Tag: Walter Phippeny
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Two birthdays, one dream for Berlin
WahlheYmat was launched as an initiative on 15 September 2023, with Democracy Day providing the occasion. So this week, we turn three years old. Some international Berliners, including our co-founders, asked the question: If Berlin has become diverse and international, wouldn’t it be better to govern the city together? We had almost a hundred conversations with very different people about this…
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No True German — What It Means to Be German in 2026
Is there really one German identity that defines all Germans? One German identity to rule them all? We’re going to get into this question, but bear with me for a few paragraphs. I want to take a moment up front to provide a little context, tell you where I’m coming from. We’re going to dip into some culture-war nonsense and talk…
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Finding Trauma Instead of Belonging: A Review of I Keep My Shadow Light
TL;DR “I Keep My Shadow Light” is the self-published debut novel by Fionnuala Kavanagh. This challenging work follows a cast of four characters from different backgrounds as they try to find a home in Berlin. Very dark in places, the book gives us a chance to read something that would probably never come out of any publishing house. Its uniqueness alone…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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