Category: Guide Berlin
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Berlin, Hold My Book: Why Physical Still Beats Digital
Ok. This is going to sound like a typical “back in my day” kind of old man rant. But hear me out, because I’m not talking about a world swallowed by time. Despite claims to the contrary, Berlin is still full of places that offer a key to a door that still stands today: a […]
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The Power of Ehrenamt: Finding Connection Through Volunteering in Berlin
The news is grim these days. Everywhere we look things are going off the rails. The cost of living, and the political maneuverings… everything seems like too much, too soon, and too fast. And it’s easy to give in to the atomization of 21st century life; we are millions of people living alone. Alone in […]
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Welcome to the Club: How Vereine Can Turn Berlin from a City of Strangers into a Home
In 2000 Robert D. Putnam published a book, “Bowling Alone”, in which he argued that Americans were becoming increasingly isolated and removed from community and social capital. He took the institution of the Bowling League as his prime example. I remember when the book came out – though, admittedly, I never got around to reading […]
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Bürgerbeteiligung: Participation or Paperwork?
Berlin invites its citizens to participate — but only after the decisions are made. A visit to the Bürgerbeteiligungsbüro: where good intentions meet German bureaucracy. I was so happy when I first discovered the Bürgerbeteiligungsbüro. Yes! Finally, a place for participation! It took me quite some time, though, to understand what this institution is actually […]
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“Darth Vader speaks Amtssprache”: The Chilling Poetry of German Bureaucracy
Every bureaucracy has its language; one might even go further to say that language is bureaucracy’s main tool. The characteristics of bureaucratic speech are well known: thick, complicated sentences, dripping with precision and impersonality. It is intentionally difficult to understand, requiring a certain amount of skill and training in its dark art. Most people will […]
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The Kiez: Where Berlin Becomes Personal
I’ve often said that in France every region has its dish, its wine, and its cheese; in Germany, every region has its dish, beer, sausage…and language. If we learned German before coming here, we learned “High German” (Hochdeutsch) – because it’s spoken in the high country… not because it’s lofty, or something – and then […]
WahlheYmat Writes Newsletter
Our association’s own updates, including news about upcoming events, new initiatives, organizational news, and project developments from WahlheYmat e.V.
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