The Situation In Germany

[angelburst29]

Merkel hints at return to academia after politics

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to suggest on Saturday that she might return to academia at the end of her current term in office, which ends in 2021.

Merkel allies suffer double blow in German regional elections

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners bled support to the far right in two state elections in eastern Germany on Sunday, dealing a double blow to her already unstable ruling alliance.

Buoyed by state votes, Germany's AfD takes aim at Merkel coalition

An emboldened far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) warned Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition partners they could not carry on as before after luring many of their voters to come second in two regional elections in eastern Germany on Sunday.

Merkel allies weather far-right surge in German regional elections

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners held off a surge in far right support in two state elections in eastern Germany on Sunday, averting an immediate crisis for the ruling alliance.

 

[Ca.]

Berlin Seeks to Ease Housing Pressure With $1 Billion ADO Deal
September 27, 2019, 10:24 AM GMT+2
A real-estate company owned by the Berlin government agreed to buy about 6,000 apartments for 920 million euros ($1 billion) from ADO Properties SA, as the administration responds to public outrage over surging rents.

The deal is the largest such purchase by the city in its history, according to housing Senator Katrin Lompscher. The transaction is aimed at securing affordable housing as the administration seeks to freeze rents and counter efforts to force the government to expropriate large landlords.

Read more: Germany’s Biggest Landlord Sounds Alarm Over Berlin Rent Cap

“This serves the purpose of keeping rents in Berlin stable and providing security for the tenants,” Mayor Michael Mueller said in a statement. “‘At the same time, we will continue to build new apartments and make the rent freeze legally secure.”

Property manager Gewobag will buy some subsidiaries of ADO Properties, the municipal company said in a release. The apartments are mainly located in the outer districts of Spandau and Reinickendorf.

“Our first calculations indicate a rather high price for a lesser-quality product,” Jefferies analyst Thomas Rothaeusler said in a note. He estimated the purchase price is roughly 10% above the units’ book value.

ADO Properties’ share price rose as much as 5.6% on Friday and were up 2.4% at 10:21 a.m. in Frankfurt.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1177598889647456259

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1177792643931295749

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1177807143338164229

 

[Ursus Minor]

Merkel says German multiculturalism has failed

POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - Germany’s attempt to create a multicultural society has “utterly failed,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, adding fuel to a debate over immigration and Islam polarizing her conservative camp.

Speaking to a meeting of young members of her Christian Democrats (CDU), Merkel said allowing people of different cultural backgrounds to live side by side without integrating had not worked in a country that is home to some four million Muslims.

“This (multicultural) approach has failed, utterly failed,” Merkel told the meeting in Potsdam, south of Berlin.

Merkel faces pressure from within her CDU to take a tougher line on immigrants who don’t show a willingness to adapt to German society and her comments appeared intended to pacify her critics.

She said too little had been required of immigrants in the past and repeated her usual line that they should learn German in order to get by in school and have opportunities on the labor market.

Don't hold your breath. She will be saying the exact opposite next week.

Angela Merkel's true mission is the controlled demise of Germany. Nation states must be weakened.

“For a few years, more people have been leaving our country than entering it,” she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. “Wherever it is possible, we must lower the entry hurdles for those who bring the country forward.”

The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) says Germany lacks about 400,000 skilled workers.

Yet Horst Seehofer, chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s sister party, has rejected any relaxation of immigration laws and said last week there was no room in Germany for more people from “alien cultures.”

So industrialists will be fishing for skilled workers among those who are entering Germany from "alien cultures".
Never mind that most of them are day laborers from countries with an average IQ between 70 and 80...

Read full article at REUTERS

 

[luc]

The deal is the largest such purchase by the city in its history, according to housing Senator Katrin Lompscher. The transaction is aimed at securing affordable housing as the administration seeks to freeze rents and counter efforts to force the government to expropriate large landlords.

I read somewhere that these apartment buildings that are now "recommunalized" (i.e. bought by the authorities for huge sums of money) were once in public hands, but had been privatized in the 90ies. They were sold to private investors then a LOT cheaper. This has led to comments that this is socialist mismanagement in action. Also, there is this conundrum if the state tries to make rents cheaper in big cities - it never seems to work, and there are massive unintended consequences. I don't think the problem of high rents can be solved this way, really.

 

[etezete]

The rent situation in Germany (and this is not a exclusive city problem, in urban areas it is more or less the same) is really bad and I agree that those measurements like frozen rents, recommunalisation of housing and so on are very likely NOT to solve the problem. Furthermore some institutions do not adapt to the dire situation, eg the employment offices of Germany. People who want to get help from them are forced to move out, if the amount of square meters of the current flat excedes a certain level. The problem hereby is, that for example in my case (it is only an example, I am not out of work) they would force me to move out because the flat is "too big". But for exactely the same rent I would only get a one room apartement (21 squaremeteres) - for two peeps, a dog and two cats it is impossible to live like that for a longer time. So the result might be in many cases of people losing work that they move on to homelessness, which is entirely against the principles of a so called social state in my opinion. If you live in inherited living space, they force you to sell. Why would one take away something that will be helpful for you in your pension time? how is this help in any sense?

 

[Ursus Minor]

So the result might be in many cases of people losing work that they move on to homelessness, which is entirely against the principles of a so called social state in my opinion. If you live in inherited living space, they force you to sell. Why would one take away something that will be helpful for you in your pension time? how is this help in any sense?

Germany's welfare state is on its last legs. I personally wouldn't expect anything to make any sense anymore.
The "authorities" are trying to mend a few things here and there but it will be to no avail.

That's where the recommunilization project comes in. Local politicians in Berlin have only two years until the next election. Buying up housing areas can only be a drop in the bucket to suppress the anger of those who are barely hanging on to make a living.

By the way, a few weeks ago the Berlin city parliament voted for a raise of their monthly allowances by 60%.

No, I'm not making this up: DER TAGESSPIEGEL

 

[angelburst29]

German economy minister falls leaving stage at IT event

Germany's economy minister Peter Altmaier has fallen as he left a stage during an event named Digital Summit inn Dortmund,
Germany, at which he was presenting a European digital cloud project. (AP)

Altmaier, 61, has been Germany’s economy minister since March last year. Peter Altmaier tripped on the steps and appeared to fall head-first as he left the stage after giving a speech at the event in Dortmund.

News agency dpa reported, without naming sources, that Altmaier briefly lost consciousness but came around at the scene. He had a cut on his head and was taken to a hospital for checks.

German minister Altmaier breaks nose in tumble from stage

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier tumbled from the stage at a conference on Tuesday, briefly losing consciousness and suffering a broken nose, cuts and bruises.

German minister Altmaier talking, thanked medics after fall: NTV

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier was briefly unconscious after his tumble from the stage at a conference but is now speaking and was able to thank medics for treating him, broadcaster NTV reported on Tuesday.

Spy chief says right-wing radicalism spreads in Germany

Election campaign posters of several parties, among them (top to bottom) Germany's farright party AfD, the conservative CDU and the left "Die Linke", are fixed along a street in the village of Erlau, eastern Germany, on October 22, 2019. (AFP)

BERLIN: October 29, 2019 - The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said on Tuesday that militant right-wingers were mixing with less radical conservatives, blurring the lines to make extremism more acceptable and harder to detect.

Speaking less than three weeks after a man who had published a racist and anti-Semitic manifesto shot two people near a synagogue in Halle, Thomas Haldenwang added that lone attackers were also an increasing threat.

“The proverbial ‘right wing corner’ which allows for a clear distinction between extremists and the conservative camp, no longer exists,” said President of the BfV domestic intelligence agency Haldenwang in a parliamentary hearing.

“We are increasingly dealing with mixed scenes including people who are open to the right — such as at the demonstrations in Chemnitz in 2018,” he said.

Spy chief says right-wing radicalism spreads in Germany

The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said on Tuesday that militant right-wingers were mixing with less radical conservatives, blurring the lines to make extremism more acceptable and harder to detect.

Germany's SPD members vote on new leader, will decide fate of Merkel's coalition

Germany's Social Democrats are due on Saturday to announce the result of a membership vote on a new leader who will decide whether to exit a loveless coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

German conservative leader faces rebellion after election trouncing

German conservative leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday faced a rebellion by party members angry at a humiliating election result in eastern Thuringia state where the Christian Democrats (CDU) lost voters to both the far left and far right.

Merkel's conservatives descend into infighting after vote rout

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her protege Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer are facing open criticism from fellow conservatives after a state vote rout that threatens to blow open the question of who will run for chancellor in a 2021 election.

Germany's Scholz tops SPD leader vote, but faces run-off

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz came first in a vote to elect a leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) but fell short of a majority, triggering a run-off set to fuel debate over whether to stay in government with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Russia's Putin, Germany's Merkel discuss Syria, gas transit: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Syria and the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine by phone, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Former foreign minister Gabriel to head German auto lobby - paper

Former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has been tapped to become the head of Germany's car industry lobby, installing a politician from the state that is home to Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> in the influential post, Bild am Sonntag reported.

German foreign minister says hopes resignation of Lebanese PM will not undermine stability

Germany hopes the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri will not undermine the country's stability, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday.

PM Hariri resigns as Lebanon crisis turns violent

Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanon's prime minister on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against the ruling elite and plunging the country deeper into turmoil.

Germany charges two Syrians with crimes against humanity
German prosecutors have charged two Syrians with crimes against humanity that include torturing and killing opposition activists, setting the stage for the first trial of suspected members of President Bashar al-Assad's feared security service.

 

[axj]

Merkel says German multiculturalism has failed

She actually said this back in 2010, but for some reason several major news outlets misreported recently that she just said that. Strange, to say the least.

 

[Cosmos]

My post didn't expect an answer about Merkel's disease, it was a rant against mainstream medecine
Anyways, I totally agree with what you posted.

By now we saw at least three occasions where Merkel was seen to have a serious (let's call it) seizure in front of the cameras. As far as I remember, two cases happened during the time the german national anthem was playing or was just finishing.

Now Merkel was visiting Auschwitz for the first time and had what looks like a loss of spacial awareness by loosing her balance.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1202937002913611777

This time in can hardly be blamed on "hot weather". I would say the closest approximation on what might be going on with her could maybe be summarized by paraphrasing the C's:

"Lies take their toll on the body and especially the brain"

 

[Ursus Minor]

Now Merkel was visiting Auschwitz for the first time* and had what looks like a loss of spacial awareness by loosing her balance.

This time in can hardly be blamed on "hot weather". I would say the closest approximation on what might be going on with her could maybe be summarized by paraphrasing the C's:
"Lies take their toll on the body and especially the brain"

* She's actually been there in 2005.
If you want a top job in German politics you have to have made visits to Israel and Auschwitz.


There might be a simple explanation for Merkel losing her balance:
Our planet actually wobbles a bit when it spins.
So she might have felt the earth moving under her feet.

A more serious explanation might be multiple sclerosis.
Some neurologists call it the "disease of the thousand faces"...

 

[Ursus Minor]

This is a little gem that I found at Jugendopposition.de .

Communists and Nazis may have been at loggerheads for power at the end of the Weimar Republic in Germany but their understanding of democracy had probably never been wide apart.
Just look at this regional communist leader trying to entice former Nazi party members who joined Hitler "out of conviction and idealism!"

Transcript

written in the run-up to the Thuringia state elections in October 1946
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Party comrade,

the SED* is calling you to help rebuild Germany!
(* "Socialist Unity Party" of East Germany)

We're calling you if you did not join the NSDAP** for material or egoistic reasons but out of conviction and idealism,
if you joined them in the belief to find what is good, socialism. Then come to us!
(* "National-Socialist Workers Party of Germany")

What Hitler promised you and never kept, the SED will give you:

Nationalization of banks, the breaking of interest bondage, smashing of trusts and corporations, abolition of education privileges, equal rights for all workers, land reform, the protection of peaceful development and peace -
the SED has achieved it!

If you followed Hitler to serve Germany, then you are our man. Because the SED is the only party that consistently stands up for a unified and great Germany, for a Germany of peace and work.

If you want to help building such a Germany,
vote List 1!

SED
Sonneberg district chapter
Klaus Bunzel
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[etezete]

This is a little gem that I found at Jugendopposition.de .

Communists and Nazis may have been at loggerheads for power at the end of the Weimar Republic in Germany but their understanding of democracy had probably never been wide apart.
Just look at this regional communist leader trying to entice former Nazi party members who joined Hitler "out of conviction and idealism!"

Transcript

written in the run-up to the Thuringia state elections in October 1946
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Party comrade,

the SED* is calling you to help rebuild Germany!
(* "Socialist Unity Party" of East Germany)

We're calling you if you did not join the NSDAP** for material or egoistic reasons but out of conviction and idealism,
if you joined them in the belief to find what is good, socialism. Then come to us!
(* "National-Socialist Workers Party of Germany")

What Hitler promised you and never kept, the SED will give you:

Nationalization of banks, the breaking of interest bondage, smashing of trusts and corporations, abolition of education privileges, equal rights for all workers, land reform, the protection of peaceful development and peace -
the SED has achieved it!

If you followed Hitler to serve Germany, then you are our man. Because the SED is the only party that consistently stands up for a unified and great Germany, for a Germany of peace and work.

If you want to help building such a Germany,
vote List 1!

SED
Sonneberg district chapter
Klaus Bunzel
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

thank you Ursus Minor, this is truly a gem!

 

[Gawan]

On Sunday the 26th of September is the next election in Germany for a new chancellor. Angela Merkel will not run for another office and so far we have the pretty young Annalena Baerbock (40 years) from the Greens, Armin Laschet from the Union, Christian Lindner from the Liberals (also relatively young) and Olaf Scholz from the Social Party. The other candidates are not fixed yet as far as I know.

So far I didn't get involved that much in the candidates but imo it could be a combination of the Greens and the Union in the end. Most likely I won't vote myself but will hopefully enjoy the show as much as possible. Because before the elections there is much talk what politicians want to do and once they get into office things will change, most likely due to pressure and possibly of men behind the curtain.

 

[ROEL]

That public position is just another one (important, though) manipulated by the master puppeteers. Just a change so all stays the same.

 

[Ursus Minor]

On Sunday the 26th of September is the next election in Germany for a new chancellor. Angela Merkel will not run for another office and so far we have the pretty young Annalena Baerbock (40 years) from the Greens, Armin Laschet from the Union, Christian Lindner from the Liberals (also relatively young) and Olaf Scholz from the Social Party. The other candidates are not fixed yet as far as I know.

So far I didn't get involved that much in the candidates but imo it could be a combination of the Greens and the Union in the end. Most likely I won't vote myself but will hopefully enjoy the show as much as possible. Because before the elections there is much talk what politicians want to do and once they get into office things will change, most likely due to pressure and possibly of men behind the curtain.

I would recommend discussing the upcoming federal elections in Germany in a thread like The Situation in Germany since the 'Other Languages' (Deutsch) section is not actually about current affairs and we wouldn't be discussing the elections in German, I think...