Dear 20 Percent,
Die Linke, the Greens and the SPD have inked an “exploratory paper” outlining points of agreement, upon which they’ll base future coalition negotiations.
The local Greens and SPD have already given the green light to further talks but Die Linke will hold a party conference on October 31 to vote on it. I’m guessing the party leadership needs some time to win back the hearts of the pro-Palestinian wing who are angry about a statement on antisemitism which they felt was too Israel-friendly.
So, if Die Linke can heal its internal divisions and move on to coalition talks, here’s what we can expect:
Socialisation of housing companies that own 10,000+ flats (instead of 3,000 as Die Linke originally wanted) in Berlin; 160,000 apartments would be affected. No more than €16 billion should be spent on those flats (the owners might not take that lying down).
Rent cap for the 440,000 municipal flats: max. increase of 2% per year.
Construction of 100,000 new affordable homes by 2031
Set up a new “rent supervision authority ” aka “rent police” to combat excessive rents.
No building on Tempelhofer Feld
Free bulk-waste pickup once a year
More bike paths
Public transport social ticket gets cheaper (current cost: €27.50 per month)
No further construction of the A100 motorway (good news for Friedrichshain nightlife!)
Phone ban in primary schools
End cooperation between schools and the Bundeswehr aka no more soldiers visiting your kid’s class.
No cuts to police staffing, contrary to Die Linke’s calls to defund the cops.
Better security on public transport, especially at night
Reintroduction of 16 free museum Sundays per year and the culture card for young people
Neighbourhood canteens offering cheap meals. I’m curious about the menu.
For tech people worried Die Linke is introducing communism: The state-owned Berlin Investment Bank will funnel more venture capital into startups.
If they really stick to this programme, I can live with it. My favourite points are the school phone ban and a rejection of the A100 extension through Friedrichshain. Low-hanging fruit, but two things I fully back. Not sure about the canteens.
I predict the most ambitious propject on the list, socialisation of 160k flats, is going be bogged down in a legal battle. Let’s hope a rent cap on municipal flats plus the “rent police” office can make an impact in the meantime.
If we’re lucky, Berlin will have a government by New Year’s Eve.
More news below.
Maurice
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Merz pitches Germany
While Berlin considers adding a pinch of socialism to its economy, Friedrich Merz is all-in on capitalism. At the “Invest in Germany Summit” (Monday and Tuesday), the chancellor and other cabinet members are pitching Germany to foreign investors as a great place to park your cash. The government hopes for €130+ billion in private investment, which it would top up with €30 billion in public funding. On Monday, Merz announced a partnership with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang on boosting AI in German industry. Huang has been touring European capitals buying companies and pushing back against AI regulation.
Geothermal energy in Marzahn
This is the kind of investment I can get behind: The city has awarded a licence to utility BEW to drill nearly two kilometres down at a site in Marzahn to test whether hot water from beneath the ground can heat the city. The first plant could go live in 2031. Environment senator Ute Bonde (CDU) commented: “Beneath our feet lies a heat source that is independent of world markets and nearly emission-free.”
Pay bump for uni-workers
A small victory in the battle against rising living costs: A labour tribunal has ruled that Humboldt University must pay about 4,000 employees the Berlin a “capital city allowance” (Hauptstadtzulage), a €150-per-month top-up most public sector workers already receive to help them stomach higher expenses in the capital. Humboldt will have to pay the allowance retroactively going back to April 2025.
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🎭 Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin 🪩
🎞️Film Restored [watch]
Wednesday to Sunday · Deutsche Kinemathek, Mauerstraße 79, 10117 Mitte & Sinema Transtopia, Lindower Straße 20/22, 13347 Wedding · free-10 €
Five days of restored films from twenty countries, from Cyankali to Chameleon Street and Pink Narcissus, shown in the Kinemathek’s hall and studio cinema and at Sinema Transtopia, with talks.
🍽️Atmosphères vinyl and food pop-up [listen/gather]
Wednesday · 5 - 11 pm · Ikii, Herrfurthplatz 8, 12049 Neukölln · donation-based
A label night of records on a hi-fi system, live visuals and food from the Hangry Panther pop-up, with entry by donation. An easy midweek dinner plan with good sound.
Autumn Book Swap with Tea tasting at Desirelines [read/gather]
Wednesday · 6:45-9:30 pm · desirelines books, Fraenkelufer 28, 10999 Kreuzberg · 5 €
Späti Stories closes its meetup season with a book swap: everyone brings an autumn book they loved, writes a note for its next reader and leaves with someone else’s. Eduard/ brews a seasonal tea.
🎸Roomer | Special Guest: Jules Reidy [live]
Thursday · 8 pm · Neue Zukunft, Alt-Stralau 68, 10245 Friedrichshain · 20 €
Roomer releases Staircase Made of Rope, their second album, made mostly from improvisations and first takes. The songs drift between shoegaze and noise, with lyrics like pages torn from an old diary, and Jules Reidy joins as a special guest.
🎷Soundscapes Improv Session Vol.07 [frequency]
Saturday · 4 pm - 4 am · Monopol, Provinzstraße 40-44, 13409 Reinickendorf · 10 € (only cash)
More than a dozen musicians improvise in a painter’s studio from four in the afternoon, with band showcases at night and an ambient room in the cellar. Anyone with an instrument is welcome to join in.
🪩Kids’ Disco Special: Ballroom with House of St. Laurent [gather]
Sunday · 3-5 pm · HKW, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Tiergarten · free
The House of St. Laurent brings a ballroom to the kids’ disco: an open workshop for fans, masks and headdresses, a short talk on where ballroom comes from, then a runway where every child walks.
🍽️Garten Mitte x Aerde [gather]
Sunday · 7-9 pm · Garten Mitte, Joachimstrasse, 20 10119 Mitte · 75 €
aerde cooks a five-course end-of-summer dinner at Garten Mitte for just thirty guests, with vegetarian options. If the weather holds, the table is set outside, so dress for an October night.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🕵️ Germany summons Iranian envoy after two jailed for spying for Tehran
🚗 France and Germany strike car-industry deal
⏰ Is Germany’s eight-hour workday under threat?
🥩 Steakhouse heirness on trial for abduction of her own children
🎻 Berlin Philharmonic planning to vacate Philharmonie for renovation from 2032-40
Factoid
The city’s most famous Cold War border crossing, Checkpoint Charlie, is getting a makeover. Right now, tourists flock there but all they find is a little replica of a US guard house and a McDonalds. The federal government has earmarked €1.65 million to spruce up the checkpoint as a place of a remembrance. Berlin landscape architects A24 ended up winning the design competition. The winning design seems appropriately bleak. Target for completion is 2030.
🔗 🔗 🔗 Useful links 🔗 🔗 🔗
Update Germany | Handpicked Berlin | The Next Day Berlin | The Berlin Life | Berlin Events Weekly | From Julia’s Desk | Späti Stories | Berlin Literary Events | OV Berlin | WahlheYmat
🦋 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
They should also consider improving and expanding the public transportation network to tackle the rental crisis. Almost everybody is looking "inside the ring" therefore prices gone up in neighborhoods, and many people naturally don't want or can't afford to move outside from their comfort zone when they have bigger families etc. Idk if public transportation is fully under their responsibility but usually it does in other countries therefore I assume the same.
Rent caps is plain populism: a simple, attractive solution to a complex problem. It does the opposite of addressing the root cause - too few incentives to building more - and therefore makes things worse. Some stuff in their plan is good but making it even harder to find a flat is definitely not something I'm looking forward to.