🌤️ Guten Morgen, Berlin!
Here’s your quick update on what’s happening around the city on Saturday, August 30 - from urgent alerts to stories in the subreddit. Today we went through 100+ articles, posts and events so you don't have to. Let’s dive in.
🇩🇪 Trial in Berlin: Welfare recipient buys drugs for 300,000 euros
A Berlin court held a retrial of a man previously sentenced to three years and six months for large-scale drug purchases revealed via EncroChat, with prosecutors now seeking four years and the defense three.
Investigators cracked EncroChat in 2020, yielding transcripts used widely in drug cases; in Berlin alone, 191 suspects were identified. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ordered new proceedings here after both sides appealed the original sentence.
The court will issue a new verdict, which could adjust the sentence and signal how Berlin handles other EncroChat-related prosecutions. (BILD, 2 minute read)
🇩🇪 rbb-Exklusiv: Only 16 percent of newly hired teachers in Berlin have a teaching degree
Berlin faces a worsening teacher shortage ahead of the new school year, with only 16.4% of newly hired teachers holding a teaching degree, according to a Senate response seen by rbb.
Berlin needs 4,161 full-time teachers; about 4,200 people were recruited, but many are part-time. The hires include nearly 2,000 student teachers, about 1,000 fixed-term entrants without full training, 184 lateral entrants with subject degrees, and 300 retirees; fewer than 700 fully trained hires, down from over 1,000 last year.
The Left party warns of quality declines and a real shortfall of about 1,500 full-time teachers, blaming funding cuts; the education authority disputes this and says hiring is ongoing, with firm staffing figures due later in the school year. (rbb24, 3 minute read)
🇩🇪 More unemployed in Berlin and Brandenburg in August - more than three million nationwide
The number of unemployed people in Berlin and Brandenburg rose in August to the highest August levels in years, reaching 223,461 (10.5%) in Berlin and 88,145 (6.5%) in Brandenburg, both up 0.2 percentage points from July, the Federal Employment Agency said.
August increases are seasonal as school and training periods end, but Berlin’s rate is the highest for August since 2015 and Brandenburg’s since 2017. Nationally, unemployment rose to 3.025 million (6.4%), the highest August level in 15 years, though seasonally adjusted figures show a slight decline, suggesting tentative stabilization.
Officials will watch whether post-summer hiring and early autumn demand reduce unemployment in September and confirm signs of stabilization in Berlin, Brandenburg, and nationwide data. (rbb24, 2 minute read)
⚡ Quick Hits
🇩🇪 That's how much money you need to live well in Berlin (Berliner Morgenpost, 3 minute read)
🇩🇪 Increases of up to 30 percent possible Berlin tenants' association warns of sharp rises in index-linked rents (Tagesspiegel, 1 minute read)
🇩🇪 "This is a first step towards war" What young Berliners and their parents say about the Military Service Act (Tagesspiegel, 1 minute read)
🇩🇪 Palestine protest at Hackescher Markt in Berlin Police officer allegedly hit participant in the face (Tagesspiegel, 2 minute read)
🇩🇪 Anhalter Bahn partially closed: Three months of restrictions between Berlin and Munich (Tagesspiegel, 3 minute read)
📅 Events Today
🎟️ Zug der Liebe | August 30, 2025 | The central aim of the "Zug der Liebe" demonstration is to protest for more compassion, charity and social commitment. A total of 15 trucks will be at the start.
🎟️ Street Music Festival | August 30, 2025 | Music outdoors again at last! The one-day open-air festival Streetmusic-Festival takes place on Europaplatz.
🎟️ Radioeins Parkfest | August 30 to September 07, 2025 | At the Radioeins Parkfest, visitors can enjoy a diverse program of live broadcasts, movies, concerts, hands-on activities and a children's program.
💬 What Berliners Are Talking About
🗣️ American living the Berlin Dream - Redditors criticize a wealthy American expat whose lifestyle fuels Berlin gentrification.
🗣️ What Wc/toilets to avoid in Berlin central stations? - Locals and commuters share practical, safety-focused tips and café alternatives to avoid station toilets.
🗣️ Hiking& nature people - Berlin techno crowd organizing wholesome hiking group, many eager to join.
🗻 Fun Fact: Berlin’s second-highest hill, Teufelsberg (120 m), is actually man-made – it’s a mound of 26 million m³ of WWII rubble piled up after the war, now a popular vantage point.
👋 That's a wrap!
Thanks for reading Berlin News Daily!
👉 Subscribe for free to get tomorrow’s news in your inbox.
💌 Know someone who’d love this? Forward it and help us grow!
Got feedback or a tip? Reply to this email or write us at: news@berlindaily.org