Hey 20 Percent,
For all the US-Amerikaner (and anyone else) out there frustrated with developments in your home country, here’s one for you: This Saturday at 2pm there’s a No Kings protest outside of the US Embassy. Make it big!
Unfortunately, Andrew and I can’t attend because we’re doing a live recording of the 20% Berlin Podcast at Podfest Berlin at exactly the same time in Neukölln tomorrow. That said, No Kings runs till 4pm and we’ll be done by around 3pm so you can hop on the U-Bahn or your bike and catch the tail end of the demo by the Brandenburg Gate!
More news below!
Maurice
P.S. I’ve launched a new Saturday newsletter called Update Germany. I’d love it if you gave it a read.
More people buying flats, renters priced out
According to new data compiled by the Gutachterausschuss für Grundstückswerte in Berlin (Expert Committee for Property Values in Berlin), the number of property sales jumped by 26% in the first three months of 2025 compared to 2024. Transactions totalled €1.4 billion! Reportedly, growth is being driven by families buying apartments and houses rather than corporations. Great for those who can afford it. Meanwhile, according to an analysis by the Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab, folks with modest incomes are getting priced out of the Berlin rental market. For example, an average-earning paramedic can’t afford a typical “singles” flat in 59% of Berlin neighbourhoods. For nursing assistants, that rises to 67%. No surprises here.
Brandenburg to make deportations “more efficient”
Immigration is mostly regulated by the federal government but states can tweak the rules for their own agenda. And so Brandenburg’s interior affairs minister René Wilke (no party) has proposed new rules to speed up deportation of asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, especially those who have committed crimes or evaded the authorities. Migrants with “with little or no prospect of staying” must remain in the “care of the state” i.e. in new deportation facilities, including a new centre in Schönefeld near BER Airport. Another move to make life more uncomfortable for asylum seekers will be to extend the length of stay in “initial reception facilities” from 18 to 24 months. Families with underaged children are exempt.
Police bust “gambling hells”
There’s no better word for these place than Spielhölle (“gambling hells”, a play on Spielhalle). In a large-scale raid on Thursday, 60 cops searched 50 of these annoying “casinos” and other locations in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Lichtenberg and Marzahn-Hellersdorf for illegal slot machines. In Reichenberger Straße, officers confiscated 27 unregistered machines. These devices are often used to launder cash generated by crime — the raids were part of a new anti-mafia crackdown. Why not just ban the machines and the “casinos” along with them?
Big bet on Berlin AI
Last week’s news but interesting still: There’s another unicorn in town. This time it’s Mitte-based AI start-up n8n, which received a cash injection of €180 million from Bay Area venture capitalists Accel, bumping its valuation up to €2.5 billion. With its drag-and-drop workflow users can use AI agents to automate workflows. Congrats to the founders but please tell me, how do you pronounce n8n?
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🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🤖 Few workers worried about AI threat to jobs
🤔Germany close to deal with Taliban over deportations
👩🏭 Pensioners will be able to earn €2,000 tax-free from January
🖼️ Swifties flock to German museum
Factoid
Not a great news item from our city’s schools. The maths skills of Berlin’s 9th grade pupils are steadily worsening, according to the annual education report (pdf) by Humboldt University’s IGB institute. In 2024, 36.9% of students — up from 32.8% in 2012 — had not aquired the minimum maths skills required for the MSA certificate, usually completed by the end of 10th grade. Brandenburg scored slightly better — with 31% of kids failing to meet minimum standard. A shimmer of hope: In last month’s INSM Bildungsmonitor education ranking, Berlin schools jumped to 11th place out of 16 German states (up from 12th in 2024 and 15th in 2023).
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