#437: BER opening, drug lab bust, the Tegel promise
Gleisdreieck park? More like Gleisdreieck construction site
Hey 20 Percent!
This Halloween is a key anniversary for Berlin, and for my family — the anniversary of the 2020 opening of BER as well as my family’s move to Portland, Oregon in 2015. The kids were going from elementary to middle school, my career felt stalled and Barack Obama was president so relocating seemed like a good idea.
And it was.
The kids loved living in a single-family house, traversing a park on foot to get to school every day and we all loved living in Oregon, the most beautiful place on the planet. We made good friends there and had a blast.
But I had trouble getting a decent job — one newspaper was only vaguely interested in my reporting on some of the biggest international events of the early 00s from Berlin (Brexit, anyone?)
“Do you maybe have a coffee or a beer blog,” they asked.
And we also thought the kids needed to return to the international environment they were used to in addition to us just generally missing Berlin.
We came back in 2017.
Few days go by where I don’t regret that decision for one reason or another (I regret every decision, even what I have for breakfast) and would love to return now to help battle the orange menace.
But alas, I’m also glad I discovered Berlin as my home. I’m thankful for the opportunities, diversity and Berlin-ness every day.
And that includes y’all!
Have a good weekend,
Andrew
PS: I’m doing my German one man show Aus Versehen Deutsch for possibly a last time in Berlin Nov. 13 at Downstairs Comedy Club. If you want to practice your German, come on out. I love the club and I’m looking forward to the event! Tickets here.
PPS: Get a great deal on a German course with our sponsor Genau Genau. Scroll down for more info!
Drugs made in Brandenburg
Berlin media is incredulous over the bust of a drug laboratory in Nauen, northwest of Berlin in Brandenburg, because they apparently have no idea what’s going on in clubs or Görlitzer Park. Cops and customs officers raided the lab Wednesday and found €200,000 in cash, about 100 kilos of recreational narcotics and the chemicals to make even more, according to RBB24. Detectives assume the lab primarily made 3-CMC und 4-CMC for Berlin partiers. Two residents at the lab were taken into custody and police expect to make additional arrests. True crime trivia: The XY gang in nearby Neuruppin ran a hub for Berllin’s coke market around the turn of the century, earning the town the nickname ‘Corrupin’ because town officials were even involved.
Tegel not taking off
When everyone’s favorite-but-nearly-unusable-airport Tegel closed five years ago, the future seeemed bright: A park and 5,000 apartments would be built on the runways and taxiways, and a private college would move into the airport’s space-age main terminal. But little of that has surfaced, according to taz. Berlin has delayed renovations on the hexagonal terminal to 2035 from 2030, kyboshing plans by the Berliner Hochschule für Technik to soon relocate to the site. One of the three public housing agencies that were to build the 5,000 timber apartments at the site also backed out over skyrocketing costs, putting a question mark over the planned abodes.
20% Berlin writer Maurice Frank will host a fun evening at the fabulous Electric Social Arcade Bar and Restaurant, centrally located a stone’s throw from Alexanderplatz. Test your knowledge of Berlin and German news over drinks and food while you get to know other members of the 20% Berlin community.
🏆 Prizes will be awarded to the top teams!
🆓 Best of all: It’s free! Just don’t forget to RSVP
👆 Reserve your seat!
The latest bridge disaster
Maybe we need to launch a dilapidated bridge ticker: Enjoy the newish Gleisdreieck Park while you can — the picturesque U-Bahn bridge over the greenery is rusty and teetering on being condemned but officials hope to begin building a new bridge in 2028, according to Tagesspiegel. One of two key bike highways would be closed during the duration of the 18-month construction and huge swaths of the park would be used to store material and equipment. Ten trees would also have to be felled, which is a bigger trigger for many Germans than Datenschutz. The bridge was built in 1913 and original planning called for it to be replaced in 2017 (!). On the positive side: The U1 would detour around the park, eliminating the need to change trains.
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Factoid
BER opened on Halloween 2020, nine years later than planned and €4 billion over budget. It’s matured into an OK regional airport but a bit of an embarassment for a capital city airport (blame Lufthansa who is more interested in its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich).
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