Radio Spaetkauf Berlin

This is Berlin's news podcast. Tonight: Oranienplatz has been cleared out. The refugee camp has been replaced by a police camp. Politicians are claiming victory, and crass young conservatives are photographing themselves in front of the demolished camp. Now that the protesting refugees are hidden away in a hostel, will the city forget about their plight? Police have been busy lately. They also helped evict a man from his Neukölln apartment, after he failed to pay his rent on time, due to an error by the Jobcenter. Over 120 protesters failed to prevent his eviction. He is now homeless. It has also been revealed that Berlin police are sending hundreds of thousands of ghost SMS messages to track suspects in a NSA-style operation. Human statues have been ordered to shuffle away from Pariser Platz. The Mitte city council decided that costumed characters posing with tourists in front of the Brandenburger Tor are a nuisance, and must clear off. Another example of the fun police in action? Don't forget to register to

Radio Spaetkauf is Berlin's news update in English. Tonight: The old Spreepark has been bought by the city for €2M, ending years of uncertainty about its ownership. It is now likely to be resold and reopened as a theme park. What did the Planetarium sound like before it closed last weekend? Joel went along and recorded the retro soundtrack of the now-under-renovation DDR treasure. Why are protesters standing with dead animals in front of Brandenburger Tor? Andrew met the initiators of Animal Equality Berlin to find out. It is cycling season again, and police are reporting an increase in bicycle theft. Those thieves will soon be hearing a new sound when the police catch them: the city's cop cars will be equipped with a new siren imported from the USA. Some Berliners aren't happy about the police siren noises being Americanized. www.radiospaetkauf.com

Radio Spätkauf is Berlin's English-language news programme. This week: Did you sign the Tempelhof petition? If you're not German, you weren't entitled to, as only citizens are allowed to have a say at regional and national elections and referendums. We talk to Walhrecht Für Alle about who can and can't vote. This month is your last chance to visit the Zeiss Planetarium in Prenzlauer Berg before it closes its doors for a year. The 30-year old Cosmorama projector needs to be replaced. A series of free events on the last weekend of March will let you experience this DDR gem. Music this week comes from Robyn Hitchcock, a renowned British singer-songwriter who is playing at Monarch bar in Berlin on March 27. Full disclosure - Robyn is Maisie's dad, and Joel is the support act. Links: http://wahlrechtfüralle.de/ https://www.facebook.com/events/448810325218909/

On this episode of Radio Spätkauf: as Berlin's building boom continues, will a new mega-hotel in Neukölln eclipse the skyscraper planned for Alexanderplatz? Does Marzahn really need a ski lift? And was a branch of Netto sacrificed for a higher purpose? Also on the show: Berlin's fare dodgers walk in the steps of Nazi resisters , Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg cleans up it's advertising act and the city gets a new, pop-savvy culture secretary. Plus music from Fenster.

On this episode, we interview a Japanese man who was attacked in Kurfurstendamm. Instead of seeking to punish his assailant, he attempted to offer him a job. In other news, the city government is cracking down on the infamous beer bikes by banning them from all major city streets, except for those leading east to Friedrichshain. Where should Berlin build new bike lanes? You can nominate a deserving street at www.fahrradnetz-berlin.de Plus: a group launches a new program for people riding trains without tickets. It's called Ticketteilen. They are encouraging people to wear a button to indicate if they hold a umweltkarte, which is a kind of yearly travel card that lets you take another person after 8pm or on weekends. Hear this episode with music at radiospaetkauf.com

A special update from Radio Spaetkauf: Opposing the obligatory TV and Radio fee. Have you recently received a letter demanding 18€ per month for your television and radio license, even if you don’t use either service? It seems this has happened to many of us in Berlin over the last few weeks. This contribution towards broadcasting has become mandatory since January 2013 but one group thinks it’s unfair. Hear all about the group “Remote Control” and their campaign “Der Rundfunkbeitrag-Zahlungsstreik” (payment strike). Listen to the update to hear how to oppose the fee and not get yourself caught up in back-payments.

Radio Spaetkauf is Berlin's English-language news and interview podcast. Tonight we bring you an update on the Tempelhof petition intiative: the movement against development on the former airport has gained enough signatures to trigger a referendum, but politicians are stalling by scrutinizing every signature. Clown and sex worker advocate Harvey Rabbit tells us about her upcoming show, Variete Ridiculous, which as well as being a night of great cabaret entertainment, is also a space for the demystification of sex workers. Variete Ridiculous is on Friday January 31 at Keller Neukölln. Joel presents a taste of the kinds of music you can hear at the cabaret night by playing one of his songs live in the studio, an act of shameless self promotion only allowable because Maisie's away tonight.

On the first episode of Radio Spaetkauf for 2014, the Ordnungsamt has introduced a new fine for throwing sneakers over dangling wires or posts. It'll cost you €30 if you're caught. So don't do it, or don't get caught. Other new price hikes for the year include public swimming pools: it now costs €5.50 to take a dip in peak times, which has had its hours inverted. We re-visit the Amt für Werbefreiheit und Gutes Leben, who want all outdoor advertising banned from the city. They've gathered a lot of support, but they had a mixed reaction from their elected politicians. Another citizen's initiative not getting any political support is 100% Tempelhofer Feld, which looks likely to fail in its attempt to prevent development on the old airport site. The initiative has fallen short of the number of required signatures on its petition. The BVG has revealed it employs 120 ticket checkers on the U-Bahn. We're searching for a maths genius to use this number to figure out the likelihood of getting caught without a ticket a

On this week's Radio Spätkauf: Berlin city's scientists have warned Christmas market shoppers to beware of bad glühwein. After testing market stalls, they found 8.6 per cent of mulled wine is not what it purports to be. Jöran Mandik has dispatched his final audio architectural tour (sadly, he's moving to Australia in the new year). He takes us on a walk around the concrete monolith that is the International Congress Centrum, which will close its doors in mid-2014 for renovations, and may never reopen. We play some clips from the archives. Drinkers in a Neukölln pub attempt to define the difference between a döner and a schwarma. Our song of the week is another from Sean Nicholas Savage, a Berlin resident who channels 80s pop icons.

Berlin's fast-rising rents may be slowed by two political developments. The federal coalition between the CDU and SPD has promised to put in new controls on rental prices. Even new rental contracts, which have previously been uncapped, will now be limited to a 10 per cent increase. And on a local level, the Berlin senate has introduced tough new restrictions on the commercial use of apartments for holiday flats. By banning ferienwohnung, the city hopes to release more apartments for residential use. In another positive move for poorly-paid Berliners, the new federal coalition has also agreed to implement a minimum wage of 8.50 EUR an hour. But the wage won't come into effect until 2015, and even when it does it will not be a huge improvement. The Radio Spaetkauf team has another solution - why not start a campaign for a London-style living wage that reflects the real cost of working in the city? Maisie interviews Bo Van, an architect who has created the Unreal Estate House, a temporary mobile construction tha

Good news if you take the U6: as of today the line is reconnected. However users of the north-south S-Bahn line nearby will be disappointed to learn that the tunnel will be closed for most of the rest of the year due to track work. The recent referendum about de-privatizing the Berlin electricity grid was lost by just 20,000 votes. That means the city won't be forced to buy it back. But the fight to get the grid back into the hands of the people isn't over yet. Another initiative, Bürger Energie Berlin, plans to raise enough money to buy the power grid outright. If every Berlin power bill customer chipped in 100 euros, they'd have enough to purchase the grid. A Neukölln bar is set to close, but this time no one is likely to stand up and defend it. The bar in question is Freies Neukölln, whose owner filmed a famously nasty tirade against pretty much everyone who has moved to the neighbourhood in the past ten years. His bar will shut a the end of 2014 after the owner kicked him out. Few tears are expected to be

It's referendum time in Berlin. The city is voting whether to de-privatize the electricity grid, although international residents cannot take part. Another referendum is looming next year, this one about the future of Tempelhof airport park, and whether any building should take place there. A Berlin entrepreneur has come up with a new app that would allow citizens to take photos of badly parked cars and submit them to the city authorities for punishment. The app will be called Straensherif, although Maisie thinks it should be called Stasi 3.0. Joran Mandik takes us on an architectural audio tour of the old Kindl Brauerei in Neukolln, which is now being turned into a cultural center. Joel joins us again, back from a month in Australia and New Zealand, where he heard more German being spoken on the streets than in Kreuzberg.

On this show, we will be playing an interview from a group called, The Truth Booth. Maisie went along to meet them and find out about the project, how it works, the results so far and how it will evolve. See the link for the Truth Booth webpage: www.the-truth-booth.org Our "Short News" this time is regarding a Walter Womacka memorial that's been in Ikea bag storage for the last few weeks but recently has been re-located to Mitte, near Unter Den Linden by the housing association, WBM. Here's a link to Maisie's blog with documentation of the memorial: http://bit.ly/1axI0PK Before signing off... Maisie and Andrew had a chat about a recent video creation by the Goethe Institute of Germany. Not to spoil the surprise, but we don't think it's great.... Take a look for yourself on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1axI6qk Music this week from Phedre (Cold Sunday!) and House of Black Lanterns feat. Leni Ward (Shot You Down) The Spaeti team saw Phedre in a recent gig and found them to be most enjoyable.

On this episode of Radio Spaetkauf, how did your district vote in the election? Hear Andrew and Maisie reveal some pretty expected results. We discover a chance to rent Angela Merkel's old flat in Prenzlaurer Berg, without her old furniture sadly. Maisie talks about a new threat to develop on Tempelhofer Feld and what you can do about it and Andrew is surprised to see a last stretch of the original Autobahn is soon to be closed. Our main audio segment comes from the fantastic Jöran Mandik and another of his Berlin Audio Tours. It's episode 3 - a tour of the Hufeisensiedlung (Horseshoe Estate). Bruno Taut's architectural marvel in Neukölln. You can partake in the 100% Tempelhofer Feld campaign here http://www.thf100.de Music this week from UK band Crystal Fighters who are touring in Berlin next month and Mary Ocher, a Russian born, Berlin resident.

Don't worry, that "Go Home Tourrorists" election poster was only a joke by one of Germany's many satirical parties - although it might have been a viable vote-winner if it were real. The election is over, but one group of Germans wants to reform the voting system by gifting their votes to foreigners. We interview the initiator of the Electoral Rebellion program. Berlin's bumpy bike lanes may get smoothed over after the city government pledged €4 million to improve cycle routes across the city. This comes after Berlin was ranked the 24th most cycle-friendly city in Germany - quite far from the top. What's wrong with this poster? A graphic designer found out that using the German flag on a gig poster can incite unpatriotic Germans to tear the offending symbol down. Maisie share her traumatic story of being fined on the S-Bahn for not having a bike ticket, and Joel pours scorn on Robben & Weintjes, the truck rental company that enjoys blowing smoke in your face. Music by Skiing, who are playing a show at Wes

How desperate are Berliners to find an apartment? On this episode of Radio Spätkauf we discuss a new real estate option for those who can’t find a flat - a one-room bedsit inside a shipping container on the outskirts of the city, for €349 a month. Elections are coming up, so we talk about some terrible posters by the CDU, and an embarrassment for the FDP which used the same stock footage as the NPD. Andrew interviews an artist who uses acid to warp street posters and subvert advertising. Our new regular contributor Jöran Mandik takes us on an architectural audio tour of the Amerika-Gedenk Bibliothek, which has a few surprising secrets: there’s a one-person cinema for watching forbidden films, and a piano room where you can practice your scales.

Görlitzer Park is the feature of this broadcast. One political party, the CDU, think the park has become dangerous and want to close it each night from 11pm to 5am. Another party, the Greens, want to open a Dutch-style marijuana coffee shop in the park. Both plans seem quite different, but have the same goal: to stop drug sales. We discuss how Berlin is turning into a refuge for American political exiles, with the arrival of Jacob Applebaum and other activists escaping the observation state. Also on the show, guest journalist Matthew Tempest interviews author Alan Crawford about Angela Merkel and discovers some surprising facts: on the night the Wall fell, Merkel went to the sauna instead of celebrating.

It’s election time, and Berlin’s streets are full of political posters. We visit a meeting of the Pirate Party to learn more about who they are and what they stand for. If you’re interested, head along to their weekly English-language meetup at a bar in Neukölln. Police have been conducting raids on Görlitzer Park. One organization, Reach Out Berlin, is protesting against the racial nature of the crackdown. You’ve probably noticed the increase in U-Bahn tickets, but get ready for a 30% increase in haircut costs as hairdressers enjoy a new minimum wage of 6.50 EUR an hour. In a new segment, city planning enthusiast Jöran Mandik takes us on an architectural tour of the Akazienhof, a colorful World Heritage Listed development on the south-east edge of Berlin.

All this hot weather making you feel frisky? Fancy some outdoor lovin’? Might be worth losing your job first. We discuss Germany's strange laws regarding outdoor sex. Also on the show: a life sentence for Berlin's celebrity bears Maxi and Schnute, bye- bye Festsaal Kreuzberg, and the Mayor of London's love letter to Berlin. Building officially begins on the city's next BER, the Stadtschloss, plus: dirty lakes, and why the Jewish Memorial wasn't built to last. We talk to the people behind the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien's current show - Wir sind hier nicht zum Spaß! - an exhibition revisiting Berlin's nightlife and culture of the 90's http://www.kunstraumkreuzberg.de/start.html and announce a competition for Berlin's ugliest building. This week's song comes from exotic American songstress, Geneva Jacuzzi.

On this episode of Radio Spätkauf: Can you imagine an advert-free Berlin? The Amt für Werbefreiheit & Gutes Leben can. We talk to them about their campaign to remove advertising from the city's streets. Plus:the mysterious forces at work behind the aborted auction of the Spreepark in Plänterwald, awkward gig venues, Soviet poster boys, kim.com, no more eateries in the Graefekiez & an interview with the folks trying to set up an alternative to GEMA, Germany's main performance rights organisation. All tonight on reboot.fm 11pm and online.....