👩⚖️ #491: Pro-Palestinian activist can stay, investigating illegal rentals, Helmut Kohl
Human remains on a playground
Hey 20 Percent!
Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) isn’t a good mayor but maybe he’s a good politician.
Saturday he will cunningly fulfill his dream of having a Berlin street named after German über-chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU). Hofjägerallee, which guides cars from the Siegessäule south into Charlottenburg, will now be Helmut’s street.
People in Germany hate when their street gets renamed because they then get the headache of changing their address in this paper-obsessed country. Protests often accompany the changes.
But Wegner sidestepped public outrage by renaming an oft-used but little-known downtown connector. Nobody lives there. Well, not officially. And everyone’s forgotten about the Royal Court Hunter (Hofjäger).
Neither the former chancellor Angela Merkel nor the current chancellor Friedrich Merz will be on hand for the renaming even though they all hail from the same conservative CDU party. Possibly because of Kohl’s admitted role in a bribery scandal on behalf of the party.
I once covered a press conference with Chancellor Kohl and as he passed he was one of the largest people I’d ever seen. I swear the weather changed as he moved on. That’s no fat shaming — the man was 6 feet 4 (1.95 meters) as well as well-fed.
He was chancellor for 16 years and presided over the country’s reunification. Maybe he deserves a street.
Have a good weekend!
Andrew
PS: While most newsletters might celebrate their 500th edition, we’re celebrating our 495th! No, it’s not because May 22 fit best in our calendars. Not at all. Come celebrate with us — live podcast taping then drinks/networking! It’s free but space is limited. RSVP here.
Pro-Palestinian protestor can stay
Is Berlin lodging false charges against foreign pro-Palestinian activists? It certainly looks like it. Irish citizen Bert Murray was illegally stripped of her right to stay in Berlin last year by the city-state’s interior ministry, a Berlin administrative court ruled Wednesday, according to RBB24 and the Irish Times. The ministry tried to deport a handful of activists after the violent occupation of a Free University building in 2024 to protest Israel’s war against Hamas, alleging they were a threat to public safety. The court noted that charges against Murry were dropped — she was already in police custody when the alleged offenses she committed occured — and therefore poses no threat. Another Irish national, Shane O’Brien, also recently had his charges in connection with the occupation dropped. A video exonerated him of charges of allegedly violently reacting to an atttempted arrest. Police were also unable to produce a passport he allegedly dropped during his altercation with officers.
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One apartment is a start
Berlin is finally doing something to combat short-term, furnished rentals after introducing new rules in April. Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain is investigating 36 potentially illegal short-term rentals. In Neukölln they’re looking into 22 flats in three different buildings, according to Tagesspiegel (paywall). Mitte’s looking at apartments in six buildings and Pankow five. Berlin is trying to discourage commercial landlords from offering temporary, furnished rentals, which remove flats from the normal rental market and often bring exorbitant prices because they are not subject to rent controls. Such rentals are seen as illegal conversions or residential spaces but officials can only enforce the new rules in Milieuschutzgebiete, special areas set aside to protect renters from gentrification. Only one single apartment — in Neukölln — has been returned to the normal rental market since the new rules went into effect in April.
from our partner
So many holidays in May — don’t spend them flat hunting.
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Whose bones are these?
Proof people have lived here for awhile: Construction workers found human bones while working on a playground on Waldemarstraße, Kreuzberg in April, according to Tagesspiegel. And officials are now looking for even more bones at the site but don’t suspect foul play — the Künstlerhaus Bethanien artist residency is nearby and it used to be a hospital. Maybe the site used to be a cemetery? In 2008, construction workers at Alexanderplatz stumbled across a common grave from the 18th century.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🪖 50,000 expected at anti-militarization protest Friday
👮 Crackdown on neo-Nazi youth groups
🐳 Timmy the Whale probably drowned
Factoid
The Nazis surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945 in an officer’s mess in Karlshorst in southeastern Berlin. The building then became headquarters for the Soviet military from 1945 to 1949. The site is now a museum about the Eastern Front as well as Germany’s surrender — it’s always been on my list but I have yet to go.
🔗 🔗 🔗 Useful links 🔗 🔗 🔗
🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify
I visited the Karlshorst museum last year when they were commemorating the 80th anniversary of Germany’s surrender. Highly recommend.