News from Berlin
More climate activists convicted for paint attack on Brandenburg Gate
Around two and a half years after the paint attack on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, four more climate activists have been fined: the Tiergarten District Court found three men and one woman guilty of property damage and resisting law enforcement officers, a court spokeswoman said on Monday. The fines range from 1,200 to 3,300 Euros. According to the indictment, the four convicted individuals were involved in the protest in September 2023 along with ten other members of the group “Letzte Generation.” During the protest, the Brandenburg Gate was sprayed with paint to draw attention to the climate crisis. The public prosecutor’s office has lodged an appeal. The verdict is not yet final. Source: rbb
Spore Initiative defies hate graffiti
Last week, the Spore Initiative building in Neukölln was the target of a deliberate attack. The word “remigration” was spray-painted in large letters on the façade—a charged term that plays a central role in current political debates and in the rhetoric of the AfD. The graffiti was met with horror by the team and the neighbourhood, but also with determined composure: “We will not be intimidated, but we are alarmed,” commented press spokesman Gurmeet Singh. Unfortunately, incidents like this are nothing new in Berlin. More than ten years ago, theatre performances were targeted by right-wing disrupters: for example, Falk Richter’s play Fear at the Schaubühne was repeatedly interrupted. Source: taz
News from Germany
Tenants are not allowed to make a profit from subletting
People who go abroad for a longer period of time often sublet their flat—often at a higher price. The Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that no profit may be made from this. The legitimate interest of a tenant in subletting is to cover housing-related expenses, stated the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe based on a case from Berlin. The purpose of subletting is not to create the opportunity to make a profit. The Federal Ministry of Justice is currently planning legal regulations for the furniture surcharge. Source: spiegel
CDU faces criticism over scrapping entitlement to part-time work
CDU politicians are calling on their party to scrap Germany’s “Rechtsanspruch auf Teilzeitarbeit,” a law which entitles full-time employees in the federal republic to reduce their hours to work part time. “Those who can work more should work more,” Gitta Connemann, who heads the business wing of the CDU, told the magazine Stern. The magazine has also seen a leaked copy of the policy paper, titled “No entitlement to lifestyle part-time.” The paper is expected to be presented at the CDU’s general conference in Stuttgart in February, where members will vote on whether it should be adopted as party policy. In 2024, 29% of the German working population worked part time. Among female employees, 49% worked part time. Source: iamexpat
Bavarian AfD would be for deportation police modelled on ICE
The AfD plans to introduce an “Asyl-, Fahndungs- und Abschiebegruppe” (“Asylum, Tracing and Deportation Group” or “AFA”), modelled on the American ICE, should it enter government in Bavaria following state elections on March 8. The Bavarian AfD also said it would make life even more inhospitable for people seeking asylum in Germany, by cutting their financial support and giving them only “bread, a bed and soap.” In the most recent “Sonntagsfrage” poll, which asks respondents who they would vote for if an election were held this Sunday, 39% of those surveyed in Bavaria said the CSU would have their vote, while 19% would vote for the AfD, 13% for the Greens and 9% for the Freie Wähler. Source: iamexpat
How bureaucratic hurdles exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers
Germany is in need for foreign skilled workers. But migrants face many hurdles if they want to work here. For instance, the number of refugees has risen sharply since 2015, but the government has not succeeded in getting most of them into work. As a result, dissatisfaction with German immigration policy has grown among the population. Besides that, there are many reasons why new employees do not want to renew their usual two-year contracts, including homesickness, family problems and difficulties with integration. According to Jörg Biebrach, Head of Nursing at the BDH Clinic in Vallendar, it is therefore very important for employers to make foreign employees feel welcome here. Source: dw
The small rebellion of ver.di
There is a hint of a general strike blowing through Germany. This week, there were temporary walkouts at schools, daycare centres, university hospitals, municipal authorities, and on trains, underground trains, trams and buses. Two major wage disputes are coinciding at the moment: one in the public sector and one in local public transport. And in both cases, ver.di plays the leading role in the dispute. That means power. As expected, Bild ran the headline on Sunday: “No strikes at an inopportune time!” Almost all regions and major cities in Germany were affected by the strike on Monday: only Lower Saxony was unaffected. Source: jw
Merz says economy his main focus after jobless numbers hit 12-year high
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said that boosting the economy would be his focus in 2026, after data showed that unemployment has powered past the 3 million marks to a 12-year high. Labour Office figures on January 30 highlighted the lag in the jobs market from the economic stagnation of the last few years, with 177,000 more people out of work in January than in December, bringing the total to 3.08 million. The unemployment rate jumped by 0.4% to 6.6% in seasonally unadjusted terms. The picture improved slightly when accounting for seasonal trends. Nevertheless, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) said Germany must pivot toward new “growth engines”. Source: reuters
Federal Ministry of the Interior sees no moderation in new AfD youth organisation
The German government affirms the new AfD youth organisation shows no sign of moderation compared to its dissolved predecessor. In response to an interpellation by Green Party MP Marlene Schönberger, the responsible Ministry of the Interior writes that the composition of the federal executive committee of Generation Germany (GD) shows a high degree of personnel continuity with the former Young Alternative (JA), particularly at the official level. “There are known links between members of Generation Germany and other extremist organisations.” Generation Germany was founded in November 2025, following the dissolution of the Young Alternative, which had been classified as proven right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Source: faz
