https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Police cleared one of Berlin's last squats on Friday, as a symbol of the German capital's free-spirited ideals faces the reality of soaring rents and gentrification. https://www.thelocal.de/20201009/police-clear-berlin-squat-symbol-of-citys-radicalism Fri, 09 Oct 2020 14:31:03 +0200 police-clear-berlin-squat-symbol-of-citys-radicalism If you rent an apartment in Berlin, you should have received a letter from your landlord in recent weeks. We spoke to an expert who tells us why it's the key to dropping your rent - but why you need to take certain precautions. https://www.thelocal.de/20200722/the-cryptic-letter-from-your-landlord-thats-key-to-future-rent Wed, 22 Jul 2020 16:54:01 +0200 the-cryptic-letter-from-your-landlord-thats-key-to-future-rent A new workspace for US tech giant Amazon is expected to bring thousands of jobs to Berlin's Friedrichshain neighbourhood. But does that come with a cost? https://www.thelocal.de/20200221/amazon-edge-tower-protests Fri, 21 Feb 2020 10:36:27 +0100 amazon-edge-tower-protests Berlin's parliament on Thursday passed a controversial law to freeze rents for the next five years in a bid to combat soaring rents and rapid gentrification in the German capital. https://www.thelocal.de/20200130/were-setting-a-clear-stop-sign-berlin-passes-five-year-rent-freze-law Thu, 30 Jan 2020 17:35:34 +0100 were-setting-a-clear-stop-sign-berlin-passes-five-year-rent-freze-law The Local partnered with YouTube channel Easy German to ask Berliners on the streets of the eastern neighbourhoods Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte what’s changed since November 9th, 1989. https://www.thelocal.de/20191103/you-hardly-see-real-berliners-anymore-what-germans-think-of-their-city-30-years-after-the-fall-of-the-wall Sun, 03 Nov 2019 20:54:28 +0100 you-hardly-see-real-berliners-anymore-what-germans-think-of-their-city-30-years-after-the-fall-of-the-wall Berlin authorities came under fire Friday for spending almost €1 billion to buy back 6,000 former public housing apartments that had been privatized, to bring down soaring rental prices. https://www.thelocal.de/20190927/berlin-spends Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:08:25 +0200 berlin-spends Rents in Berlin are not only rising excessively for private apartments – but also in commercial properties. Here’s how the local government wants to take action. https://www.thelocal.de/20190813/berlin-seeks-to-keep-rents-down-on-commercial-properties-to-save-small-shops Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:08:33 +0200 berlin-seeks-to-keep-rents-down-on-commercial-properties-to-save-small-shops Approximately 650,000 people in Germany are homeless, with the majority living in emergency quarters, according to new figures released Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.de/20190730/200000-affordable-housing-units-needed-per-year-to-fight-homelessness-in-germany Tue, 30 Jul 2019 18:55:51 +0200 200000-affordable-housing-units-needed-per-year-to-fight-homelessness-in-germany The state government in Berlin is taking over 670 apartments in the former East of the city from private ownership after an outcry over gentrification in the German capital https://www.thelocal.de/20190716/why-berlin-is-buying-back-nearly-700-apartments-on-its-historic-karl-marx-allee Tue, 16 Jul 2019 17:13:35 +0200 why-berlin-is-buying-back-nearly-700-apartments-on-its-historic-karl-marx-allee Up to 350 art studios in Berlin are closing every year due to rising costs and development projects. https://www.thelocal.de/20190704/artists-battle-expulsion-as-rents-spike-in-berlin Thu, 04 Jul 2019 10:50:41 +0200 artists-battle-expulsion-as-rents-spike-in-berlin Berlin's government on Tuesday moved to freeze rents in the booming German capital for five years from 2020 in their latest bid to halt runaway gentrification. https://www.thelocal.de/20190618/berlin-opts-for-five-year-rental-freeze-to-curb-rocketing-prices Tue, 18 Jun 2019 18:13:10 +0200 berlin-opts-for-five-year-rental-freeze-to-curb-rocketing-prices Berlin authorities will decide Tuesday whether to freeze rents in the booming German capital over the next five years, in what would be their latest bid to halt runaway gentrification. https://www.thelocal.de/20190618/berlin-poised-to-freeze-rents-for-five-years-amid-rocketing-costs Tue, 18 Jun 2019 09:06:30 +0200 berlin-poised-to-freeze-rents-for-five-years-amid-rocketing-costs Google has called off plans to open a campus in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin. After months of anti-gentrification protests, the tech giant announced Wednesday it has given the site to two social organizations. https://www.thelocal.de/20181024/google-shelves-plans-to-open-campus-in-berlins-kreuzberg Thu, 25 Oct 2018 01:07:04 +0200 google-shelves-plans-to-open-campus-in-berlins-kreuzberg In protest at scarce and unaffordable living space, activists occupied several empty apartments in Berlin on Sunday and Monday, leading to police evictions in buildings in Neukölln and Kreuzberg. https://www.thelocal.de/20180522/protesters-occupy-apartments-in-berlin-in-outcry-over-rising-rent-prices Tue, 22 May 2018 18:27:09 +0200 protesters-occupy-apartments-in-berlin-in-outcry-over-rising-rent-prices 123 German police officers were injured in Berlin and 86 people detained during clashes between police and protesters over the redevelopment of a district in the east of the city. https://www.thelocal.de/20160710/123-police-injured-in-berlin-anti-gentrification-protest Sun, 10 Jul 2016 19:50:10 +0200 123-police-injured-in-berlin-anti-gentrification-protest Police in Berlin had to clear crowds from in front of a new vegan restaurant, after hundreds of hungry hipsters packed the street outside, threatening to bring traffic to a standstill. https://www.thelocal.de/20160418/police-calm-frenzy-at-berlin-vegan-restaurant-opening Mon, 18 Apr 2016 12:27:28 +0200 police-calm-frenzy-at-berlin-vegan-restaurant-opening The Berlin senate revealed on Monday that the capital is growing at double the pace that city planners had previously expected. But after decades of stagnation the growth is seen as positive. https://www.thelocal.de/20150707/politicians-struggle-to-keep-pace-with-berlins-growth Tue, 07 Jul 2015 12:52:49 +0200 politicians-struggle-to-keep-pace-with-berlins-growth Native Berliners' dislike of newcomers from Stuttgart - stereotyped as wealthy and clueless - is so established it even has a special name - Schwabenhass. Now Berlin's Swabians are fighting back by poking fun at themselves. https://www.thelocal.de/20150319/berlins-unwanted-immigrants-see-the-funny-side Thu, 19 Mar 2015 17:35:34 +0100 berlins-unwanted-immigrants-see-the-funny-side Twitter users in the capital's Kreuzberg district reported that men arrived with cranes and spotlights on Thursday night to paint over two of the capital's most famous street art pieces. https://www.thelocal.de/20141212/world-famous-berlin-street-art-blacked-out Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:49:00 +0100 world-famous-berlin-street-art-blacked-out UPDATE: An iconic building in Berlin, which was occupied by squatting artists for two decades, has been sold to a US investment fund for €150 million. https://www.thelocal.de/20140926/us-company-buys-iconic-berlin-squat-for-150m Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:21:00 +0200 us-company-buys-iconic-berlin-squat-for-150m