Economist.com Cities Guide: Berlin Briefing - March 2006

News this month

Out in front

There was good news for Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's mayor, in early March, when a poll showed him leading the field in the run-up to elections in September. The poll—conducted by Emnid, a research institute, two local radio stations and the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper—gave Mr Wowereit a rating of 1.2 on a scale from minus-five (least popular) to plus-five (most popular). The Social Democratic mayor's main challenger is Friedbert Pflüger, from the centre-right Christian Democratic party. Mr Pflüger scored one point behind Mr Wowereit on the popularity scale, and had a 56% recognition factor with voters, compared with the mayor’s 99%.

The festive Mr Wowereit—“Wowi” to Berliners—has served as the city-state's mayor since 2001. During his election campaign he defied mudslingers by proudly declaring his homosexuality, to great effect in liberal-minded Berlin. His words at the time, “ich bin schwul, und das ist auch gut so,” or “I am gay and that is a good thing,” have since become famous in Germany as a statement of openness and self-acceptance.

Making a mark

Berlin’s public-transport authority, the BVG, is urging judges to take a harder line against perpetrators of graffiti and vandalism on trains and buses. According to the BVG, in 2004 only 8% of the 1,587 cases brought to court led to sentencing, dropping from 11.6% in 2003 and 16.9% in 2002; in 2005 only 18.8% of arrests even resulted in trials at all. The BVG believes that this laxity is encouraging vandalism.

Berlin is renowned in Germany for its graffiti, which some see as a form of art and a sign of the city’s vibrant youth culture. But for the city government, graffiti remains a blight, damaging property at an estimated annual cost of €7m-8m ($8.3m-9.5m). Officials have waged numerous campaigns against vandalism, including an ambitious effort last spring involving nocturnal helicopter missions with infra-red cameras. The experiment was soon stopped, however, when Berliners complained about its noise and great expense.

Looking sharp

The spectre of neo-Nazism emerged in Berlin in late February, when a 24-year-old man was given a seven-month suspended prison sentence for wearing a banned logo from a company popular among right-wing extremists. Around 30 similar cases have been registered in Berlin this year. The logo, which is based on a symbol from the ancient Nordic alphabet, was taken off the market at the beginning of 2005 after Germany's courts ruled that it too closely resembled the swastika, the symbol of the Nazi SS.

Thor Steiner, the clothing company in question (now using a different logo) advertises its garb as “patriotic clothing with Nordic attitude”. The company has been accused by left-wing organisations of financially supporting neo-Nazi groups, a charge it denies. The logo's legality has become ambiguous since last year's court ruling: although the logo remains illegal in Berlin, the neighbouring state of Brandenburg has lifted the ban.

Lagging behind

While Germany's economic confidence seems to be slowly improving—exports are booming and modest growth is predicted for 2006—the mood in Berlin remains rather glum. A recent survey by Forsa, a research group, showed that only 11% of Berliners felt that their personal financial situation would improve over the next six months, compared with 40% who predicted a deterioration. Almost half thought there would be no change. When asked whether they had become richer or poorer over the past six months, 9% said their finances had improved, whereas 47% said things had gotten worse.

Commentators put the pessimism down to Berlin's stubbornly high unemployment rate, which stood at around 18% in January. The local chamber of commerce has added to the gloom: it forecasts just under 1% growth for Berlin, compared to around 2% for Germany as a whole.

Mean streets

Random violence on the streets of Berlin is worrying the city-state's police. On the evening of March 4th a gang of around 15 youths staged three separate attacks on passers-by in the up-and-coming eastern neighbourhood of Friedrichshain. The same night three 17-year-olds beat up other teenagers in Marzahn, an eastern suburb.

It seems that these attacks and others like it were essentially committed at whim, without usual spurs such as drunkenness, mugging or political confrontation between right-wing and left-wing extremists. Still, figures show overall crime in Berlin is in decline. According to police statistics released on March 6th, the number of convicted crimes in 2005 dropped to their lowest level in 13 years, down 5.7% from 2004.

Catch if you can

March 2006

Isabelle Huppert: Woman Of Many Faces

March 11th-April 16th 2006

This exhibition pays homage to Isabelle Huppert, an iconic French film actress, on the heels of the Berlin film festival's enthusiastic reaction to her performance in “L’Ivresse du pouvoir”, a thriller directed by Claude Chabrol. Her many different faces are captured by 74 photographers, including Jürgen Teller, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Nan Goldin and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

C/O Berlin, Linienstrasse 144, 10115 Berlin-Mitte. Tel: +49 (0)30 2809 1925. Open: Wed-Sun 11am-7pm. See the gallery's website.

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