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Here’s your quick update on what’s happening around the city on Friday, November 14 - from urgent alerts to stories in the subreddit. Today we went through 153 sources so you don't have to.
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🚗 ‘The car belongs in Berlin’: city backpedaling on bike-friendly policies
Berlin is renewing a car-first approach as the current CDU and SDP coalition scales back cycling and pedestrian plans. Speed limits on more than 20 streets returned to 50 kilometers per hour. Budgets for school-route safety and sidewalks face deep cuts. The A100 autobahn extension and Torstrasse redesign fuel protests and division. (The Guardian)
Germany’s car ownership keeps rising, while Berlin remains the outlier. As of January 2025, Germany averaged 590 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Berlin posted only 334 per 1,000, the nation’s lowest figure, reflecting its dense transit network and urban form. Car density fell in the three city-states year over year. (IT.NRW)
The draft double budget for 2026 and 2027 proposes steep reductions. Funds for foot-traffic improvements drop from 5.4 million euros to 2.6 million next year. Money for crossings and medians falls to 3 million annually. The line for “measures to improve cycling” would be just 2.5 million per year. (Tagesspiegel)
Berlin’s shift risks weakening safety for people outside cars and slowing a shift to cleaner transport. Higher speeds and thinner safety budgets point in the same direction. The International Transport Forum finds that each 1 percent rise in average speed increases fatal crashes by 4 percent and injury crashes by 2 percent. (International Transport Forum)
⚡ Quick Hits
🇩🇪 Repairs after fire attack on power grid will take until 2026 | Berlin’s grid operator, Stromnetz Berlin, reports slow progress after the September arson that crippled two pylons. The sabotage triggered the city’s longest postwar outage and hit about 50,000 customers. The network spans 35,000 km, with 99 percent underground. Security has been tightened beyond industry standards, but officials warn absolute protection is impossible. The operator has not released a damage estimate.
🇩🇪 More and more addicts are smoking crack cocaine in Berlin consumption rooms | Consumption events in drug consumption rooms exceeded 23,000 in 2024, about 9,000 more than 2023. At provider Vista, crack rose from 3.5% of uses in 2022 to 30% in 2024. Police expect far higher real use as scenes disperse across the city. Related offenses tripled since 2015 (762 to 2,474). No substitution therapy exists, straining services.
🇩🇪 New parking zones in Berlin: you will soon have to pay here | Berlin districts will expand paid parking within the S-Bahn Ring. Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf adds six zones from 1 December 2025 (current rate is 2 euros per hour). Neukölln creates Zone 101 in Rollbergkiez at 4 euros per hour. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg adds two zones in 2026. Residents permits cost 10.20 euros per year. Officials aim to deter long-stay parkers and ease deliveries.
🇬🇧 Why Google's data center plans spark concern in Germany | Google will invest €5.5 billion in German data centers and says the buildout will secure 9,000 jobs a year through 2029. Experts warn about dependence on a US provider and digital sovereignty risks. The scale lags the US, with about 10,000 GPUs (AI chips) planned versus 500,000 in a Texas project. Google plans to reuse waste heat for local heating.
🇩🇪 Berlin extends firecracker ban zones on New Year's Eve! | City officials plan more or larger New Year’s Eve firework ban areas than in recent years. Fences will be dropped in favor of mobile patrols and targeted checks. Locations will be set by past pyrotechnic incidents. Police plan 3,200 extra officers plus 1,000 on regular duty, and 1,500 firefighters. Enforcement will target unlicensed blank-firing and signal guns.
🇩🇪 Declining rate of weapons found during inspections | Federal police expanded random checks at Berlin and Potsdam stations under AGVs (general orders allowing stop-and-search). They conduct 130 to 180 checks daily at stations, versus 16 in city zones and 111 on BVG. The success rate fell from 8.2% in March to 4.7% in October. Unrelated offenses that police discover "by accident" is high, however. There were 268 weapons and 365 other offenses found in March.
🇬🇧 At COP30, Germany faces climate credibility test | Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized innovation at the UN climate summit COP30, but critics see growth prioritized over cuts. Germany risks missing its 65% by 2030 target and 2045 climate neutrality. It also pushed the European Union to allow up to 5% foreign carbon credits. Financing is strained despite €6 billion last year, while damages could reach €900 billion by 2050.
📅 Events Today
🎟️ Night Flea Market at Sisyphos | November 14, 2025 | €5 | An after-dark flea market mixes club energy with vintage treasure hunting. Shoppers rummage through clothes and records. Local artists sell work afterward (think art market vibes).
🎟️ Stollen Evaluation of the Bakers' Guild | November 14, 2025 | Free | You taste dozens of buttery stollen (a traditional German fruit bread). Trained judges score shape, crust, smell and taste. You help pick a winner (and prizes go to the best loaves).
🎟️ Berlin Freedom Week | November 08 - 15, 2025 | Varies depending on the event | Public programming explores freedom through talks, films, tours and workshops. Eyewitnesses, activists and artists share stories and spark debate (plus exhibitions, food and family activities).
💬 What Berliners Are Talking About
🗣️ Noise proofing hacks for Altbau apartments | Users share practical, low-cost noiseproofing tips and sensory-friendly fixes for Altbau living.
🗣️ Visiting Berlin? Moving here incl. Apartment questions? Going clubbing? Have a quick question? Ask here, don't create a new thread. | Sticky Berlin resource offers travel and moving tips, met with gratitude and skepticism.
🗣️ Japanese Restaurants in Berlin | Enthusiastic guide to authentic, Japan-quality Japanese restaurants in Berlin with extra tips.
🎭 Fun Fact: Berlin is the only city in the world with three active opera houses (Deutsche Oper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Komische Oper) seating a total of 4,700 spectators.
👋 That's a wrap! Thanks for reading Berlin News Daily!
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