3 ms·

I'd say 20th century Berlin always was an island of craziness. In the roaring twenties, it became both a poorhouse (hyperinflation) and the city with the wildes

I'd say 20th century Berlin always was an island of craziness. In the roaring twenties, it became both a poorhouse (hyperinflation) and the city with the wildest parties and openly queer communities. After WW2 the story is that the Allies made sure that Berlin would be barely governable. In times of the iron curtain many many left-wing Germans who didn't want to serve in the military escaped to West-Berlin which was known as a safe harbor. And in the 90s from what I can see, it looked like a big techno party. So all in all, I think Berliners old and young are pretty fine with craziness and some kind of "governed anarchy". Only recently (to me at least and from what I heard for other people as well), it became really annoying because the government seems completely overwhelmed by pretty much everything. Berlin is btw still said to be the "capital of unemployment" and recently the housing problems and gentrification reached another absurd level.

tormeh 3y ago
> capital of unemployment" and recently the housing problems and gentrification These are sort of mutually exclusive. Berlin used to be poor, but as of 2019 it’s richer than the German average. This is admittedly unimpressive for a city-state, but still: Berlin is no country for poor men. It was, but no longer. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP_p...
- leipert 3y ago
  “Average” GDP per capita doesn’t tell you how “rich” the individuals are. You should look at the median income per capita. Berlin ranks lower there than other federal states and cities. Look for example here where it ranks 318 out of 400. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Landkreise/Kreise_und_Kreisfreien_Städte_nach_Einkommen https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Landkreise/Kreise_...

tormeh 3y ago

> capital of unemployment" and recently the housing problems and gentrification These are sort of mutually exclusive. Berlin used to be poor, but as of 2019 it’s richer than the German average. This is admittedly unimpressive for a city-state, but still: Berlin is no country for poor men. It was, but no longer. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP_p...

leipert 3y ago
“Average” GDP per capita doesn’t tell you how “rich” the individuals are. You should look at the median income per capita. Berlin ranks lower there than other federal states and cities. Look for example here where it ranks 318 out of 400. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Landkreise/Kreise_und_Kreisfreien_Städte_nach_Einkommen https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Landkreise/Kreise_...