Dear 20 Percent,
This morning my wife and I stopped for a coffee and there was a bit of a mixup with the barista. We only had coins, and not a lot, and he didn’t quite understand when we asked what it would all cost.
The problem was that his German wasn’t great. Not a problem. I’m happy to talk slower and help people practice. Help them integrate.
But sometimes I also just want to complete a transaction.
“Would this be easier in English?” I wondered. “Or would I just insult him if I switched?” When I do the switch I always try to be effusive and act like I’m switching to English because it’s easier for me, not them.
“Does he even speak English?” I then thought. My wife spilled our coins onto the counter. The transaction was moving forward faster than my internal dialogue. “Maybe I should just continue in German,” I thought but the barista was counting out what he needed for an Americano and a Cappucino.
“Das Kaffee bringe ich dann raus,” he said with his accent.
Maybe money is the true lingua franca of Berlin.
Have a good fall weekend!
Andrew
🙏Thanks to today’s sponsors: new training app Outcurve and Get the Flat. More from them below.
Our stand-up comedy night, 100% Funny, October 27
Ludwig Beneke, Anja Woot, Oliver Polak, Aurel Mertz, Fred Costea and me doing the best English comedy in Berlin at the best club: Downstairs Comedy Club, Oct. 27. Tickets here.
Low-income housing in Europacity
This slipped through the cracks earlier this month but a Berlin administrative court ruled that the developer of the Europacity residential project adjacent to the Hauptbahnhof has to offer 215 apartments for low-income renters, according to rbb24. Developer QH2 Development also has to pay €1.84 million plus interest in fines. Berlin sued QH2 as well as the original developer for not keeping to an original contract to offer a portion of the approx. 3,000 new apartments at the site as low-income housing for 20 years. QH2 claimed it didn’t have to fulfill the original agreements as it bought the project years after it started. The court didn’t agree.
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Whose apartments would be socialized?
Die Linke, Die Grüne and the SPD have agreed to limit corporate landlords from owning more than 10,000 apartments in our city-state and want the biggies to sell the surplus to them. But the original referendum from 2021 called for the cap to be at 3,000. Should the suggestion ever become law (experts say appeals could take a decade) which landlords would be affected? Difficult, thanks to Germany’s obsession with privacy. But, Tagesspiegel says the five most likely are Vonovia, Germany’s biggest corporate landlord, with 130,000 apartments in the Hauptstadt; Adler Group, with an estimated 17,500 here (they have had to sell bunches in the past to cover debts and don’t have a great reputation); Sweden’s Heimstaden, with 20,000, though they have plans to build an additional 500; France’s Covivio with an estimated 17,000 apartments; and DVI Gruppe with an estimated 11,000 flats. Is your landlord one of them? Half the reason I wrote this note was to be able to use a semicolon.
We have to talk about the Bierpinsel
I often joke about how boring Steglitz is — it’s almost like having a slice of 1980s West Germany in modern Berlin — but in the back of my mind I always think they have one of the coolest buildings, the beer paintbrush (Bierpinsel). The abandoned brutalist sphere looms over the Schlossstraße shopping paradise like a guard tower. But it’s falling apart and officials have now closed nearby streets to protect people from falling pieces of its facade, according to rbb24. The owner, ImmoMa GmbH, is supposed to take steps to secure the facade. Steglitz could eventually secure the facade itself and send the bill to the owner, who has promised to open a restaurant, offices and even classrooms in the building, though nothing has actually been done. The thing was built in 1976 and hosted a restaurant into the ‘90s but has been vacant since.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🍺 Oh go on: A Sandra Hüller profile
😈 German Mittelstand on the auction block
Factoid
Everyone likes to talk about how leafy Berlin is and Treptow-Köpenick has the most nature of any of Berlin’s Bezirke with 40% of its area covered in forest (hello Treptow Park!), according to the Berlin-Brandenburg statistic nerds. Charlottenburg comes in an unexpected second with 25.2% (Grunewald, I guess) and Steglitz-Zehlendorf with 23.9%. By comparison, Mitte, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Neukölln are “nearly forest-free,” the agency says.
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Outcurve is live, and they’re throwing a party for Berlin!
Built locally, Outcurve is a training app for anyone chasing a goal, from a first 10K to a marathon PB. It plans training around your sleep and recovery, adapting daily to how your body feels rather than a fixed schedule.
To celebrate, they’re inviting Berlin’s sports and health communities for an evening of good food, drinks and company. Try the app, meet the team and get a shot at winning a wearable in their partner giveaway.
Spots are limited, so don’t wait. Register on Luma!
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🦋 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