Here’s your quick update on what’s happening around the city on Friday, September 19 - from urgent alerts to stories in the subreddit. Today we went through 100+ articles, posts and events so you don't have to.

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🇩🇪 World war bomb found off Fischerinsel - thousands have to leave their homes

Berlin police discovered a suspected World War II bomb in the Spree near Fischerinsel Thursday, establishing a 500-meter exclusion zone and launching overnight evacuations; U2 service is halted between Alexanderplatz and Spittelmarkt, while shelters opened at Rathaus Mitte as thousands of residents and hotel guests were told to leave.

Such finds remain common in Berlin, where heavy wartime bombardment left unexploded ordnance; ongoing works at the Mühlendammschleuse and nearby harbor likely disturbed the device, which lies about four meters underwater in unclear condition.

Police will finish clearing the area before divers examine the bomb and decide whether and how to defuse it, likely in the morning; transport restrictions and temporary housing will continue until authorities declare the zone safe. (Tagesspiegel, 6 minute read)

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🇩🇪 Chip industry: New production facility opened in Berlin

ASML opened a new 5,000-square-meter production hall in Berlin’s Britz district to manufacture diamond-coated wafer tables for its lithography machines, employing about 200 people.

The parts are critical to ASML systems used by chipmakers including Intel, Samsung, and TSMC, and the diamond coating is expected to extend service life. With tools costing hundreds of millions of euros, reliability and precision are central.

ASML plans a larger, 20,000-square-meter hall in Britz within three years to produce wafer clamps, adding several hundred jobs; investment figures were not disclosed. (Berliner Morgenpost, 2 minute read)

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🇩🇪 Raid in Berlin: Illegal waste in Brandenburg - suspects arrested

Brandenburg state police and a special prosecutor raided a Berlin waste company suspected of illegally dumping asbestos and other materials in Brandenburg, seizing documents and a truck and identifying three suspects aged 26, 31, and 36.

Prosecutors are investigating aggravated commercial fraud and illegal waste handling after the firm allegedly billed for proper disposal while dumping materials in public areas, posing environmental and health risks. Authorities recorded 216 such cases in 2024, underscoring persistent waste-crime concerns.

Investigators will review the seized evidence to pursue charges, while authorities urge residents to avoid unusually cheap disposal offers and report suspected illegal dumping to police. (MOZ.de, 2 minute read)

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⚡ Quick Hits

• 🇬🇧 Aerial bomb found in Spandau: Defusing on Friday (Berlin.de, 1 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 Employees of Berlin women's shelters protest against cuts (rbb24, 3 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 Price for Germany ticket to rise to 63 euros in January (rbb24, 3 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 These are the top 5 problems of the Berlin fire department (B.Z. – Die Stimme Berlins, 2 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 Much higher than planned: New high-rise at Alexanderplatz "swallows" Berlin TV tower (Berliner Zeitung, 3 minute read)

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📅 Events Today

• 🎟️ International Literature Festival | September 11 - 20, 2025 | In September, Berlin becomes the capital of literature. Around 200 authors from over 40 countries are expected at the International Literature Festival 

• 🎟️ Long Night of Choirs | September 19 and 20, 2025 | The Long Night of Choirs will once again take place in the Moabit Reformation Church in Beusselstraße. 

• 🎟️ City Film Days | September 19 - 21, 2025 | The City Film Days film festival takes a cinematic look at Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in 2025. 

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💬 What Berliners Are Talking About

• 🗣️ Is Deutschland ticket still worth it for Berlin? - Although rising to €63, most say the Deutschlandticket still beats Berlin monthly fares.

• 🗣️ Apartment too expensive for pensioner - what to do? Exchange apartment? WBS? Help! - Community advises checking rent legality, applying for WBS/municipal housing, avoiding swaps.

• 🗣️ BSR Sperrling picks up your bulky waste - BSR’s new €35 bulky-waste pickup sparks debate over fairness, coverage, effectiveness.

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♀️ Fun Fact: Berlin was the first German state to make International Women’s Day (March 8) an official public holiday (enacted in 2019) – a move intended to highlight the ongoing fight for women’s rights and equality.

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