Hey 20 Percent,
Be careful what you wish for.
I’m writing this in Paris, where former mayor Anne Hidalgo built 1,500 kilometers of bike paths and ushered in a revolution in two-wheeled transport.
But Hidalgo also ushered in a level of cycling chaos that would send Germans to the hospital. Bicycle lights aren’t seen as mere suggestions here, they’re not even acknowledged. Cyclists speed through intersections when and however they see fit.
As a pedestrian, you’re on your own and you never know where the next Drahtesel (wire mule or bike) will come from.
Also, most of the cycling traffic seems to be rental e-bikes with the occasional parent bike taxi and e-scooter thrown in. They’re all zooming along at electricity-assisted speeds Berlin’s cargo bikes couldn’t even dream about. To be fair, I’m in the Arondissements in the middle, so I have no idea what’s going on out of sight of the Seine, but I can’t imagine it’s much different.
I love a cycling future, I just didn’t realize the level of anarchy attached to it.
Still, we did see one cyclist stopped at a traffic light last night coming back from dinner — it was green.
“He’s waiting for it to turn red so he can go,” my (German) wife said.
Maybe ride a bike this weekend?
Andrew
🧠 Maurice’s 20% Berlin News Quiz is back next Wednesday!
Krach (SPD) chaos
The center-left SPD in Berlin is experiencing its own form of chaos after Hannover prosecutors searched the home of the party’s Berlin mayoral candidate Steffen Krach less than two weeks before the September 20 election. Prosecutors are accusing him of corruption for providing secret documents to an allegedly friendly company bidding for a vacant piece of government property, according to RBB24. Krach himself said a donation made by the company to the Berlin SPD was immediately returned and denied any wrongdoing in the tender, which the allied company lost. The chaos will have little effect on the election — the SPD hovers at fifth place in polls, meaning Krach has no chance of becoming mayor.
Furnished, temporary rentals can be banned, sort of
And now there’s a tiny bit less rental-chaos after a Berlin court ruled that districts can prohibit temporary, furnished rentals, a loophole that allows landlords to charge higher rents. But districts can only reject the rentals in Milieuschutzgebiete, according to T-Online. Milieuschutzgebiete are designated areas in each district where renters enjoy extra protection to maintain a neighborhood’s social fabric and support lower income households. A Neukölln landlord sued after the district had forbidden her from renting out 15 furnished apartments temporarily at between €23.26 and €32.63 per sqm — the allowed rent for an unfurnished abode in the area is €10.37 per sqm. The landlord lost, giving officials yet another tool to fight greedy, greedy landlords.
Tie the knot in a tram
We’ve all at least once wished the BVG would do a little less marketing and a little more to combat its own chaos but this publicity-ploy is kind of funny — Berlin’s public transport provider is looking for three couples to get fake married in a tram Oct. 11. You can apply here (German only) and they make it clear that the marriage won’t be legally binding but will be used for marketing. And you can bring guests! I applied, because why not?
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
👨🦲 Merz takes aim at AfD, Trump
⚓ Germany’s connection to 9/11
🪖 Tusk warns of Russian incursions into NATO states
Factoid
Depending upon who you ask, Berlin’s shortest street is either the unimaginatively named Straße 54 in Heinersdorf or the Eiergasse in Mitte. Straße 54 weighs in at 17.2 meters, according to Tagesspiegel (paywall), and is sandwiched between a Tedi discount store and the Freies Land garden allotment colony. The adorable Eiergasse in the Nikolaiviertel has been heralded as the shortest at 16 meters for years, but some sources say it’s actually 18.
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I’m planting my flag on this hill: stop using “anarchy” as a synonym for chaos and disorder 🫣
That framing serves those who hold power—and want us to believe that dismantling unjust systems and governing ourselves could only end in catastrophe.
So yes, “anarchy” might sound dramatic in a negative sentence. But perhaps the word you’re looking for is “bedlam.”
And if you do use “anarchy,” try using it positively:
“For many, 1990s Berlin offered a glimpse of the beautiful possibilities of anarchy. Places like Tacheles emerged from extraordinary personal freedom—but also from deep collaboration, collective responsibility and the courage to build without waiting for permission.”
Anarchy isn’t the absence of order. It’s the absence of rulers.
And I dare say, Anarchy is why so many of us 25% choose to live in Berlin, and would love it if the place was even more anarchistic.
The police enforces one rule very strictly in Paris: you’re not allowed to wear headphones while cycling. Solution: everyone who wants to listen to music while cycling hangs a boombox on their bike and blasts it really loud