#368: Trash strike, food fight, Nina Hagen
In our pod, we attempt to explain Friedrich Merz's about-face on deficit spending
Dear 20 Percent,
Arrghhh. Winter’s back. I almost froze my fingers off during the kindergarten run. Like every year, over-enthusiasm got the better of me and I packed away my winter gloves prematurely.
It’s still springtime for my inner political junkie, though. German politics just got interesting.
Election winner and incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz’s (CDU) has shape-shifted into a different creature, one that has ditched the tired old tune of austerity in favour of ramping up deficit spending to fix the country. Apparently, Trump’s foul treatment of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy — and the implications for European security — was the wake-up call.
Merz now has to bash out a coalition with election losers SPD. To make that happen he has to do exactly the opposite of what he promised during the campaign: spend a lot of money Germany doesn’t have. Five hundred billion euros for infrastructure, kindergartens, schools, railway, bridges etc. Plus a loosening of the debt rules to free up a few hundred billion for defense.
If you’ll recall, Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light” government collapsed over finance minister’s Christian Lindner’s (FDP) refusal to go along with Scholz’s plan to do exactly the same thing: spend cash to bring Germany into the 21st century.
There’s a catch, though. To loosen those purse strings, Merz needs a two-thirds majority in parliament. But since he doesn’t trust the strengthened AfD and Die Linke to support the plan, he is counting on sitting MPs (elected in back in 2021) to rush this proposal through by the end of March, when the newly elected parliament convenes for the first time.
Right now, Merz needs the Greens to approve the plan. The same people he was calling “leftwing crazies” a few weeks ago. Surprise, surprise, they’re playing hard to get.
The whole thing is very unorthodox by German standards. A good sign is that the AfD are throwing a tantrum and have filed a lawsuit against the scheme. Some non-fascist critics say passing something so gigantic with the old Bundestag is undemocratic. But not illegal.
The way I see it, Germany needs to get back on its feet. Fast. If this is the only way, then so be it. What’s Germany’s AAA credit rating for, anyway, if you’re not going to use it to take out a big loan during a rough patch?
Andrew and I try to make sense of it all in Episode #8 of the 20% Berlin Podcast. Plus the usual local banter. Please do give it a listen.
More news below.
Maurice
Garbage strike
My building’s recycling containers are permanently overflowing. My neighbourhood is a dumpsite. So I won’t notice a thing when city sanitation workers at BSR go on strike Wednesday through Saturday. No garbage pick-up. No street-cleaning. No recycling centres. Public sector union Verdi is demanding 8% more pay or at least €350 more pay per month per worker. Public hospital groups Charité and Vivantes will be also be affected, as will the unemployment office, the water utility, daycares and after-school centres.
Crumbling autobahn bridge
About that aging German infrastructure: Thanks to cracks discovered in a bridge at the Funkturm autobahn junction out west, traffic on the A100 has been reduced to a single lane in that area. State company Autobahn GmbH, which runs the autobahns, said the highway may have to be completely blocked for months if engineers determine that the bridge is irreparable and has to be torn down and re-built. Thank you, German thrift! Hey, all you drivers all there, there’s this incredible thing called the Deutschlandticket.
Food delivery feud on International Women’s Day
As you may have noticed, shops were closed Saturday, thanks to Frauentag, a public holiday in the capital. Supermarket chain Rewe noticed that its grocery delivery competitor Knuspr was accepting orders for Saturday, and obtained a court injunction against Knuspr (paywall), on the grounds of unfair competition. The start-up ignored the injunction and made 1,000 deliveries in Berlin anyway. Knuspr milked the conflict for PR content: “This has nothing to do with fair competition. This is a classic David versus Goliath moment. The turnover we expect on 8 March is what the Rewe Group makes in 30 seconds.”
Events this week, curated by The Next Day Berlin
🎶Under My Feet. – 10 Years
Thursday, 13.03, 7:30 pm - 1 am. Studio dB, Uferstrasse 8-11. Tickets: €17/20.
The London-based label UMF celebrates a decade of experimental and industrial sound. 🎧 Katatonic Silentio brings her beautiful (and deep) live electronics, while Sorcery & Dan Tombs present a world-premiere A/V performance of deconstructed rhythms and noise.
🩰Malign Junction (Goodbye, Berlin) – Alex Baczyński-Jenkins
Friday, 14.03, 8 - 9:30 pm. Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstrasse 7, 10963 Berlin. Tickets: €9 / reduced €6.
A choreographic exploration of desire, alienation, and endings, set in the atrium of Gropius Bau. Inspired by Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin, the performance unfolds as a slow, unspectacular grand finale, reflecting on loss, seduction, and queer histories through intimate exchanges between performers.
🎹John Cale – POPtical Illusion Tour 2025
Friday, 14.03, 8 pm. Columbiahalle, Columbiadamm 13-21, 10965 Berlin. Tickets: €59.80 / €73.80.
Wow! The legend John Cale, co-founder of The Velvet Underground, presents his latest album 🎧 ‘POPtical Illusion’—a mix of synths, samples, organs, and pianos. He’s still amazing.
🪩34 Years of Tresor
Fri-Sun, 14-16.03, 11 pm - 2 pm. Tresor / Globus, Köpenickerstrasse 70. Tickets: €28.25/€45.20.
A milestone for one of Berlin’s most legendary clubs. Tresor celebrates 34 years of techno and electro with a lineup featuring Juan Atkins, Dopplereffekt (live A/V), Blake Baxter, Skee Mask, Alienata, Nadia Struiwigh, Maayan Nidam (The Waves), and more.
🍫Berlin Chocolate Festival Sat-Sun, 15-16.03, noon - 9pm. Arena, Eichenstraße 4A, Tickets: €4, kids under 16 free Workshops, magic shows, music plus chocolate treats from tacos to cake. Honestly, what else would you want to do with your Sunday?
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
💣Merz open to working with France on nuclear deterrence
🩺Germany’s 6,000 Syrian doctors
🚅Deutsche Bahn pays €197M in compensation for delays in 2024
Factoid
The “German godmother of punk” Nina Hagen turned 70 today. Born in 1955 in Friedrichshain, East Berlin, Hagen’s first recording, the Schlager-style single “Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen”, was an instant hit in East Germany. However, she fled the GDR in 1976, founded the Nina Hagen Band and lived in West Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and the US. In 1998, she returned to the city of her birth. Fun fact: In the dubbed German version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, she was the voice of Whoopi Goldberg. Another fun fact: Ex-chancellor Angela Merkel requested that a military orchestra play “Du hast den Farbfilm” vergessen at her farewell ceremony.
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Heads up that the podcast link in the intro goes to a Tagesspiegel article about the garbage strike. Unless it was intended as a self-deprecating joke about the quality of the episode, in which case: hey don’t be so hard on yourselves, the podcast’s not garbage! :)
Sorry to be "that guy" but there are some typos here: A good sign it that the AfD are throwing a tantrum and have file a lawsuit against the scheme. Also, not sure I get why it is good news? ^_^