#452: Evictions up, domestic violence, e-buses

Do you get a 13th salary?

Dec 23, 2025

Dear 20 Percent,

We write a lot about things that aren’t going quite right in Berlin — from the dysfunctional housing market to maddening bureaucracy — and on our podcast Andrew and I do sometimes veer into grumpy-men-of-a-certain-age territory. For a change, I’d like to share three things I love about Berlin:

Getting around is easy. Despite the price increases, the delays and endless maintenance and traffic jams and poor bike infrastructure, getting around Berlin is still miraculously easy compared to most cities of this size I’ve experienced. The web of U-Bahns, S-Bahns, trams and buses is unparalled. The build-out of cycle paths is progessing too slowly but it is progressing. And those shared scooters/bikes — hateable as they are — they’ve boosted my mobility in times of need. And what’s not to love about the Deutschlandticket?
Food. When I moved here in the olden days, my neighbourhood had döner and currywurst, end of story. Over the past two decades, the restaurant scene has exploded in every direction — from humble snack bars to the Michelin-starred places I never set foot in. Every continent, every taste, every price range is represented, mostly thanks to the neverending influx of foreigners willing to tell their own Berlin food story.
People. This goes with out saying but it’s worth saying: What I love most about this place is the people in my life — the warmest, most open, most curious, most critical and creative people I know anywhere. Even at my advanced age, I’ve made a number incredible new friends over the past year or so — not so easy in other places. Berlin offers endless choice of social events. Here at 20% Berlin, we’re trying to up our social game, with our next 20% Berlin News Quiz planned for January 14 — and other formats planned for 2026.

You 20 Percenters play a huge part in what made Berlin unique in 2025 — I hope you’re able to see the bright spots amidst the grey skies, grey concrete and grey paperwork. Reach out, take a risk, socialise this winter — there’s so much human connection available in this city.

News below (and Merry Christmas!)

Maurice

🛍️Reminder: Most shops close early afternoon on December 24th, all day on the 25th and 26th. Here’s our list of what’s open when nothing’s open.

Uptick in violence against women

Shitty patriachial behaviour doesn’t rest for X-mas. Every year there is a noticeable rise in domestic violence against women in Berlin during the holiday season. According to experts cited by RBB, the rise in violence can be attributed to factors such as forced proximity, more time spent together at home, and the emotional stress of the holidays. Alcohol consumption can act as a conflict amplifier. Experts encourage friends and neighbours who witness violence to call the police. The support hotline for victims of domestic violence by NGO BIG is staffed around the clock over the holidays— and offers advice in multiple languages.

Stop winter evictions

Taz reports that the number of forced evictions in Berlin rose to 2,211 this year (135 more than 2024) at a time where it’s increasingly difficult to find housing in the city, Even the city’s own housing companies evicted more people. Local Die Linke politician Elif Eralp is calling on the city administration to take immediate action to stop evictions — at the very least during the winter where tenants could face the prospect of living on the streets in sub-zero temperatures. “The people affected by this are often drug addicts, have mental health problems, or are unable to cope with everyday life,” Eralp said, adding that more personal contact and support was needed to help people with things like paperwork — so they could get the benefits they needed.

The ball is in no one’s court

Mayor Kai Wegner’s promise to end Berlin’s bureaucratic ping pong has stalled and may never happen thanks to September’s looming election, according to Tagesspiegel (paywall). Part of Berlin’s dysfunction is thanks to unclear roles between the state government, boroughs and even state-wide offices, allowing them to shirk off responsibility for things like infrastructure repairs, some forms of trash and citizen services. The institutions are still arguing over a task catalog that would clearly define their roles as well as financing — both of which were supposed to be complete in January. The problem is prohibiting a solution to the problem, kind of like your ex.

E-bus recall

It’s not easy being electric. BVG is pulling 70 electric buses out of service due to technical issues. Routine inspections revealed small cracks in vehicle frames. Since the buses are under warranty, Dutch manufacturer Ebusco will cover the cost of repairs which will begin in January and take about three months. BVG operates 270 e-buses out of approximately 1,500.

🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺

📊 Recession to fade slowly in 2026

✈️1,000 suspicious drone flights this year

🛂 1,600 asylum requests by people rejected at border

💰 Government launches Deutschlandfond to encourage tech investment

👩‍🚀German paraplegic astronaut goes to space

🎄Unlocking German Christmas Magic

Select end-of-year events, curated by The Next Day Berlin

🎭 Orlando
Sat-Sun, 27-28.12; and Thursday, 01.01, 6 pm. In DE with EN surtitles (01.01). Directed by Katie Mitchell. Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. €7-€60.
A fluid stage-and-video adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, playfully dissolving gender, time, and identity with artistic freedom.

🏃🏾‍♂️ RUN-N-RAVE x BAMNAT SOUL FOOD SUNDAY
Sunday, 28.12, 11 am. Meet at BAMNAT, Kreuzberg. Free (2-for-1 food deal after)
Community long run (7km) followed by Korean soul food at BAMNAT. Meet at the restaurant, bag drop, run together, eat after. Low-key way to move and connect during the holidays.

🪩 LAYERS XMAS XTRAVAGANZA
Sunday, 28.12, 4 pm - 2 am. Paloma, Kreuzberg. €16-20
Feminist DJ collective with a 100% women lineup playing sexy house. Lydia Eisenblätter, Jana Falcon, Cristalyne and others. Intimate venue - soft winter light through the windows, special Xmas drinks, dances deep into the night

🎶East Side Story – A German Jewsical
Wednesday, 31.12, 6:30 pm; Thursday, 01.01, 6pm. Directed by Lena Brasch. In DE with EN surtitles. Maxim Gorki Theater. €12-€ 40.
An absurd musical about postwar Germany, Jewish return, memory, denial, and identity - mixing satire, history, pop culture, and dark humor.

🪩The End: Renate Closing 86H
Wed-Sun, 31.12-04.01, 10 pm-10 am. Renate, Friedrichshain. €22-59
86-hour NYE marathon with Ben Sims, Lewis Fautzi, Félicie, Stephanie Sykes, Jana Falcon, Anna Schreit. Techno, house, breakbeat across multiple floors. The closing party that isn't closing: Renate had a plot twist and continues in 2026.

🪩 𝖦𝖤𝖦𝖤𝖭 • 𝖯𝖱𝖭𝖢𝖯𝖳𝖫 @ RSO 33H
Wed-Fri, 31.12-02.01, 11:59 pm - 10 am. RSO, Niederschöneweide. €59
33-hour industrial/hard techno marathon with Dasha Rush, KEMI, Akua b2b Tasha, Doppelgang, Katy de Jesus. Relentless, uncompromising, long line-up. Don't forget to check the dress code.

🎞️ The Cure: Songs of a Lost World (2024/2025), Nick Wickham: A 4K remastered, recut, and remixed film of The Cure's only full performance of Songs of a Lost World, recorded at London's Troxy (2024). A complete 31-song set, with a new surround sound mix by Robert Smith, moving between the band's most melancholic recent work and timeless classics like Disintegration. → Cinemas (Yorck)

from our partner

🚄Train travel in Germany can get expensive quickly. In this guide from Smart Living in Germany, you'll find simple ways to pay less for train tickets, including a calculation of when a BahnCard actually pays off (which is sooner than you think), how to use the Deutschland-Ticket to save on train travel, and why buying the same ticket on another railway's website can sometimes be cheaper.

Factoid

🎁Traditionally, many German firms have paid employees Weihnachtsgeld (Christmas money) or a “13th salary” as it’s also known to help them cover the costs of the Holiday season. As Merkur reports, Berlin is the German state with the second lowest proportion (13%) of employees receiving Weihnachtsgeld. Bummer. Only Hamburg is worse. I’m still not moving to frontrunner Saarland, where 21.59% of workers receive the bonus.