Tag Archives: Berlin

Last night/this morning.

Berlin, Germany.

Translation:

‘Berlin: Homeless people without 3G (fully vaccinated, tested, or recovered) proof are no longer allowed to seek refuge from the cold on platforms. The Senate regrets the decision, but remains tough.’

3G in Berlin: Senat verbannt Obdachlose von Bahnsteigen (Berliner Zeitung)

Via James Lindsey

 

Berlin bar Dame Lane, Dublin 2

This evening.

It’s like the 1930s in, er, Berlin.

‘Boozy brunch’ bar loses licence over Covid breaches (RTÉ)

RollingNews

‘Berlin Brutal’: the uncompromising architecture of mid 20th century Berlin captured by Felix Torkar.

From top: Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Fehling+Gogel, 1966–74; Isothermische Kugellabore, Horst Welser, 1959-6;Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedä chtniskirche, Egon Eiermann, 1957–61; Kirche Mariä Himmelfahrt (heute: Mor-Afrem-Kirche), Alfons Boklage, 1964–66 and St. Agnes, Werner Düttmann, 1965–67.

thisisthappiness

This morning.

Berlin, Germany.

Several thousand people have gathered near the Reichstag, banging pans and blowing whistles, to protest Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government’s push to enforce coronavirus restrictions.

Germany’s lower and upper houses of parliament are due to pass laws this afternoon which could allow the government to impose restrictions on social contact, rules on mask-wearing, drinking alcohol in public, shutting shops and stopping sports events.

Meanwhile…

Reuters

Protest in Berlin against Covid-19 restrictions; German Health Minister Jens Spahn 

This morning.

Germany will not need another national lockdown over the winter, says the country’s Health Minister Jens Spahn who also admitted Berlin’s lockdown was “too harsh”.

Via irish Times:

Germany should not have closed shops and hairdressers in the coronavirus lockdown, its health minister has admitted, triggering demands for an inquiry into decisions taken early on in the pandemic.

Federal health minister Jens Spahn’s admission that Berlin’s lockdown was too harsh has surprised many and infuriated those hit hardest by the shutdown.

The remarks will be grist to the mill of the 40,000 people who demonstrated in Berlin at the weekend against ongoing Covid-19 restrictions as overblown.

“With the knowledge of today, I can tell you no hairdressers would have to close and no shops,” he said. “That will not happen again. We won’t need visitor bans in care homes, either.”

German lockdown was too harsh says health minister (Derek Scally, Irish Times)

Getty

Meanwhile….

Via The Guardian:

Victoria police is facing criticism for its arrest of a 28-year-old pregnant woman in her Ballarat home on Wednesday over a Facebook post, with the Victorian Bar labelling it “disproportionate”.

The criticism comes after the assistant police commissioner, Luke Cornelius, defended the arrest, saying officers acted “reasonably”.

Cornelius admitted that the arrest of a pregnant woman made for “terrible optics”, but defended the heavy-handed approach, warning that hundreds of officers would be deployed to make arrests on the weekend.

Victorian Bar criticises arrest of pregnant woman for Facebook lockdown protest post as ‘disproportionate’ (The Guardian)

Saturday.

Berlin, Germany.

A crowd of people whistling and cheering, and with few masks in sight, marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate ahead of a rally on a wide boulevard that runs through the city’s Tiergarten park.

Protesters held up home-made placards featuring slogans that included “Corona, false alarm,” “We are being forced to wear a muzzle,” “Natural defence instead of vaccination” and “End the corona panic — bring fundamental rights back.”

They chanted, “We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom.”

The demonstration, entitled “The end of the pandemic — freedom day,” was planned for weeks and drew people from various parts of Germany. Police used bullhorns to chide participants to keep to distancing rules and to wear masks.

Getty/AP/AFP

Meanwhile

Um.

Ragbag?

Anti-Covid protest draws ragbag of conspiracy theorists to Berlin (Derek Scally, Irish Times)

This afternoon.

In Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.

A group of activists have occupied the city’s planned Google campus.

#fuckoffgoogle tweetz:

A small step for Kreuzberg but a great step for humanity. Google Campus is being squatted right now.

Fuckoffgoogle?

Protests against gentrification Activists occupy the Google campus in Kreuzberg (Berline Zeitung)

Related: ‘Google go home’: the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant (The Guardian, May 8, 2018)