My son and his friends painted the front of his student bungalow in the Olympic Park in Munich.
Dear 20 Percent,
Let’s take a pause from the election coverage.
Social anxiety is a cultural feature, not a bug, in Germany, which leads to a repressive society. Everyone is afraid of being different and those who fall outside Teutonic boundaries are quickly called to order (Es ist Rot! - the light is red!).
And so Germans really lose their Scheiße when they are allowed to lose their Scheiße — Karneval, anyone? Oktoberfest?
Berlin didn’t have a similar party and look how that went. Although Christopher Street Day and the various Love Parade variations now fill that void.
I say all of this because I am in Munich, and heading to Oktoberfest as soon as this goes out. I can recommend it. On paper, I should hate Oktoberfest but I love it. My family, live music, beer and some Käsespätzle.
And better yet, it all ends at 10pm. By law, which adds some German-ness to all of the un-German-ness.
There’s something to be said about parties with a set end. It’s also what I always liked about the marathon — show up with some coffee mid-morning Sunday, cheer on the stragglers and then go on with your day as the roadblocks disappear.
Which is my way of reminding you that the only way to get around Berlin Sunday will be subways … because of the marathon.
Have a good weekend. I know I will.
Andrew
One Olympics was enough, thanks
Berlin Thursday rescinded its application to bid for a future Olympic Games, with disgraced mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) blaming Die Linke’s overwhelming election victory, according to RBB24. Elif Eralp, Die Linke’s mayoral candidate, has said she would kybosh the plans. But Berlin officials said the DOSB, the German agency that will apply to bring the Olympics to Germany, preferred concepts proposed by Munich and the state of North-Rhine Westfalia over Berlin’s and that it was trying to save face by backing out, pouring water on Wegner’s poor loser outburst. Voters in NRW and Munich both approved those bids in referendums while opposition to having the Games in Berlin was growing. I’m shocked how many people come to Berlin for events, both sporting and musical. The Olympics could have been good for local artists. Also, my son has been living in former Olympic housing in Munich for the past three years (see above).
Waiting on Die Linke’s Go
About the election: Die Linke members are meeting today and are expected to approve coalition talks to rule Berlin with the environmental Die Grüne and the center-left SPD, according to Tagesspiegel. They’re actually voting to approve pre-talk talks, because this is Germany and everything has to be complicated. But talks should be simple because the three ruled together from 2016 to 2023, albeit not with Die Linke as senior partner. Should the talks fail, a CDU-led coalition with the SPD and Die Grüne is also possible but we’re a ways away from that at the moment.
The idea could work, partially
The expropriation of apartments from major landlords could help the government have a bigger influence on the rental market and not affect the city-state’s ability to raise financing, according to a study by the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is affiliated with Germany’s biggest unions. The government would likely have to pay €13.5 billion for the approx. 240,000 apartments, the foundation said in the study published Friday, which would be offset with rents. Berlin would then gain more control over the rental market by braking the index (Mietspiegel) used to establish legal rent levels. However, the move, approved in a 2021 referendum and hyped by Die Linke, would do nothing to help the lack of apartments in Berlin. The foundation said expropriations also shouldn’t distract from a much-needed push in new construction.
Annoyed at all the election posters hanging on lampposts? Thanks to a chat in the 20% Berlin WhatsApp group, I now know (and so do you) that parties have a week to remove them — so by this Sunday. If not, parties can face a fine and the cost of removal. But this being Berlin, they can probably hang for as long as it takes the party to take them down because enforcement is a four-letter word here.
