WahlheYmatPost — Understand How To Berlin

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  • Wahl-Kompass: Understanding Berlin Politics Takes More Than Speaking German

    Wahl-Kompass: Understanding Berlin Politics Takes More Than Speaking German

    Ahead of Berlin’s September 2026 election, Nina Harz wanted to understand what the political parties were actually promising. What started as a personal spreadsheet became Wahl-Kompass, an online platform comparing ten parties across 65 topics in eleven languages. We spoke with Nina about making political information more accessible, tracking election promises, and why understanding Berlin politics requires more than speaking German.
  • You Cannot Be Both a Host and a Guest

    You Cannot Be Both a Host and a Guest

    When does a guest become a member of society? And who gets to decide? Ivan Gabor explores the relationship between citizenship, voting rights, and belonging in a city shaped by people from around the world.
  • From Corporate Law to Kindergarten: Finding Belonging Between Brazil and Berlin

    From Corporate Law to Kindergarten: Finding Belonging Between Brazil and Berlin

    Ivan Custódio grew up in a working-class family in Brazil and worked his way toward a prestigious career in law. But after moving to Berlin, his life took an unexpected turn. Today, he works as a kindergarten teacher – a job he finds meaningful and intellectually challenging in its own way. His story is about belonging, breaking free from expectations and redefining what success really means.
  • Social Psychologist Ulrich Wagner on How Fear and Prejudice Fuel the Far Right

    Social Psychologist Ulrich Wagner on How Fear and Prejudice Fuel the Far Right

    Why do we so easily divide people into “us” and “them” – and when does this natural tendency turn into prejudice, discrimination and hostility? In an interview with WahlheYmatPost, social psychologist Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wagner explains how feelings of threat can be politically exploited, why simple solutions are so appealing in uncertain times, and how contact between different groups can help counter polarization.
  • From Distrust to Dialogue: Why We Need to Meet

    From Distrust to Dialogue: Why We Need to Meet

    Political trust is not just about voting rights. It is also about feeling heard, respected and recognised as part of society. Ivan Gabor argues that rebuilding trust requires more than political promises – it starts with conversations between people who might otherwise never meet.
  • The Participation Paradox: Why Political Trust Doesn’t Always Translate Into Votes

    The Participation Paradox: Why Political Trust Doesn’t Always Translate Into Votes

    Immigrants often arrive with greater trust in democratic institutions than the native-born population. But that trust does not necessarily translate into political participation – and over time, it tends to decline. New European research raises an important question for Berlin, where hundreds of thousands of residents could not vote in the recent state election at all.
  • We talk a lot. But what do we actually do?

    We talk a lot. But what do we actually do?

    We vote, governments govern, and we expect politics to solve our problems. But what if democracy needs more from us? Drawing lessons from Taiwan and Berlin 1989, Ivan Gabor asks how civic movements can reclaim the power to shape society – instead of waiting for someone else to do it.
  • Democracy at the Späti: What Berlin’s Symbolic Election Revealed

    Democracy at the Späti: What Berlin’s Symbolic Election Revealed

    What happens when voting moves out of polling stations and into Berlin’s neighbourhood Spätis? This summer, the Migrationsrat Berlin held symbolic elections across the city to give people without voting rights a space to make their voices heard – and to start conversations about political participation, exclusion and democracy. WahlheYmatPost spoke with Mallika Basu and Maria Vittoria Celardo about what they learned from the experiment, the conversations that surprised them and why they believe voting rights in Germany need to change.
  • From Kyiv to Berlin: War Changed His Path, but Not His Dream

    From Kyiv to Berlin: War Changed His Path, but Not His Dream

    At 15, Oleksandr Drevytskyi left Kyiv with his mother and their dog Ozzy after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In Berlin, he found himself navigating a new language, a new school system and an uncertain future. Four years later, he is studying mathematics at Humboldt University – and helping other Ukrainians find their own way through the city.
  • Strangers by the Spree: Inside Berlin’s Outdoor Latin Dance Community

    Strangers by the Spree: Inside Berlin’s Outdoor Latin Dance Community

    Just a few hundred metres from Berlin Central Station, strangers meet by the Spree to dance salsa and bachata together. Drawing on her own experience of joining the crowd, Borbála Hanna Dévai explores how Berlin’s outdoor Latin dance scene brings together people of different ages, backgrounds and professions.
  • StimmlosTrend 2026: 96 Percent Would Vote If They Could

    StimmlosTrend 2026: 96 Percent Would Vote If They Could

    The final results of WahlheYmat’s StimmlosTrend are in. They show a striking willingness to participate among international Berliners without voting rights – but also widespread concern about the city’s future and a strong sense of having little influence over it.
  • A Mayor Tandem for Berlin

    A Mayor Tandem for Berlin

    What if Berlin’s nearly one million residents without a vote had their own representative at the very top of the city? A second mayor, working alongside the elected Regierende Bürgermeister, could give international Berliners a visible voice in how the city is shaped. A radical idea? Perhaps. But in a city where roughly one in four residents cannot vote in state elections, it may be time to rethink what political representation can look like.
  • No German Passport? You May Still Have a Vote in Berlin 

    No German Passport? You May Still Have a Vote in Berlin 

    Around 240,000 non-German EU citizens are eligible to vote in Berlin’s district elections on September 20. A new series of multilingual events aims to explain how the election works – and how EU citizens can help shape the neighbourhoods they call home.
  • “Berlin taught me to dislike the word integration” 

    “Berlin taught me to dislike the word integration” 

    Berlin was the city that changed everything for Marilena Chatziantoniou. After more than two decades working in humanitarian aid around the world, she founded Just-Go-For-It to help people recognise opportunities rather than obstacles. In this interview, she explains why she rejects the word “integration”, why community matters more than bureaucracy, and why she believes participation is something we choose every single day.
  • What is Germany’s greatest asset?

    What is Germany’s greatest asset?

    Germany doesn’t need to become more German. It needs to become better at turning its greatest asset—its reputation as an open, reliable, and innovative country—into a magnet for people and ideas from around the world.
  • Migrants With Degrees Are Not What Germany Is Looking For

    Migrants With Degrees Are Not What Germany Is Looking For

    As state-funded German courses become harder to access, many migrants are left trapped between limited language skills and low-income jobs. At the Lohana Berkins Center in Berlin, Darío Farcy and his team are trying to break this cycle through free education, solidarity, and community organizing inspired by Latin American grassroots movements.
  • No Permission, More Love: Building Your Vision in Berlin Like Nalan Sipar

    No Permission, More Love: Building Your Vision in Berlin Like Nalan Sipar

    After being laughed at in pitch meetings and told her community “wasn’t the target group,” German-Kurdish journalist and news innovator, Nalan Sipar, was on the verge of shrinking herself out of existence in the German news landscape. This is the story of how she stopped seeking approval and started a revolution fueled by community service, cooking, and the radical act of being herself.
  • “Discrimination is not an individual problem, but a structural one”

    “Discrimination is not an individual problem, but a structural one”

    Multilingualism is not a cultural add-on, but a question of power, participation and democracy — says Remziye Uykun, Project Development and Coordination Lead of the BEFaN Network at Yekmal e.V., in an interview with WahlheYmatPost. She addresses the persistent structural discrimination faced by people with migration histories in Berlin, the marginalisation of Kurdish as a stateless language, and why sustainable, migrant-led networks and reliable funding are essential for educational justice.
  • Berlin’s Silent 25 Percent

    Berlin’s Silent 25 Percent

    Record numbers of non-voters and growing distrust toward institutions are not abstract trends. In Berlin, they are everyday reality. Maybe it’s time to redesign participation itself.
  • From Hate Brands to Love Brands: A Different Vision for Democracy

    From Hate Brands to Love Brands: A Different Vision for Democracy

    Inspired by a challenge from the GICA Impact Network and its founder Alexander Sascha Wolf, Ivan reflects on why today’s political discourse is often driven by negativity—and what it would take to build “love brands” in democratic life instead. In Berlin, he argues, the answer might lie in human connections, shared spaces, and the courage to imagine a more inclusive, collaborative society.
  • Building Home in Berlin: The Inside-Out Approach with Katarina Stoltz

    Building Home in Berlin: The Inside-Out Approach with Katarina Stoltz

    What if the reason Berlin doesn’t feel like home isn’t the city — but the way we’re waiting for it to change us? Holistic Life Coach and Gestalt therapist Katarina Stoltz explains why feeling rooted starts within, how everyday relationships create belonging, and why “temporary thinking” keeps so many internationals stuck.
  • 35 Years of Integration Work: CLUB DIALOG and the Power of Community Networks

    35 Years of Integration Work: CLUB DIALOG and the Power of Community Networks

    Successful integration in Berlin depends on long-term community work and strong migrant-led networks – says Dr. Natalia Roesler, Managing Director of CLUB DIALOG e.V. She talks about the persistent challenges faced by people with migration backgrounds in Berlin and the organisation’s decades-long work with Russian-speaking and Eastern European communities. An interview.
  • Nebenkostenabrechnung: The Reckoning No One Explains

    Nebenkostenabrechnung: The Reckoning No One Explains

    This time, Walter Phippeny takes a hard look at Nebenkostenabrechnung — the annual German bill that can quietly drain your account if you don’t see it coming. It’s a system built on yearly accounting, and one that catches many internationals completely unprepared.
  • Rising Ukrainian Engagement Powers Berlin’s Civic Scene

    Rising Ukrainian Engagement Powers Berlin’s Civic Scene

    Ukrainian refugees are among the most active civic actors in Berlin today. Svoji.de responds to a structural gap with one shared platform that makes initiatives visible and strengthens civic engagement. In our interview, Tetyana Lavuta, founder and author of Svoji.de, explains how visibility, counseling, and access to rights come together to turn information into participation.
  • Newcomers Are Not a Problem to Solve: How SINGA Deutschland Builds Participation

    Newcomers Are Not a Problem to Solve: How SINGA Deutschland Builds Participation

    Sen Zhan, Co-Director of SINGA Deutschland, shares why the biggest challenge for newcomers in Berlin isn’t ability, but access to systems, networks, and trust. In this interview, she talks about entrepreneurship, fatigue in high-friction systems, and why supporting contribution benefits the whole city.
  • Papers, please! — How I Turned a 90-Day Visa into a Home in Berlin

    Papers, please! — How I Turned a 90-Day Visa into a Home in Berlin

    If you’re an international trying to build a life in Berlin and feeling overwhelmed by visas, rules, and uncertainty — this is for you. Walter Phippeny shares his honest, sometimes messy journey from a 90-day tourist visa to permanent residency. No expert tips, no guarantees — just lived experience, hard lessons, and the reassurance that you’re not failing if this feels difficult.
  • Berlin’s Rental Maze: What an American Learns When the Landlord Plays Games

    Berlin’s Rental Maze: What an American Learns When the Landlord Plays Games

    Berlin’s housing market may seem unforgiving at first glance, yet it hides unlikely forms of protection. Walter Phippeny contrasts American precarity with German resilience, showing how a city that often appears aloof can become a refuge when things go wrong.
  • Monsieur Ibrahim’s Magic in Kreuzberg: From Runaway to Community Maker

    Monsieur Ibrahim’s Magic in Kreuzberg: From Runaway to Community Maker

    In a cozy café in Kreuzberg, a man named Jaybo has built a sanctuary where creativity, kindness, and courage shape everyday life. In this intimate portrait, Taylor Coburn sits down with the French artist-turned-pâtissier to explore his journey from runaway to community builder — and how tiny, intentional choices can transform an entire Kiez.

Diverse voices tell the complete truth.

WahlheYmatPost — Understand How To Berlin

Weekly guide for Berlin’s international community

Quick stories, local events, and ways to take part, right in your inbox — made with Berliner Morgenpost.

Your data matters to us — see our privacy policy.

This is a cooperation with Berliner Morgenpost. You can subscribe to their newsletters here.

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