Berliners on welfare benefits

Almost 20 per cent of Berlin residents were claiming state benefits at the end of 2007. The latest figures released by Destatis, the government statistics office show that Berlin was well above the German national average, at 19.9 per cent,...

Berlin’s Sunday shopping hours

Berlin’s shop opening hours have been ruled unconstitutional by Germany’s Constitutional Court in a move that was labelled a “real step backwards” by Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit. Germany’s Christian churches, which still have a strong voice, had argued that Sundays...

Berlin gets high Michelin rating

Berlin is Germany’s top city for fine dining, according to the Michelin Guide 2010, with the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants of any city in the country, followed by Hamburg and Munich. Berlin has 11 one-star restaurants, and one two-star...

Former Berlin watchtower set for restoration

Berlin has begun the restoration of a former watchtower used by East German border guards. When finished the watchtower will form part of the memorials at the city’s Bernauer Strasse site, according to newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. “The tower will be...

Remembering the Wall

The start of a series of events to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall began with a public meeting in Berlin of the three former world statesmen who were instrumental in bringing it about. The...

Niiu provides personalised news

Residents of Berlin are the first in Germany to be able to take advantage of the country’s first “personalized” newspaper. Co-founded by Wanja Oberhof and Hendrik Tiedemann, Niiu allows subscribers to register their interest in a range of subjects and...

Green discounts for brothel trade

The Local reports that a Berlin brothel has begun offering “green” discounts to its customers to boost trade, which it says has dropped over 50 per cent in the last year. Customers at the Maison d’Envie brothel in Prenzlauer Berg,...

eBay cuts Berlin workforce

Berlin faces a hit to its workforce after online auction website eBay has announced that it is to cut almost half of the 1,100 jobs at its German base on the edge of Berlin, following restructuring of the company’s European...

Berlin accused of being too down-market

Berlin’s former finance minister and Bundesbank board member, Thilo Sarrazin, has accused the German capital of having a large “underclass”, too many “unproductive immigrants” and a “leftist mentality” according to Spiegel Online. Mayor Klaus Wowereit has reportedly played on Berlin’s...

Demo protests internet surveillance

It is estimated that around 25,000 people took to the streets of Berlin on 12 September to protest against the increase in internet surveillance by the state. The protest follows the passing of a law allowing authorities to monitor...