With Die Linke leading the polls again, Elif Eralp could soon become our mayor. Photo: Pascal Kuba Koston

Dear 20 Percent,

I’ve been binging on election trivia while prepping for my 20% Berlin Percent News Quiz - Election Special tomorrow (Wednesday) night. It would should be a lot of fun.

I’ve dredged up more election info in English:

Slow Travel Berlin has a detailed guide to the main parties, candidates and manifestos.

And in case you are allowed to vote but are still unsure whom to vote for: the Berlin 2026 project is useful tool to compare the parties on the issues. In eleven languages!

Some interesting historical voting data…

Berlin election results since 1990. Source: RBB

And the latest Wahltrend, showing the average of the latest polls, in a single graphic — from September 14.

It’s going to be a nailbiter.

Andrew and I discuss possible election outcomes in the latest episode of the 20% Berlin Podcast, out now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Substack. Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Votefromabroad.org.

News below.

Maurice

❤️ Thanks also to our newsletter sponsor SettlyGo. More from them below.

Upcoming 20% Berlin events

🧠 Maurice’s 20% Berlin News Quiz Election Edition on Wednesday!

🎤 Andrew’s 20% Berlin English Comedy show on Sunday!

March against right-wing extremism

The “Sterndemo” (Star Demo) on Saturday consisted of seven protest marches that began in different parts of town and converged at the Rotes Rathaus (city hall) near Alexanderplatz. An estimated 35,000 marched, presenting the choice of “an open, progressive Berlin or an intolerant, regressive one”, in reference to the worrying AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6.

Berliner want rent control

More evidence that housing and cost-of-living are the decisive issues in this election: A new survey found that 72% of Berliners support price caps on rent and essential groceries. Sixty-three percent back expropriating large housing companies to lower rents while 62% of city dwellers feel housing quality in their neighbourhood has declined.

Dubai deal

There’s a little war going on in the Gulf, but that didn’t stop the airline Emirates from securing the rights to fly daily between Dubai and BER. The deal is part of a new €40 billion package of investment between Germany and UAE. Emirates already serves Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. Labour unions and Lufthansa complained about the agreement. Germany’s flagship carrier already covers the Berlin-Dubai route with its subsidiary Condor.

RAW deal

The district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has become the main tenant of the RAW Gelände. Under a deal signed with the property's owner, the district will cover the entire rent for two years, securing clubs, cultural spaces, and community projects from eviction after a decade-long dispute. The district will fork over €2 million to cover rising rents (nearly tripling from €4 to €11.20/m²🫠) and urgent repairs, buying time while a development plan which includes 300 apartments and a 100m-high office building is finalised. Conflicts remain over noise protection and the long-term co-existence of housing and nightlife.

🎭 Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin 🪩

🤖 Theresa Reiwer: Internet Explorer
Friday: 6 pm and 8:30 pm; Saturday and Sunday: 3.30 pm / 6 pm / 8.30 pm, 15–18 €, reduced 9–12 € · 80 minutes
HAU3, Tempelhofer Ufer 10, 10963 Kreuzberg · English with German subtitles. Audience video is used during the performance and deleted afterwards.
A cyber café you walk through, populated by mini-games, video essays and a speculative AI that runs the place. Reiwer returns to the internet’s promise of participation and asks whether it was ever kept, or whether the same power simply moved house. Your own participation becomes part of the question.

🎹 Organ Anatomy
Organ + electronics · Free, donations welcome
Thursday, 8 pm · Gedächtniskirche, Breitscheidplatz, 10789 Charlottenburg
Saturday, 8 pm, Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche, Hauptstraße 48, 10827 Schöneberg
Wanying Lin on organ and Lula Romero on synthesizer play three new works by Yiran Zhao, Romero and Lin Yang. Pipes, air and mechanism become the material, and the electronics enter as a foreign body that widens what the instrument can do inside the church.

👩‍🎤 Zoon Phonanta + Cobra Killer
Sunday · 8–11 pm · 15 € Neue Zukunft, Alt-Stralau 68, 10245 Friedrichshain
Cobra Killer play their first show in almost fourteen years, as guests at the Zoon Phonanta album release. Emergency Lies came out two days earlier on Bronzerat and runs through krautrock, big beat and pop bent out of shape, with A.S. Fanning and Gemma Ray passing through.

🎤 20% Berlin Comedy Night Sunday · 6:30 pm · Downstairs Comedy Club, Oranienburger Str. 67, 10117 Berlin English standup in Berlin’s best comedy venue. Line-up: Fitz Gessler, Pavlo Voyt, Carmen Chraim, Massoud Akbarzadeh. Host: Drew Portnoy.

🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺

🤨 Berlin businesswoman charged with spying for Russia

🪖 Far right’s rise in rapidly re-arming Germany gives Poland cause for concern

📈 UAE pledges to invest €40 billion in Germany, with a focus on data centres

🚀 German rocket reaches orbit

💡 AfD wins in Germany: What this means for internationals now

Factoid

16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in the Berlin state parliamentary elections for the first time on Sunday! The age for participating in the BVV (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung or district council) elections was lowered to 16 in 2011.

sponsored

German bureaucracy is easier with someone by your side.

Already have an Anmeldung or residence-permit appointment but worried about the language? Need help with a German phone call or another practical task?

SettlyGo connects internationals in Berlin with vetted local helpers who can help you get it done.

Real people. Transparent prices. Book online.

👉 https://settlygo.app/go/20percentberlin

🔗 🔗 🔗 Useful links 🔗 🔗 🔗

🦋 20 Percent on Bluesky 🐘20 Percent on Mastadon 🧵 20 Percent on Threads 🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify 🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Apple Podcasts

📈 Advertise in 20% Berlin

20 Percent Berlin

🗳️ #528: Election fever, Berliners pro rent…