Category: Guide Berlin
-
Tempelhofer Feld: Berlin’s Most Emotional Urban Conflict Is Back
We are approaching an election in September. Hopefully, you’re reading along in the Berlin Wiki to bone up on how stuff works in German elections, the lexicon, and the issues. Well, one of the issues we’re going to see debated concerns the Tempelhofer Feld. So let’s talk about that for a bit. The other night, I was at 20% Berlin’s live…
-
What Happened When I Tried to Organize My Neighbors
There’s a lot of talk today about building community. At our March WahlheYmat Talk, the crowd brought up the subject, specifically that we should be creating more of it. Ideas flew around the room. We are living in an era of schism, where the people pulling the levers of power are trying to create an “us and them” narrative, defining who…
-
The Good, the Bad, and the Arbeitsamt
Most places have an arm of the government to help folks out when they’re unemployed; governments like their citizens to have jobs and pay taxes. It tends to keep the governments – and the citizens – happy. There’s also the matter of not letting people starve in the street when they’re out of work. That’s usually frowned on and tends…
-
One In Four Berliners Cannot Vote: Europe Still Struggles With Migrant Political Participation
A recent report by the Migration Policy Group, a think tank based in Brussels, shows that Germany is among the best of the worst when it comes to enabling and encouraging the political participation of immigrants. Germany’s score in this is only a small part of the bleak findings from the report’s Political Participation Index, which shows that political participation and…
-
The Berlin Blueprint: Participation as the Ultimate Act of Self-Determination
In the glossy catalogs of modern wellness, “self-help” is often sold as a retreat from the world: a private journey of healing through products and quiet contemplation. Berlin’s history, however, offers a more rugged, democratic alternative. In this city, wellbeing has never been found in isolation. It has been forged through participation. To be a Berliner is to understand that wellbeing…
-
Nebenkostenabrechnung: The Reckoning No One Explains
TL;DR If you’re in Germany, be ready for big costs at the end of the year. You should also always have a savings pool to deal with random, crazy, unexpected bills that might show up. They tend to do that as the year ends. We just had another Christmas in Germany. And wasn’t it magical, with all the Christmas markets and…
WahlheYmat Writes Newsletter
Our association’s own updates, including news about upcoming events, new initiatives, organizational news, and project developments from WahlheYmat e.V.
Address
Am Hamburger Bahnhof 3
10557 Berlin
Germany
hey@wahlheymat.de