#509: Will the mayor resign? Dr. Death sentenced, offices-to-apartments
More of you than ever can't vote!
Hey 20 Percent,
I admittedly just did a Reel about it, but one of the things that has frustrated me speaking German in Germany is how literal Germans can be. It’s like they’ve never heard of a leading question.
But I left an ancedote out of the reel: I once went to the Pankow Bürgeramt to register my new address. It was just after they had moved the responsibility from police departments to government offices — and before they introduced security at the entrances to every Bürgeramt.
I was unsure if I needed an appointment or how the process worked. There were two men seated at a desk in the lobby underneath a large red and white “INFORMATION” sign.
I walked up and, in my best German asked, “Is this where I register my new address?”
“No,” one of the men said and then went back to talking to his co-worker.
It’s supposed to get hot again this weekend — enjoy!
Andrew
Bye-bye Mayor Wegner?
The Berlin branch of the conservative CDU has called a crisis meeting for Friday evening after an open letter asked Mayor Kai Wegner to resign and step down as the party’s top candidate in the September election, according to Tagesspiegel. Dozens have signed the letter, criticizing Wegner for lies about how he reacted to a January blackout in southwestern Berlin that left tens of thousands without power for days. Wegner at first said he was in his home office directing the city’s response the first day — a Saturday — but it later came out that he actually played tennis in the afternoon. He then claimed to have otherwise been on the phone all day but the Tagesspiegel this week discovered he actually made no job-related calls that Saturday morning. The report comes just as the latest poll shows the CDU has slipped to fourth on the list of Berlin’s most popular parties after topping the list during the last election — partly Wegner’s fault and partly the fault of Friedrich Merz, the most unpopular German chancellor ever.
Murderous doctor sentenced: Life
A hospice doctor who murdered 15 patients was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison, according to t-online. He will also be placed in preventative detention after serving his sentence to protect the public and is forbidden from ever practicing medicine again. The doctor confessed near the end of the case saying he was trying to reduce his patients’ suffering. Investigators began looking at the doctor after he set fires in five patients’ apartments following the murders — detectives are still reviewing 76 other suspiscous deaths of his patients. Life sentences in Germany are never more than 25 years because courts have ruled that living in prison with no prospect of release is inhumane.
Could your old office be your new home?
We’ve all wondered why they don’t — the German government at the end of last month announced a €300 million subsidy for converting commerical real estate to residential, according to Tagesschau. Homeowners can get up to €30,000 for converting a single flat while developers (or cooperatives) can get up to €300,000. Berlin currently has 1.9 million square meters of unused commercial space, according to consultants JLL. At least one cooperative has converted a commercial building to residential (albeit before the current subsidy was announced): Wilma 19 in Lichtenberg.
No more Babyklappen in Brandenburg
The only Baby Box in Brandenburg, the leafy state surrounding Berlin, is now history after the St. Joseph’s hospital closed its maternity ward, according to RBB24. The box has been used 12 times since it opened in 2003. The boxes, known as Babyklappen in German, are controversial because they could conceivably allow abusive partners or human traffickers to easily dispose of newborns. But their necessity was underlined this week in southwestern Berlin when a newborn was found dead in a housing development — investigators believe they have since found the teenage mother, who isn’t facing any charges. Berlin has 5 Babyklappen and 112 babies had been surrendered by 2025 — they were introduced in 2000, though hospitals have also offered anonymous births for troubled potential mothers since 2014.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
⚡ E-Scooter liability clarified
⚽ Merz hopes reforms will save his chancellorship
🏭 Man sentenced in ‘not-murder’ of train conductor
Factoid
More Berliners than ever won’t be allowed to vote in September’s regional elections even though, at the same time, there have never been more people in Berlin eligible to vote in an election since 1990, according to RBB24. The increase in the number of foreigners in Berlin (ergo, the 20 Percent), means 36.4% of Berliners aren’t elegible to vote in the election, or 1.4 million people. Meanwhile, 63.6% of Berliners, or 2.5 million, are eligible (this includes, for the first time, me). Those figures switch to 30% and 70%, respectively, for district council elections because EU citizens can vote in those elections. The number of eligible votes also increased because the legal voting age was lowered to 16 in 2023.
📯📯Postkutsche 📯 📯
Reader Marston alerted me to a London controversy surrounding the Berlin Wall. Yes, that wall. The Guardian has the scoop. I did some googling — you can get a piece for €9,550, delivered.
🔗 🔗 🔗 Useful links 🔗 🔗 🔗
🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify