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#CityNews: What’s happening in your Kiez?

Berlin is vibrant and always a tiny bit nuts. We keep you in the loop on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening in this place we call home.



Knowledge is power(ed)

Explore a wind tunnel from 1934 or secret laboratories: The long night of sciences opens usually closed doors. (Photo: Christian Kraatz)

During the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften (Long Night of Sciences), visitors can peek behind those closed doors, to where scientists explore our life and the future.

Massive rotating blades in a concrete tube that spans ten by fifteen metres. The wind tunnel in Adlershof makes you feel as if you’ve shrunk to the size of a mite. But with a loud voice and a heavy step, because the echo is overwhelming in the tunnel built between 1932 and 1934 to test plane parts in their original size. The tour of the wind tunnel is one of more than 2000 events during the night, 166 of them offered in English. Visitors can peek behind the doors of laboratories and into the very bowels of science. Because as we all know: knowledge is power-ed by science!

Various locations across Berlin, Saturday, 15th June

https://www.langenachtderwissenschaften.de/



“We receive 80% women’s clothes, but 90% of the recipients are men”

…says Ana Lichtwer about the ten tonnes of clothes that are donated to the Stadtmission, a mission and charity under the roof of the German protestant church, every week. Source



Promised land

Dragoner Areal
Undeveloped land in the heart of Kreuzberg? The Dragoner estate is now in the hands of the city government. (Photo: F. Anthea Schaap)

Few other pieces of undeveloped land are as sought after as the so-called Dragoner area. And we all know how ruthless real estate business is in this city at the moment. All the better to hear that the 4.7-hectare estate in the heart of Kreuzberg is now owned by the state of Berlin and not by a private developer.

In return, Berlin is handing over ‘cultural landscape’ – institutions such as the Jewish Museum or the Academy of the Arts – worth €180 million to the current owner. What sounds like a crazy deal is actually a very good idea: the current owner is the Federal State of Germany which is likely to be able to take better care of these loss-making arts institutions. The Dragoner estate, on the other hand, is all about increasing value. Berlin can build thousands of apartments there for the ever-growing city.



Swim (not so) good

Comparatively safe: the lido at the Olympic park.

130 criminal offences at Neukölln lido were reported to the police in 2018. Which makes the pool front-runner when it comes to crime. The police took 14 reports of criminal assault, 67 for ‘other criminal offences’, and 40 reports of theft. The second spot in this ranking of negatives is taken by the pool in the Europasportpark in Prenzlauer Berg, followed by Prinzenbad in Kreuzberg.



Green is cool

The city is warm and climate change will make it even warmer. Senator of environment Regine Günther has now – fitting to the electoral success of the Greens in Germany at the moment – initiated two support programmes for more climate protection. One of them has a budget of €6 million to replace 1,200 oil heaters with climate-friendly alternatives. CO2-saving: 30,000 of 20.1 million tonnes per year. With the other programme, Günther wants to vegetate rooftops; €3.5 million are provided for that. But only rooftops over 100 square metres in certain districts.



Wild boars whoop it up

Wild boars living it up on pavements, wild boars marauding through gardens: In January last year, many videos like this, filmed in the suburbs of Kleinmachnow and Stahnsdorf, surfaced. To get this curse under control, the government of Brandenburg wanted to shoot the animals with bows and arrows. This plan has now failed, as no fitting scientific institution could be found to accompany the project.


Translated by Aida Baghernejad



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