#476: BER strike, Nazi demo, fake euros
Now you can bike to Dresden
Dear 20% Berlin
Someone in my neighbourhood has resorted to posting multilingual flyers in a desperate attempt to stem to the flood of un-picked-up dog poops.
It’s not working.
Just like this year's higher fines aren’t stopping the dumping of trash in my neighbourhood nor the smoking at my local S-Bahn platform.
Berlin, city of rebels or city of zero civic pride?
This time of year, before the leaves come out, Berlin shows its ugliest side.
Is the urban decay and neglect and trash worse this year or is it just me?
Answer revealed at my pub quiz next Wednesday. Test your knowledge random Berlin and German trivia, history and news at the next 20% Berlin News Quiz, hosted by yours truly. Get your tickets here!.
News below.
Maurice
No flights on Wednesday
Another strike, folks, this time at the airport. About 445 landings and take-offs are being cancelled at BER on Wednesday, affecting 56,000 passengers. Union Verdi is calling on workers at the airport fire station, office workers and maintenance staff to skip work. Security and baggage handling won’t be affected — but I guess you can’t run an airport without a firefighting crew. The “warning strike” takes place a week before the next round of Verdi negotiations with the airport over the pay for 2,000 employees. The union is demanding a 6% pay rise or at least €250 more per month.
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Nazis, conspiracy theorists, one crap singer
A hodge-podge of right-wingers and conspiracy-peddlers gathered at the Siegessäule in Tiergarten on Sunday to see Q-Anon fan and German pop singer Xavier Naidoo and other speakers from the scene air their grievances — with a focus on the Epstein affair and Germany’s alleged deep links to it. Reportedly, some in the audience wore actual tin foil hats. The organisers had registered a protest with the official name “Transparency, the Rule of Law, and the Protection of Minors – An Analysis in the Context of Potential German Connections to the International Epstein Case” for 10,000 people but only 750 came, according to police. A woman was arrested for showing what people in this scene call the “forbidden greeting”, also known as the Hitler salute.
One dumb thief
About zero percent of bike thefts are solved. But you can get lucky. Half a year after her bike was stolen a Berliner happened to recognise her stolen bike in an online ad thanks to certain scratches and a misaligned reflector. She informed the police, who arranged to meet the seller, arresting him on the spot. The cops found more stolen bikes in his flat. It’s recommended that bike owners register their bikes with the police so they can later be identified in the slim chance they show up somewhere.
Bike to Dresden?
A new, officially signposted 250-kilometer bike route now links the Frauenkirche in downtown Dresden to the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. The route, which has been in development since 2012 by the volunteers at the Dresden ADFC cycling association mostly follows existing paths such as the Dahme river and Spree bike trails, passing through scenic areas like the Spreewald, famous for canals and pickles. The ADFC says fast cyclists can complete the journey in two days. Families could need a week. Here’s the map!
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New York stand-up comedian Adrienne Iapalucci — she’s opened for Louis CK — is coming to Berlin with her brutally funny and unapologetically dark comedy.
Adrienne’s comedy is perfect for fans of bold New York stand-up and comedians who aren’t afraid to go where other comics won’t.
Event details
📍 Kara Kas Bar – Berlin
🗓 Saturday, March 22
⏰ Doors: 19:30
🎤 Show starts: 20:00
Tickets: 20% off over promo code 20percent or via this link
Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
🎸 Altın Gün
Thursday, 19 and 20.03, 8 pm. Huxleys Neue Welt, Hasenheide 107–113, Neukölln. €41
Altın Gün fuses Anatolian 70s psych-folk with baglama, organ and live funk. Their new album “Garip“ is a tribute to folk bard Neşet Ertaş — strips back the synths for something rawer and more physical.
🏴 Scottish Connections Burns Night Thursday, 19.03, 6:30pm, Kalle Halle, Karl-Marx-Straße 101, Neukölln, free entry with registration BerlinA celebration of Scottish connections in Germany through the lens of national poet Robert Burns and the women who shaped his life and work. Comedy, music, spoken word, whisky from female-founded distillery NcNean and traditional Scottish ceilidh dancing in Neukölln. Anyone curious about Scottish culture is welcome to join.
🪩 Disco Tehran – Nowrouz in Berlin
Friday, 20.03, 9 pm – 4 am. Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19–21, Kreuzberg. €18
Persian New Year in Berlin, fundraising for VPN access inside Iran. Dauwd, Hassandra and African Acid is the Future - music between diasporic memory, electronic funk and deep dance.
📽️ Congo Cinematic Times
Saturday, 21.03, 6 - 7:30 pm. SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA, Lindower Str. 20/22, Wedding. €10
Five short films curated by artist Sammy Baloji — spanning doc, fiction and animation — tracing DRC's resource extraction, ecological memory and resilience. Filmmakers include Léonard Pongo, Dorothee Kreutzfeldt and Nelson Makengo.
🎹 Voices From The Lake (live)
Saturday, 21.03, 7 pm – 11:30 pm. ZENNER, Alt-Treptow 15, Alt-Treptow. €34
Donato Dozzy and Neel are back in Berlin for their first live show since II — a decade on. Deep hypnotic electronic music performed live: slow-building harmonics, and dub-inflected techno.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
☢️ Merz: No return to nuclear power
⛅ Germany misses climate target
😑 The far-right takes aim at CSDs
Factoid
According to Morgenpost, 6,925 counterfeit banknotes were discovered in Berlin last year, a 77.1% increase over 2024. The notes had a total face value of €680,000. The police warn that a common trick is for criminals to pay cash for objects advertised in classifieds; offer to pay full price immediately and hand over notes in low light. Some tips on how to recognise counterfeit notes from the Bundesbank.
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🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify
Is it just me or does Verdi strike a lot even though the job fundamentally hasn’t changed? No other group of professions strikes like that. At some point they get zero sympathy. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.