NEWS FROM BERLIN

Right-wing demonstration in Berlin on German Unity Day

On October 3^rd around 5,000 right-wingers and Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters gathered on Museum Island for a protest which was seemingly in favour of “Transparent Political Dialogue.” However, according to Taz, some participants openly declared their hostility towards the reunified Germany, chanting “East East East Germany”. Police presence at the event was minimal. A police spokesperson did confirm that arguments between the demonstrators and passers-by took place. Around 50 individuals from the left-wing group “Omas gegen Rechts” had a counter-protest nearby. Source: exberliner

GEW calls for three-day warning strike

The Berlin Education and Science Union (GEW) has called for a teachers’ warning strike, from next Tuesday to Thursday. The union wants smaller classes in schools. Currently, up to 29 children learn in a primary school class, and up to 35 in secondary schools. For teachers, this means grading piles of class tests, writing more reports, and having many discussions with parents. The Berlin education administration and the financial administration call the strike irresponsible, asking the union to suspend it since the Senate is already using possibilities to improve the staff situation at schools. Source: rbb24

NEWS FROM GERMANY

‘No evidence’ of attack on AfD leader Chrupalla

German prosecutors and police issued a statement last Thursday there was “no evidence” to suggest there was an attack on Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Tino Chrupalla. According to the statement, Chrupalla had been taking selfies with several people at an event, when contact with others was involved. He was found to have “a surface-level redness on his arm as well as swelling.” The AfD earlier said Chrupalla was involved in a ‘violent incident’ but police said there’s no evidence of an attack. The incident came before the key state elections in Bavaria and Hesse. Source: dw

Bavaria and the draft law for legalising cannabis

Cannabis is likely to be legalised in Germany in 2024, but politicians in Bavaria are planning to limit its availability. Last week, the Bavarian Health Minister, Klaus Holetschek, announced that the local government would set up a “central cannabis control unit” once legalisation has been enshrined. Considering procedures, the draft law is expected to return to the Bundestag for tweaks before being read by the Bundesrat. According to Holetscheck, the government in Bavaria plans to “submit a motion to reject the bill” in the Länderkammer. However, Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said such action will not stop that law since it does not require the approval of that chamber. Source: iamexpat

AfD achieves record results

Beaming broadly, AfD leader Alice Weidel roared into the microphone amid applause. “We are on the right track!” she shouted at the election party, once again underlining the course of fundamental opposition. Meanwhile, the first projections of the state elections in Bavaria and Hesse caused shockwaves nationwide. In its soaring popularity, the AfD benefited from a strong focus of the public debate on migration and from other right-wing populist campaigns, especially in Bavaria with a lot of populist competition from Markus Söder (CSU) and Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters). The AfD instrumentalises fears of social decline and provides racist answers to social distribution efforts. Source: taz

Hesse and Bavaria: The Left departs into the unknown

If one thing can be said about the elections in Bavaria and in Hesse, it is that federal policy issues were the determining factor. Together with the fact that CDU/CSU has shown a populist pose – whether done by Markus Söder or Friedrich Merz. And the Free Voters owe their success to the people who cheer for a reactionary and self-righteous beer tent speaker. Considering such scenarios, the most delicate point comes from the Left Party, which struggles for its existence in Hesse. What is being witnessed is a farewell in chapters into the unknown. Source: nd-aktuell

Self-made defeat

The CSU in Bavaria and the CDU in Hesse won the state elections with comfortable margins, and the incumbent minister-presidents Markus Söder and Boris Rhein can look forward to another term in office, although, in Söder’s case, with the worst CSU result ever. In contrast, the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP, who govern together in the federal government, are experiencing a double defeat. In Hesse, where the SPD announced a change of government with aplomb in the spring, it clearly chose the wrong candidate: Nancy Faeser could not separate herself from the office of Federal Minister of the Interior. Source: taz

Around 60 members of the Left call for Wagenknecht’s expulsion

Almost 60 party members of the Left Party have filed a motion for the expulsion of Sahra Wagenknecht from the party. The reason is that Wagenknecht has been hinting at founding a new party for several months. In the motion, she is accused of “particularly damaging and disloyal behaviour” towards the Left Party. However, excluding Wagenknecht from the party could jeopardise the Left’s parliamentary group status in the Bundestag. In the 2021 Bundestag elections, the party fell short of the five-percent hurdle but was able to enter parliament thanks to winning three direct mandates, two of them in Berlin. Source: rbb24

NEWS FROM BERLIN

The 29-euro ticket to return in 2024

The 29-euro ticket is coming back to Berlin. In 2024 passengers in the capital will once again be able to use buses, trains and trams as often as they want for just under 30 euros a month, as the supervisory board of the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB) announced last Thursday. As before, however, the ticket is only valid for the AB fare zone. The Berlin Senate has not succeeded in reaching a more far-reaching agreement with neighbouring Brandenburg. The Supervisory Board also extended the social ticket: Berliners who receive social benefits will continue to pay nine euros per month for this subscription. Source: berlin.de

Environmental concerns at the Brandenburg Tesla factory

When Tesla built its Giga factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg, more than a year ago, opinions were mixed. Was this a daring move towards an environmentally friendly future of green vehicle manufacturing, or an ill-thought-out project from an entrepreneur with a poor record of adhering to safety regulations? The latest news suggests the latter, with Tesla reporting 26 environmental accidents at the German plant since work began. According the Tagespiegel, separate events have seen the leak of 15,000 litres of paint and 13 tons of aluminium being spilled, among others. Source: Exberliner

Lights in public buildings in Berlin to remain off

Since summer 2022, many public buildings in Berlin have remained in the dark due to energy-saving measures. In fact, up to 40,000 euros could be saved in a single year. The measure is to continue for at least another year. The Senate already decided this last March and it has now reaffirmed, the continuation until September 2024. The buildings that will continue to be illuminated are those with protocol obligations, such as the City Hall, or objects with a hazard classification (for instance, the Jewish Museum and the New Synagogue). Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

German reunification: “completed, but not perfect”

The 3rd of October saw the 33rd aniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany. The Minister of State for East Germany, Carsten Schneider, praised the economic upturn in the former East in a DW interview. Schneider also highlighted pension levels were adjusted to be equal across Germany in 2023. On the other hand, challenges such as the downward trend of the number of people of working age in East Germany in decades to come, together with the feeling many eastern Germans have of being deceived in the reunification process, show that there are still things to do. “Reunification is completed, even if it is not perfect,” concluded Schneider, considering the 33-year-old reunification needs to be fully realised in people’s minds. Source: dw

Harshest sentences for “Last Generation”: activists sent to prison

The Heilbronn District Court sentenced two men and one woman to prison terms of five, four and three months without probation. According to the public prosecutor’s office and activists, the sentence is the harshest so far imposed on members of the “Last Generation” in Germany. The sentence is not yet legally binding. The activists stated in the trial that they had wanted to draw attention to what they saw as inadequate measures to combat climate change with the protest action. Meanwhile, an activist from the “Last Generation” in Berlin was able to successfully defend herself, winning an appeal in the administrative court. Source: merkur

Latest employment figures: “autumn revival” weaker

The number of unemployed in Germany fell slightly in September compared to August. The rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent, as the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced last Friday. Compared to the previous year, BA counted 141,000 more unemployed. “The incipient autumn revival turns out to be comparatively small this year,” BA board member Daniel Terzenbach said when presenting the figures. “Unemployment and underemployment are decreasing, but less than usual in a September.” In the past three years, the number of unemployed had fallen by an average of about 95,000 in September. Basically, however, the German labour market remains stable, Terzenbach said. Source: ndr

NEWS FROM BERLIN

“Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen” announces second referendum

Two years ago, a referendum on the expropriation of large real estate companies in Berlin was successful – but it has not yet been implemented. The initiative “Exporpriate Deutsche Wohnen Co.” has announced a second referendum to socialize large landlords. This time the people of Berlin will vote on a socialisation law, as representatives of the initiative announced on Tuesday at a “public press conference” in front of the Rotes Rathaus. This should prevent the senate from delaying the implementation of the request, as the initiative has repeatedly accused the state politicians of doing. Source: rbb24

Cycling infrastructure: Berlin’s war on bikes begins

The CDU government in Berlin, which had used drivers’ rights as a wedge to win big outside the Ring in the last election, wants to reward their motorist voters. Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) declared that he opposes bicycle lanes that slow down cars. The party’s bike-bashing has already prompted furious reactions. This summer, riders mounted huge protest rides during rush hour several times a week, many organised by the group Respect Cyclists. Following the outcry, the CDU relented a little. After reviewing 19 planned new bike paths, Transport Senator Manja Schreiner allowed 16 to go ahead. Source: exberliner

Fight against gentrification on Rigaer Straße

Whenever the media mentions Rigaer Straße, it is usually about the autonomous residents of the Rigaer Strasse 94 house project, the last officially “partially occupied” house in Friedrichshain. In the past there were many other occupations, house projects and left-wing bars there. But gentrification is spreading: last Friday, tenants from the house at Rigaer Straße 15, directly opposite Rigaer 94, protested against the sale and development of their two inner courtyards. According to the residents, these will soon be sold by their landlord and managing director of Mihu Immobilien GmbH, once they receive the building permit. A building application must be submitted by October 17th. For this reason, some of the residents are now mobilizing and seeking contact with neighborhood initiatives and other tenants. Source: nd-aktuell

Wegner wants a fence around Görlitzer Park by early 2024

Security in Görlitzer Park in Berlin has been discussed for years. Now the measures are to be implemented very quickly: a fence around Görli will be in place by the beginning of next year at the latest, according to Governing Mayor Wegner (CDU). The fence is supposed to be a temporary solution: “How long it is needed depends on how the situation in Görlitzer Park develops,” he declared. “If we close Görlitzer Park at night, we will deploy the police forces that are now in the park in the surrounding residential areas, for example in the Wrangelkiez.” Source: rbb24

NEWS FROM GERMANY

AfD loses mayoral race in Nordhausen

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has failed to unseat the incumbent mayor in a runoff election in the central industrial town of Nordhausen. AfD candidate Jörg Prophet won 45.1% of the vote in Sunday’s local polls, while independent candidate Kai Buchmann managed to get 54.9%. Buchmann, formerly associated with the Green party, said he was “very happy” with the result and that he would use the next six years in office to try to “get the best out of it for the city.” Recent polls put the AfD at around 21.5% support nationwide. In Thuringia, where Nordhausen is located, the party is polling at around 32%. Source: dw

Ifo index: “German economy is stalling”

The mood in the executive suites of German business hardly worsened in September. The Ifo Business Climate index only fell slightly by 0.1 points to 85.7 points compared to the previous month, for the fifth time in a row, as the Munich Ifo Institute announced last Monday. Although companies were still dissatisfied with current business, they were less skeptical about their prospects than before. “The German economy is treading water,” said Ifo President Clemens Fuest in an interview with DW. There is not one predominant problem, but a combination of many different causes for the poor economic development, such as less demand for German goods nationally and worldwide. Source: dw

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Fridays for Future” attracts several thousand people in Berlin

Thousands of climate activists marched through downtown Berlin last Friday during a protest march organized by “Fridays for Future”. The police said there were around 12,500 participants, the organisers counted 24,000 demonstrators. Nationwide, there were an estimated 250,000 demonstrators. From the Brandenburg Gate, people marched through Berlin’s government district. The climate protection group “Last Generation” also took part in it. With so-called climate strikes at schools and protests in 245 places in Germany, as well as other cities around the world, “Fridays for Future” wanted to campaign for more measures for global climate protection. It was the 13th global climate strike. Source: rbb

Climate activists spray paint on the Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin-Mitte was sprayed last Sunday. All six pillars of the Berlin landmark were painted, and 14 people were arrested. The “Last Generation” group said in a statement it was responsible for the action, using repurposed fire extinguishers. Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) criticised the action. “With these actions, this group is not only damaging the historic Brandenburg Gate, but also our free discourse about the important issues of our time and future.” Last Generation announced “new weeks of action” last Wednesday. The goal is for Germany to completely abandon fossil fuels from 2030, said spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs. Source: rbb

Mobile service will get better on Berlin public transport

Anyone who has tried to make a call on their mobile phone or send a WhatsApp message on some of Berlin’s U-Bahn lines knows the struggle. From March 2024, however, this should be a problem of the past. O2 has announced it will complete its expansion of mobile coverage throughout the U-Bahn network in Berlin. However, widespread 5G service will have to wait a bit longer, though once the 4G network has been expanded this step should be easier. So far there has been no discussion to expand the free WiFi services, which are available at all of Berlin’s U-Bahn stations, onto the trains themselves. Source: iamexpat

NEWS FROM GERMANY

AfD under observation

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Bavaria has been permitted to monitor the AfD as an entire party in the Free State and inform the public about it. That was the Bavarian Administrative Court in Munich decision in an urgent procedure, announced last Friday. As early as June 2022, the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) decided to monitor the AfD as a whole party using both public and intelligence resources. The authority justified this by saying that it wanted to find out what influence extremist tendencies had within the entire party and in which direction the party was developing. Source: taz

Neo-Nazi group “Hammerskins” banned

The police began taking action against suspected right-wing extremists nationwide starting early Tuesday. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the action is directed against the neo-Nazi group “Hammerskins Deutschland”. The investigators are targeting 28 groups in a total of ten federal states. The reason for the raid is a ban imposed by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on the organisation as a whole and its regional branches as well as the sub-organisation “Crew 38”. The reason given is that the group is directed against the constitutional order and the principle of international understanding. Source: rbb

CDU makes AfD socially acceptable

The Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently said: “Nobody should depend on how the AfD votes,” meaning that a party should not depend on how the AfD votes to pas a law. This is exactly what the CDU in Erfurt have done, implementing a tax cut cruically with the votes of the AfD, with the justification that it was about “relieving the burden on families”. This is disinformation. It is not about parents and children who urgently need support, but only effects households who can afford to build their own home. Source: nd-akutell

Corona vaccination season starts

Doctors’ practices nationwide are again offering booster vaccinations against the coronavirus. A total of around 14 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine are to be distributed to doctors’ practices. Vaccines from the manufacturers Moderna and Novavax will also be offered – all adapted to new variants of the pathogen. However, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute has in general recommended a booster vaccination to people who are 60 years of age or older. Previous measures such as contact restrictions are not currently into consideration since large number of severe courses are not expected. Source: tagesschau

ZDF reveals the poor state of digitisation in Germany

A documentary by German broadcaster ZDF has exposed failures of the country’s digital literacy. “Digital Fail – Deutschland in Datenstau” looks at Germany’s slow fibre-optic expansion, e-government, among others things. From situations where a gamer is forced to pause his career because of low-quality internet connection, to accomplishing simple tasks such as uploading photo files to the internet, the country faces connectivity problems. For instance, BAföG (the government-funded student loan available for EU citizens), online applications must be printed out and physically filed. The country has to change it’s mindset. Source: iamexpat

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlin’s housing referendum: what’s next?

Berlin is in a housing crisis, with skyrocketing rents and block-long queues for apartment viewings. In September 2021 a referendum that proposed deprivatising and returning buildings to public ownership passed with 59.1%. Since then, not so much has (apparently) happened, but on June 13 experts decided that the expropriation and socialisation of Berlin’s large housing companies were not only legal, but an appropriate action in the face of the scale of the crisis. Two members at the forefront of the campaign, Colleen Higgins and Wouter Bernhardt, talk about the likely next stages. Source: exberliner

How a highway is threatening Berlin techno clubs

When the Berlin Wall fell, underground artists and creative people settled in the abandoned factories and ruins that remained. That became the core of a cultural revolution, as a unique subculture developed. Today, however, these anarchic, self-governing cultural venues are threatened by the so-called club extinction. In addition to gentrification and COVID-19 restrictions, another threat has recently emerged: the planned and largely agreed expansion of the A100 federal highway. The affected area extends north of the Spree, in former East Berlin. Now activists are drawing public attention to the issue: from September 9 to 24, the “Spectacle on the Motorway” campaign will happen in the affected area. Source: dw

Right-wing attacks: from Neukölln to Lichtenberg

“The district is no longer the Nazi stronghold it once was,” says Michael Mallé from the Lichtenberg Association of those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Association of Antifascists (VVN-BdA). And yet the problem has not been solved: “Since February 2022, there have been 20 arson attacks on the basements of residential buildings and youth clubs in Neu-Hohenschönhausen,” according to Mallé. Last Sunday, on the Day of Remembrance and Warning organized by the Berlin VVN-BdA, he and other antifascists declared that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the judiciary and the police do too little to investigate and condemn right-wing crimes. Source: nd-aktuell

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Wagenknecht is reportedly about to found own party

According to a media report, the former parliamentary group leader of the Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht, has decided to launch a new party. The “Bild am Sonntag” reports that the date for the announcement should be between October 8th, the day of the state elections in Hesse and Bavaria, and the end of the year. The party’s core points will include a return to “economic reason” instead of a “crazy traffic light policy” that destroys workers and drives companies out of the country. Others include “social justice”, and a “foreign policy that once again relies on diplomacy instead of arms deliveries.” Source: handelsblatt

AfD candidate leads mayoral race in Nordhausen, but runoff needed

The candidate for the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Jörg Prophet, fared far better than his rivals in the first-round mayoral vote in Nordhausen, a city of around 42,000 in Thuringia. However, his 42.1% support was not enough for a victory in the first round. Prophet will therefore have to contest a runoff against the incumbent, an independent with no party affiliation named Kai Buchmann, who was second with 23.7% of the vote. Turnout for Sunday’s vote was 56.4%. Source: dw

Oranienburg Clinic offers anonymous help for rape victims

Anonymous forensics for rape victims in Brandenburg is now also possible at the Oranienburg clinic in the Oberhavel district. Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) said: “Every victim of sexualized violence needs medical help. Even if no evidence is desired, a doctor should always be consulted.” With emergency aid, those affected can receive medical care and – regardless of a report – have traces of the crime secured confidentially and in a court of law by trained doctors. The offer for victims of a sexual offense already exists in Brandenburg in the following cities: Cottbus, Potsdam, Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg an der Havel, and Neuruppin. Source: rbb24

Germany’s new heating law: what does it mean for renters?

Germany’s controversial heating law (Heizungsgesetz) sparked months of infighting within the government. Now that the law has been approved, what does it mean for renters? The Heizungsgesetz is expected to come into force on January 1, 2024. Under this new law, basically, anyone who wants to install a heating system that runs on renewables will receive a subsidy payment from the government which covers 30 percent of the installation costs. For renters, Robert Habeck (Greens) says landlords will be responsible for installation and will be able to pass on to tenants a maximum of 10 percent of the portion of the installation costs not covered by the subsidy. Source: iamexpat