#502: Dump truck fire, trash tax, RAW deal, dogs at IKEA, P'dam bomb

The population grew last year, but just in Berlin

Jun 16, 2026

Dear 20 Percent,

Someone threw an electric bike battery into the regular rubbish. Not the smartest decision. The battery caught fire in a BSR garbage truck on Monday. For safety reasons, sanitation workers dumped the entire truckload of garbage onto the pavement in Karl-Marx-Straße near Hermannplatz, an event that made the day of the square’s many rats.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Does this sort of thing happen in other places?

More news below.

Maurice

PS: 100% Funny, the 20% Berlin comedy night at Downstairs Comedy Club, is June 18! Paid subscribers get special pricing — hmu if you didn't get the email or check Patreon. Some of the best comedians from the German and English scenes in one of the few air conditioned venues in Berlin. Tix here.

Fight waste with packaging tax

The battle against garbage has finally been taken up by politicians. With an eye on the Berlin elections in September, the local Greens presented a plan to crack down on the trash problem which includes hiring 800 more BSR sanitation workers to clean up green spaces, supporting volunteer cleanup campaigns and focusing on “hotspots”. Following the lead of the southern German city of Tübingen, the Greens want to introduce a tax on packaging, which could allegedly raise €40 million to hire the additional BSR staff. Local party big wig Bettina Jarasch commented: “When trash piles up, many people feel like the city no longer belongs to them. We cannot allow that.”

WWII bomb in Potsdam

Around 6,500 people were evacuated in central Potsdam Tuesday morning after a 250kg US Air Force bomb was discovered at a construction site. Train service at Potsdam Hauptbahnof will remain disrupted through the afternoon while specialists defuse the giant 80 year-old explosive.

Clubs forced out of RAW?

RAW Gelände has been the centre of Friedrichshain nightlife for a couple of decades. Looks like the good times are coming to an end. Cassiopeia Club has been given two weeks to leave the premises. The club’s rental contract actually ran out at the end of last year but the operators hoped that decade-long negotiations between the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Kurth-Gruppe, which purchased the complex in 2015, would end in a compromise that would allow both real estate development and preservation of the indie venues located there. Kurth wants to build an office tower and resident units at RAW and complained that district’s approval process was too slow. The investor has pulled out of negotiations for now but will have to return to the table if they want to build anything new.

Kottbullar for the canines?

IKEA outlets across Berlin have decided to allow dogs. No idea why. I usually regret my visits to the Swedish megastores but now I have one more reason to stay away.

Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin

🪩 Berlin Beats: Byron Yeates
Thursday 18.06 · 7 pm · Hamburger Bahnhof garden, Invalidenstraße 50-51 · free
The second night of the summer DJ series in the museum garden with Byron Yeates. In his sets, he draws on the queer lineage of electronic dance music, combining rhythms with unexpected textures and melodies that move beyond conventional structures

🎷 JUNK SESSIONS: Atemporal x Sera Kalo
Saturday 20.06 · 6 pm · Atemporal, Boxhagener Str. 96 · €15
Kalo took last year's German Jazz Prize for vocals. eX.II – Jazz Is Punk reads jazz as an entry to broken beat, avant-soul and diasporic vocal practice. The night opens with a listening on the hi-fi and conversation with the artist, then a live set with Marius Max on tenor saxophone.

🎸 The Fete De La Musique Shortlist Sunday, 21.06 · across the city · free

Wooly Aziz at Alte Münze Open House: The Palestinian-Berlin artist solo set while the mint opens its back rooms to the public. 3 pm onwards · Alte Münze, Molkenmarkt 2 · free

Hard Wax x Ladieschoiceintl on the HKW terrace: Tausi, Arthur b2b Tapes, Bassdee b2b Felix K. Hard Wax on the roof terrace by the water. 2-10 pm · Weltwirtschaft am HKW · free

African Acid Is The Future: unBLOCK PARTY: Maryisonacid hosting Dauwd, Joe Milli and DJSOULSEEK for a hidden function on the longest day. 4 pm · 90mil, Holzmarktstraße 19-23 · €15

Refuge Worldwide Free Open Air: Day-long open-air with Aalia Iraki, DJ Hops, elliephunk, Karani. 12-10 pm · Atelier Gardens, Tempelhof · €2 donation

Else: XJAZZ on the floor: XJAZZ Festival co-curators behind the decks for an all-day open-air with Allynx, DJ Amir, Christian Prommer and others. 2 pm onwards · Else · free until 9 pm

Gretchen Blockparty: Cosmo & untoldency at Gretchen Yard with Islandman, SENU, rines and Deskai. 4-10 pm · Gretchen Yard · free

🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺

😑 Musk to sue German broadcaster ZDF over ‘hunt for migrants’

📉 German working age population to shrink drastically

🪙YouTube Premium ups prices in Germany

📺 DIY Punk in Germany

Factoid

Berlin’s population grew by 15,000 last year to 3.7 million, according to the government statistics office, while Brandenburg’s population fell by 5,000. The total population of Germany fell to 83.5 million last year, down by 100,000.