Here’s your quick update on what’s happening around the city on Saturday, September 20 - 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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🇬🇧 Berlin adapts — tackling water shortages with innovation

Berlin is ramping up investments in modernized waterworks, wastewater recycling, and climate‑resilient trees to confront worsening water shortages as falling river and lake levels threaten shipping, industry, and drinking water supplies.

Climate change has made the city drier, while a growing population increases demand, straining rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Officials aim to safeguard water security and keep commerce and public services functioning.

Authorities plan further upgrades and recycling pilots, but unresolved funding gaps could slow timelines; watch for financing decisions and project milestones as Berlin seeks to secure long‑term drinking water supplies. (Deutsche Welle (DW), 1 minute read)

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🇩🇪 These are the seven most dangerous places in Berlin

Berlin police released 2024 crime data for designated hotspots, showing assaults at Kottbusser Tor rose 28% and robberies at Alexanderplatz climbed 59%, while overall offenses declined at sites like Görlitzer Park and Hermannplatz.

The hotspots grant officers expanded stop-and-search powers; thousands of ID checks and bag searches occurred at Alexanderplatz and Kottbusser Tor. Officials link declines in some areas to cannabis’s partial legalization and targeted policing, while a new Kotti station increased detection, boosting recorded crimes.

Police plan sustained patrols and monitoring at these locations, with city authorities expected to assess the effects of enforcement tactics and drug policy on crime patterns in next year’s report. (B.Z. – Die Stimme Berlins, 3 minute read)

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🇩🇪 Bomb in Spandau successfully defused

Berlin authorities successfully defused a 100-kilogram World War II bomb in Spandau after evacuating about 12,400 residents, while a separate suspected device in Mitte was deemed harmless and 10,000 evacuees returned home.

The Spandau operation was among Berlin’s largest bomb-related evacuations and was delayed two days due to logistical demands, including a nearby hospital. Unexploded ordnance from wartime remains common in the city.

Police are lifting cordons and restoring transport services; the defused bomb will be transported for safe disposal, and officials will monitor construction sites for additional finds. (Berliner Morgenpost, 7 minute read)

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⚡ Quick Hits

• 🇬🇧 Higher prices for bus and train journeys from January (Berlin.de, 2 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 Cutting-edge technology from Berlin-Neukölln Chip factory supplier ASML inaugurates new production hall (Tagesspiegel, 2 minute read)

• 🇬🇧 Deutsche Bahn closes important connection to Berlin: three months of detour and cancellations (MDR, 2 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 World War II bomb on Berlin's Fischerinsel is not dangerous (rbb24, 3 minute read)

• 🇩🇪 150 people to lose their jobs in Berlin Four-day strike at TikTok's German headquarters (Tagesspiegel, 1 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

• 🗣️ cheaper/free ways to do activities in berlin - Practical community tips for enjoying affordable sports, language learning, and nature in Berlin.

• 🗣️ My Vermieter is not taking care of mold in my flat and I am critically ill. - Tenant seriously ill from suspected mold as landlord ignores pleas, commenters urge legal action.

• 🗣️ Cooperative: How long did you wait? - Berlin co-op members report wildly varying wait times, tied to luck, location, and connections.

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🚇 Fun Fact: Berlin’s S-Bahn network is longer than London’s Underground, spanning 340 km of track.

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