Dear 20 Percent,
Die Linke, the Greens and the SPD began coalition talks proper on Monday.
Fourteen working groups have formed with 100+ members per party involved in the negotiations. They’ll have to consolidate Berlin’s overstretched budget. And they aim to raise €400 million in additional tax revenue per year — by taxing fancy villas.
It’s been a rocky road, to say the least, and the parties still face resistance from the conservative press, from certain pro-Palestinian activists within Die Linke, as well as from 1,200 prominent members of the SPD who think Die Linke are too radical.
The three parties say they’ll be ready to form a government by Christmas. I hope they ignore the naysayers and get the new Berlin government over the finish line. And start fixing the housing crisis. The alternative would be a Green-SPD-CDU government with a CDU mayor.
More news below.
Maurice
🖊️I published another rather easy Berlin-themed crossword.
🎙️A new episode of our podcast is out!
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Police: domestic violence up
Shocking new police stats just out: Domestic violence deaths in Berlin rose to 24 in 2025 (13 women, 11 men), up from 17 in 2024. The total number of reported cases of domestic violence climbed to 20,000, 70% of whom were women. If you or someone you know are experiencing physical or psychological abuse within your family or relationship, these organisations offer help in German, English and other languages:
Violence Against Women Helpline: 116 016 – free, anonymous, multilingual, 24/7
BIG Berlin: 030 611 03 00 – counseling and emergency assistance, 24/7
AirbnBS
Airbnb is rebranding itself as part of the solution to the housing crisis instead of as part of the problem. It’s handing out “housing scholarships” to 250 international TU Berlin first-year students, meaning a €1,580 Airbnb voucher, enough for a few weeks’ accommodation. Left-wing newspaper taz calls the move “socialwashing” since the platform is partially to blame for Berlin’s housing shortage. An estimated 10,000 flats are still rented out illegally as holiday apartments. Meanwhile, taz writes, Airbnb.org, the company’s non-profit foundation, has been contacting Berlin social services about how it could help “provide free temporary accommodation” in crisis situations. Die Linke MP Katalin Gennburg called Airbnb’s overtures to authorities “a strategy to ward off stricter regulation.”
Big bad bridge
The mind boggles to think the Kaiser was in charge when this thing was built: the Schönhauser Allee bridge in Prenzlauer Berg, a 140-year-old structure carrying a U-Bahn station above an S-Bahn station, will be dismantled and replaced by 2032. Prep began Monday: Dänenstraße closes to traffic to serve as the construction-site hub. The U-Bahn’s northern entrance will close for years. Pedestrian, car, tram and bike traffic on Schönhauser Allee will continue throughout. The rebuild is part of Berlin’s €1.8 billion bridge investment masterplan.
🎭 Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin 🪩
🔬Berlin Science Week [gather/learn]
Until 10.11 · across Berlin · Festival Centre at HKW (6–8.11) · the three-day pass is free with registration
This year’s theme, In Touch, explores the human side of science, with talks, performances and experiments. Our highlights: At Your Fingertips (04.11, 7 pm), with motion-capture performances and sound art; Fertile Void (06–08.11), exploring science through listening; From Slime to Survival (07.11, 6:30 pm), on intelligence without brains; Investigating the Kill Cloud (07.11, 7:30 pm), on military AI and surveillance; Cells’ Ears (07.11, 9 pm), where living heart cells respond to sound; and Journeys Through Deep Time (08.11, 1:30 pm), connecting Indigenous knowledge, archaeology and climate science.
🎸Alex Cosmo Blake
Wednesday · 7 - 9 pm · Atemporal, Boxhagener Straße 96, 10245 Friedrichshain · €12
A South East London guitarist plays solo acoustic from his debut, For No One Else, somewhere between ambient and contemporary jazz. He has played with Kokoroko and Made Kuti.
🩻Dinner With The Dead: A Día de los Muertos Table
Thursday · 7 - 10 pm · Geist im Glas, Lenaustraße 27, 12047 Neukölln · €45
Tertulia Collective and Kori cook a three-course Mexican dinner for Día de los Muertos, with an altar in the room. Guests can bring a photo of someone they miss, who gets a seat at the table too.
📖Across the Page: Sheila Armstrong, Berlin Babel, DJ Natalie Stardust
Friday · 7 pm · Literaturhaus Berlin, Fasanenstraße 23, 10719 Charlottenburg · €3-9
Neukölln-based Irish writer Sheila Armstrong reads from her new novel, The Red Mouth, then the Berlin Babel anthology brings together writers from everywhere on this city. DJ Natalie Stardust closes the night.
🪩Body Language - 5th Anniversary
Friday · 11:55 pm · KREUZWERK, Lobeckstraße 30-35, 10969 Kreuzberg · €22
Body Language party turns five: feverish floors, deep talks in the bathroom queue, residents and friends from Friday night to Saturday noon, house, techno and a live debut from 131bpm.
🎨Offene Ateliers Neukölln
Saturday 2-8 pm, Sunday 12-6 pm · studios across Neukölln · free
Around ninety artists open nearly forty studios across Neukölln, with filmmakers Ute Aurand and Robert Beavers on Kienitzer Straße. A panel on the studio shortage opens Saturday.
For more events, subscribe to The Next Day Berlin
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🪧 Peaceful protests spiral into looting and violence
🏛️ Merz says next German president ‘must be a woman’
🤖 UK and Germany to jointly develop military AI in 2027
☢️ Germany’s search for a nuclear waste site
Factoid
How could it come to this? Veteran rapper Sido says he has to close his Friedrichshain Späti because the rent has become too expensive. With some pals, he opened Svenni’s Nachtshop near Ostkreuz in 2021. But now the landlord bumped up the rent from €4,000/month to €6,000 — a shockingly high number for a hole in the wall. Speaking on the “Take me Späti” podcast, Sido said you can’t afford that kind of rent selling rolling papers.
🔗 🔗 🔗 Useful links 🔗 🔗 🔗
Update Germany | Handpicked Berlin | FOMO 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 Mastodon 🧵 20 Percent on Threads 🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify 🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Apple Podcasts