly displaying Hebrew text. This is a truly worrying state of affairs.
At the same time, official Germany is having trouble acknowledging the genocidal slaughter of people in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past two years. Some politicians are slowly waking up to what is happening but far too late and Germany continues to block EU plans to impose sanctions on Israel.
A friend of mine with Jewish roots suggested something radical: Why not project the Israeli and the Palestinian flags on the Brandenburg Gate — side by side? Why not commemorate the victims on both sides? Why not fly the Palestinian flag outside a government building alongside the Israeli one? I’m in favour.
News below.
Maurice
PS. Save the date! Andrew and I will do a live recording of the 🎙️20% Berlin Podcast🎙️ at the Berlin Podcast Festival on October 19th. Get your tickets now!
Thanks to today’s sponsors, Padel Camp and Xylophone!
Game of drones
Following disruptive drone sightings at sensitive sights around Germany and Europe, Berlin says it’s upgrading its drone defense kit. The local Polizei will be equipped with new radar systems, interceptor drones, reconnaissance drones and kinetic defense systems to take down suspicious drones. The Berlin police already possess jammers and net launchers for downing commercial drones. During the 2024 Euro Championship, the city was criticised for being unprepared for the high number of unauthorized drone flights during the tournament.
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Don’t touch our döner
It’s last week’s news but it has Berlin relevance. Turkey has dropped its efforts to get the EU to regulate the döner kebab as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). Germany, and especially Berlin, is relieved. The Turkish government was hoping for a strict definition of what can be called döner - only certain kinds of meat, spices and preparation. Veggie, veal and turkey variations wouldn’t have been able to carry the name. The modern sandwich-style döner was invented by Turkish immigrants in Berlin in the 1970s.
Deutschland v Berlin
Also true since at least the 1970s: The rest of Germany hating on Berlin. In a new survey conducted by Tagesspiegel and the Free University, Berlin ranked lowest in terms of likeability of any of the 16 Bundesländer or federal states (along with Bremen and Hamburg, we’re a city and a state). Hamburg came on top. What do Germans hate about Berlin? “Too multicultural, too dirty, too criminal, too full,” according to some comments by the 1,600 people surveyed. Other (stereotypical) criticisms the yokels out there brought up about us Berliners: “Loudmouths, hipsters, especially woke, direct, loud, argumentative.” Can’t really argue there.
“Pudding with fork” lunacy reaches Berlin
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
⚛️Germany pledges €2 billion for nuclear fusion
🪆The AfD and the “Russia Germans”
👩🎤Merz: Germany should boycott Eurovision if Israel is excluded
Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
🎭Hello by Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim (Premiere)
Wed-Sun, 08–12.10, 8:30 pm. (In EN, DE, DGS (DE Sign Language), Sophiensaele, Tickets: €15-€25
An interactive performance exploring everyday North Korean lives beyond propaganda, using music and games to challenge borders, bias, and one-sided narratives.
🎸Isolation Berlin
Thursday, 09.10, 8 pm. Festsaal Kreuzberg, Am Flutgraben 2, 12435 Berlin. Tickets: €38.95
Berlin post-punk, acidic lyrics wrapped in urban melancholy. 🎧 Electronic Babies
📷 Liaisons
Opening: Friday, 10.10, 6 pm. Until 15.03.26. Georg Kolbe Museum, Sensburger Allee 25, Berlin. Free entry.
Exploring shifting images of the male body through Georg Kolbe’s late sculptures and Herbert List’s photography, joined by Harry Hachmeister and Jens Pecho, with playful, tender reflections on identity and friendship.
🎸8MM Fest
Fri-Sat, 10–11.10, from 5 pm. 8MM Bar & various venues, Schönhauser Allee 177B, 10119 Berlin. Tickets: from €32.04-€47.57.
A new underground chapter after Synästhesie: two days, seven stages, with acts like A Place to Bury Strangers (NYC noise-rock legends), Divide & Dissolve (AUS doom/drone with political weight), Ceremony East Coast (Brooklyn lo-fi noise), ZAHN (Berlin kraut/post-punk) and Test Plan (London post-punk noise).
🍲 Roda de Feijoada #54 — First Autumn Edition
Sunday, 12.10, 12 pm – 10 pm. Festsaal Kreuzberg, Am Flutgraben 2, Berlin. Tickets: €10–21 (kids <12 free). ❗€3 off with THENEXTDAY code.
Day party with live roda de samba, DJs, dance workshops, kids area, and classic Brazilian food (feijoada incl. vegan).
Factoid
Katharina Paulus wasn’t born in Berlin, but resided in Wedding from 1912 until her death in 1935. Paulus invented the modern folding parachute — and was the first German woman to parachute (from a balloon) in 1893. The following year her lover and business partner, the inventor and balloonist Hermann Lattemann, died when his parachute failed to open. Paulus went on to develop her own aerial acrobatics show alone but her claim to fame was the invention of a pack parachute that opened reliably. She ended up producing 7,000 of them for the German army during World War I.
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