Berlin.
In Berlin, the repeat election is just around the corner. In the “breakdown capital” the outcome of the election also depends on the condition of a road.
500 meters of street drive emotions high in Berlin. Shortly before Repetition of the breakdown dialing From September 2021, the future of Friedrichstrasse has become the most important campaign issue. The dispute over a new pedestrian zone in the center reveals a lot about the feelings of the capital city dwellers before the election day, which could cost the red-green-red coalition the majority and the Social Democrat Franziska Giffey the office after just over a year.
Berlin’s state constitutional court had ordered in November to completely repeat the elections to the House of Representatives and in the districts. The judges recognized an organizational failure. Poor preparation had resulted in ballots being missing, polling stations being given the wrong ones and having to close at times. Due to the Berlin marathon on election day, it was often not possible to deliver ballot papers later. Many voters had to wait for hours and cast their votes well after 6 p.m. The chaos was further evidence of how bad the Capital city functions.
In Berlin, hip milieus meet high-rise housing estates
Now a new attempt follows and the new state returning officer assures that he is well prepared. In any case, politically it will be exciting. Then Berlin is split. The hip, cosmopolitan milieus in the old building quarters of the city center have less and less to do with the majority of the almost four million Berliners who live in the surrounding area in single-family house quarters, new apartment blocks or high-rise housing estates.
In one Berlin, the bars and restaurants are mostly filled with young, well-paid newcomers who often speak English. They are happy about new bike lanes and neighborhood blocks – these are bollards that prevent cars from driving through a neighborhood. In the other part of the city, where the nearest bus stop is sometimes a kilometer away, under prevails long-established more or less bad mood: the traffic jams, the many construction sites, interrupted train lines, sluggish offices. Also read the comment: Why the repetition of the federal elections in Berlin is alarming
Berlin: Friedrichstrasse may become the decisive issue in the election
And then there’s Friedrichstrasse: although there was a long attempt at traffic and the green-red-governed Mitte district decided to close the street between Checkpoint Charlie and the street “Unter den Linden” for cars, popular anger is concentrated on the green top candidate Bettina Jarash.
Shortly before the election, in her capacity as Senator for Transport, she announced that Friedrichstrasse would be closed immediately. In the Schneegriesel there is now some street furniture on the former road again. Even in their own camp, many saw the action as a know-it-all solo effort in the style of the Green Re-education Party. As a result, they slipped greens in the polls. The dream, finally that Red Town Hall to conquer is seriously threatened.
S-Bahn ring as the new Berlin Wall
Instead, the CDU scores – and that also with people who only very rarely travel in Berlin’s center, but for whom the plans for the traffic turnaround in of Germany by far the largest metropolis go much too far anyway. Because there are problems with housing construction throughout Germany and there does not seem to be a solution for the most important issue of rents at state level, the dispute between the parties has shifted to the transport issue, which is understandable for everyone. According to a widespread and not entirely unjustified criticism, the Senate only looks at the inner city. Red-Green-Red has little to offer for the outskirts.
The S-Bahn Ring is something like the new Berlin Wall. Inside, people vote green or left, outside the CDU can count on majorities again after years of decline. The SPD and AfD also score points in individual districts.
Poor but sexy – that was once
The perception of Berlin varies widely even within the city. The story of Poorhouse of the Republic has long outlived itself. In the eastern part of the city, the high-rise towers grow into the sky. Berlin’s economy has been growing faster than the national average for years.
Nowhere else in Germany are more new jobs being created income are higher than those in NRW and Bremen. In just five years, venture capitalists have pumped 25 billion euros into Berlin start-ups, 40 percent of whose employees come from abroad. Many of these companies are now medium-sized companies, and the online retailer Zalando is a Dax group. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently acted as if he were revealing a secret when he stated: Berlin is growing faster than Bavaria.
Too few teachers, too few administrative staff, more and more dirt
But these positive developments don’t go down well with many people. On the contrary, they have to endure the growing pains that 400,000 additional residents bring with them in a decade: too few teachers, too few staff in the offices, more traffic, more construction sites. Everything is getting worse and worse, the dirt, the neglect, the integration problems. Companies are moving away, many complain – and in many neighborhoods the glittering world of start-ups, scientific elite and internationally renowned high culture is actually far away. Many have to make do with the money. Those who are better off fear that something will be taken away from them, even if it is the parking space.
Aversion to trend winners is increasing. The proverbial Berlin tolerance is threatened. Green candidate Jarasch, for example, had to be angrily asked by original Berliners why she wasn’t going back to Augsburg at home with her plans for a green “Bullerbü” in heat-stricken districts. The woman has lived in Berlin for 25 years.
The one from Brandenburg mayoress and Ex-Family Minister Giffey does not have to fear such attacks because of her tongue-lashing in Berlin. However, because of her rather old-fashioned style of clothing and some conservative basic views, she is ridiculed and rejected by many cool inner-city Berliners.
One thing is certain: there will always be complaining
The parties try to use the cracks in the population to their advantage. Everyone protests that they want to “hold the city together”, but the one led more bitterly than usual campaign exposes this as a cheap claim. The battle for applause from the respective clientele is preceded by a balanced overall view.
How things will continue politically in Berlin is open. It is quite possible that the SPD, the Greens and the Left will form an alliance again, boot out the probable election winner Kai Wegner from the CDU and simply continue with their share of the vote of around 50 percent.
No matter what happens, someone will always complain, it’s Berlin. The only thing that helps is the Berliners’ ability to suffer, which reaches to the point of being rude, and their pride in an often chaotic, but exciting metropolis to break through. It’s not all bad either. You can now take off from BER Airport without being there three hours before departure.
More articles from this category can be found here: Politics
