I came to Berlin for a job in a startup. No professionals, just some average bit entreprenorial darlings that think they're hot shots. Not generalising, but most of the startups are bullshit. A lame ripoff and stolen ideas brought to this Sillicon Valley wannabe city. Also, the angel investors are the new gamblers. I cannot believe that people are funding crap ideas and execution without being infected with some sort of microbe. Also, "everyone is unique, just like everyone else" seems to be the best way to describe Berliners. Same style, same artsy fartsy concept. Overly vegan, overly feminist, overly gay, overly cool. Everyone is trying to find themselves & shit. I am still giving it a chance for now... let's see. If not going back to EasternEurope, man. They're genuine there!
Came here for the hate. Thank you
Your LOL does not make sense, because that is exactly what "genuine" in this context means. There is no migration background in the past 20 years in that part of Europe I was talking about. Conclusion drawn according your statement.
Try again and LOL back later when you make sense on the topic. Cheers!
You stated "genuin" as a thing you like in other (eastern Europe) cities. If you wanted to find authenticity, Berlin is the worst city in Europe for this. Not only because of the Fall of the Wall and the last 20 years, also the history before, starting with the Gruenderzeit in the mid 19th century. In the mid 19th century the population of Berlin doubled within 20 years and 4-fold until 1900. Only 40% of population in late 18th century was born in Berlin, similar to the situation now. Than the WWII and the cold war. A place of continuously change and challenging developments.
With the start-up scene you are right. Overrated and pampered by politics. Maybe also typical of Berlin...
That sounds about right now. I assume it was misunderstood in the first place as I meant exactly what you explained now. No people "authenticity" here... only a bunch of "liberated free spirits" that militate for a "fast-forward" thinking. Try to go in a club and ask people to piss on you like in Berghain somewhere in EE. They will "fast forward think" the poop out of you until you find Jesus again. Exagerrating now, but maybe it's a more sane not to leave everyone exercit they dark deep desires in society under the Berlin label of liberation. My ass!
Honestly the concept and definition of Migrationshintergrund is just thinly veiled propaganda the left can use to talk about how diverse Germany is and how hard working "foreigners" are while the right uses it to lament about crime and unemployment statistics (people with Migrationshintergrund also get to fill out a nice, lengthy questionnaire from the job center if they ever collect ALG1). It includes everyone who has at least one parent who wasn't born in this trash hole. Even if one of their parents, whom they have never even met, moved to Germany from Austria when he or she was three years old. Really strange of destatis to collect statistics like that, especially with the much espoused free movement of people. But we all know you can never become a German, even if you literally become a German (through naturalization).
I need no definition of "Migrationshintergrund". Enough, when in my - ok, fancy, not poor and very popular - neigborhood I am hearing lots of more languages than German. It is not about statistics, it is about daily life and personal interaction - and this suckz in Berlin..
Yeah, no matter how you use the term Migrationshintergrund it ends up really discriminating. For instance - at the university, you have this standard phrase for applications for student jobs, that people with MH are favored, especially women. In a way, Mh sounds like being disabled. What about the competences of the applicant?
Do not, whatever you do, give Berlin a chance, pack your bags and run away as fast as you can. Berlin is a psychopathic lover who keeps dragging you back with empty promises, she will take away your self respect, your money, your optimism and positivity, run, NOW, don't stay, because you WILL regret it. In five years time you'll look back as say to yourself "WTF was that all about".
Just reposting this incase anyone had forgotten or missed it that wants to come!
Lets meet at www.happycow.net/reviews/bamerang-berlin-75888 tonight and have a chinwag. It's a very friendly bar/cafe near EberswalderStr U2. Let's say, between 7.30-8.30 start.
We can know each other by placing a piece of fruit on the table, apple, banana, orange etc
what the hell is this
www.iheartberlin.de/de/2017/02/15/berlin-%E2%80%93-a-portraits-in-words/
This comment from that page is so bad:
Berlin is my hometown and growing up in this city really shapes who you are as a person. I lived in many different places like Melbourne, New York or Mexico City and none of these places touched my heart as much as Berlin did. I always thought it is because it is home and I would never love another city like I love my place of birth but reading this article and the comments shows me that my love for Berlin is not only feeling home but really feeling the character of Berlin.
Notice all of the comments are from people from less developed countries like Egypt and other places in Africa and they all say they were just there for a brief time. Even the person who posted the article was only there for a few months and judging from the photos, looks like it was probably last summer. There's a lot to dislike living there long term, but in the short time, it's not surprising people like it (unless they came during the winter), but this is true for many cities.
my first time visiting germany, trying to appreciate that Leitkultur:
"oh wow, it's so cool and down-to-earth how the women in the bakeries just touch all of the good with their bare hands but keep up this pseudo-distance and will not directly take your money but instead make you put it in a dish"
well there are some people who like berlin and think it offers oh so much, because for them, it does. for others it's a poop hole. I have a friend who admires all the super ugly buildings and the broken poop and the dirt and all, and who takes all kind of courses and goes to all kind of parties. She loves Berlin and somehow manages to stay positive here. I don't care for all of this crap and hate Berlin.
What do I hate about Berlin, firstly and mostly, the pseudo anarchists who are the biggest conformists and rule makers of all :o))))))) They are a total joke they are. What a miserable bunch. I'll stick to capitalism thanks, if that's the best alternative you brain-dead morons have to offer.
Don't let them define your beliefs. The ones you can identify are more a subculture and you're right about having to fit their image and attitude to be accepted. There are probably many more who believe in more decentralized decision making but don't strongly align as "anarchist" and don't advertise their beliefs in their appearance. You would never know unless you had a deep political discussion with them and they trusted you.
Just think about humans outside of current civilization, which is a very tiny spec in our history. We evolved making decisions as needed in groups. The top down structure we live under now is not at all in tune with how we evolved, which is why there is so much political and related tensions. If we made decisions as needed without interference and political parties, we wouldn't be talking about people as "far right", "leftists", "anarchists", etc. Of course, there will always be disagreements and wrong choices can be made, but that still happens the way things are now and the division among people is far beyond that.
www.zeit.de/video/2016-07/5048920154001/besserwisserei-das-ist-aber-der-fahrradweg - a good article to add comments.
I could maybe slowly adapt to the grey dreary weather, the psychopathic German psyche with it’s ww1/nazi/ww2 and communism hang ups, while slowly dying inside over the years. But when you add the international hipster crowd to the mix, it just becomes too much to tolerate. I can’t deal with both alcoholic xenophobic schizoid middle aged/old Germans and also young international hipsters pretending to be poor and/or creative because they enjoy the gritty ambiance/degeneracy of Berlin.
Think of the douchiest, most pretentious hipsters and fake creative types in Brooklyn, London, Paris, San Francisco, etc and transport them to Berlin. I’m talking about THE most annoying of the annoying. Make them even more pretentious and annoying by giving them a "new city" to use as their hipster playground, since they seem to think they are special for living in Berlin. Make them yet somehow even more annoying, by having them either constantly complain about gentrification/rising rents (which they somehow think they are not a part of) and/or about how cheap Berlin is. They have such little self-awareness, they can't see that the Germans despise them. Especially the working class Germans in poor areas such as in Neukolln. You can see Germans nearly spitting on them as they pass them by on the street in Neukolln. Even the Turks in Kreuzberg look like they want to spit on them, yet the hipsters either ignore it or have such little self-awareness, they cannot see how unwanted they are in the neighborhoods they take over. These hipsters are typically far left types yet they think the poverty in Berlin is just fashion/part of the ambiance of Berlin. Many of them have never had a real job or worked a day in their lives.
I think anyone who stays in Berlin is either a) a German who doesn’t know any better and since infancy they have been trained to be an obedient, robotic, soulless German who can never think for themselves, so it’s no problem for them b) a brain dead, soulless hipster who never had a mind or a soul to lose or c) someone who once did have a brain and soul but they lost both slowly, after living in Berlin for years.
Random but wanted to add:
If you want to “test” how robotic, obedient minded etc Germans are, ask them about the EU. Almost all of them think the EU is basically god, and anyone criticizing the EU is immediately viewed with extreme suspicion. Ready to call you a nationalist, fascist and so on. i’m not even talking about discussing the UK leaving the EU or other countries leaving etc. I’m just talking about being critical of the EU and it’s policies. Even for that, they cannot have a discussion or talk openly about it. They have a very scary totalitarian type mentality which has now spread all over Europe because the EU keeps expanding and let’s face it- the EU *is* Germany/is a vehicle for Germany. I do think there is a possibility Germany will cause another huge war or even WW3. Keeping so many countries in an undemocratic union against their will, when they are economically and socially suffering, will not have a good end result. Germans will NEVER learn from their history.
this city is full of pretensious swamp. every single person especially the hipsters are full of themselves. You are not a unique and special snowflake. Your talent is 1/1000 of your ego. You are not hot and fashionable. It is pathetically obvious that you look like any other Berliner. Your tastes are outdated and repeated. You are not cutting edge nor edgy. You are pathetic boring mindless arrogant herdish swamp.
all of you berliners and germans are a copy of a copy of hateful arrogant swine.
This is an issue for people in every big city, but even in some of them, if you're deep into it, you can still feel you're in a special club. I think people like that are already desperate for attention, so moving to Berlin is a bad idea. You can't instantly find friends due to not being like the normal masses when so many others are just as edgy or even more so. The ones you think are like you see you as an outsider since they were there before you and that's all they really have to distinguish themselves. If you're that type of person who needs to feel special just by how you look and the fact you're into art and certain music, I suggest moving to a smaller or non-western city.
Always difficult, when you were the most flashy and funky person and one-of-a-kind in your provinicial town, and after moving to Berlin, you are only one of many. In combination with a economic precarious situation, it is mental depressing. And you start to hate Berlin. Better hate yourself!
i am into art and being edgy. i just in general hate pretencious fcks like you.
i prefer being around people who don't try so hard to be special. fck u for making assumptions about me and telling me that berlin is too good for me.
please go kill yourself.
*not into art and trying to be edgy.
In addition, I really hate cold arrogant sjw who color their hair in unicorn colors, wear tons of tattoos, survive on nicotine, club mate speed and mdma is not the epitome of creativity and coolness. most of the youth here is brain dead trend followers without genuine personality and humanity. Boring unicorn fcks.
"This is an issue for people in every big city, but even in some of them, if you're deep into it, you can still feel you're in a special club. I think people like that are already desperate for attention, so moving to Berlin is a bad idea. You can't instantly find friends due to not being like the normal masses when so many others are just as edgy or even more so. The ones you think are like you see you as an outsider since they were there before you and that's all they really have to distinguish themselves. If you're that type of person who needs to feel special just by how you look and the fact you're into art and certain music, I suggest moving to a smaller or non-western city."
Clearly this person hasn't spent much time in a real city. Most of the so called "creatives" in Berlin all dress, look, act and are the same. There is very little diversity in appearance/personality/style/etc. Must be a German, since they seem to think Berlin qualifies as a big city and thinks Berliners are edgy.
Germans simply live in harmony with nature. They exress anger like nature exresses thunder. This way there is always sunshine and fresh air around. They don't have to bite back with their anger, they know it gotto be purely expressed. Cause what would be the point of trying to cause harm with it when the pure expression does everything and when causing harm does actually bias such expression. I mean they're not stupid, to cause bad karma, atst they don't try to be perfectionistic about it cause it is what it is. Really common sense people.
Just that often it also matters the perception. When instead of anger there would be then relief. Or lets say through expression often comes change of perception. I mean accumulated anger we tend to put places it not really belongs. And we might still do things we regret afterwards. So in this sense i think i didn't make a good point with this metapher. I also don't think anymore the world is full of morons, i know for sure that's not really it. You know some thoughts...I don't really have an opinion on it.
I'm from Paris and i wanted to escape the grumpiness/rudness/awefulness of Parisians by moving to Berlin. What a joke. I started to come here twice a year, all seasons to see if i could move here. As i saw people less worse than Parisians(and less expensive obviously, because the life in Paris is as pooping as here, but in a different style), i moved here.
My first 2 months were great (even if it was in January), i found the next week i arrived, a beautiful wg/flat on Rosenthalerstr, with an adorable berliner girl (there is some exceptions) who is the nicest/joyful berliner i've ever met, so i thought yeaah Berliners are the most amazing people! Then in the same week i found an amazing job in an expat brand working with only expat people, i'm still working there, and this place is my little heaven of everything-except-german place. I love to go to work.
The whole "holy poop this place is a nightmare" popped up out of my head, when a night i had a dinner with 2 spanish guys i met the day before, this night, i felt so happy, so much warm, joyful and i had an amazing time with these two guys, and after the diner that's when i realized that this feeling was almost sucked out of my soul by these grumpy/evil Berliners.
From this day im counting the days till i'm escaping this hell. I'm only sad about leaving my work, because i love my job, i'm lucky to work in a so chill and creative,optimistic and happy environnement with super cool people, without that i would become a soulless berliner!
When i arrived here i was optimistic, joyful, wanted to integrate with germans, started to meet german people, they all have now disappeared from my life (their friendship was fake obviously), i hate taking the u8 to go to work everyday, having 10 same beggars a day asking me money for their fix or booze. Dealing with grumpy people everywhere, cold as ice, and this fake "creativity" with pooping art everywhere. I love culture, books, architecture and arts in general coming from this background, and all i can say is here it's only pooping galleries or "conceptual aweful exhibitions" or this ugly TASCHELES which is above ugliness and hopefully doesn't exist anymore. I also can't stand the dirtyness of this place, it's dirtier in Paris so i let you imagine my city...
This place is a joke only for loosers and lost souls.
I'm a person full of joy, optimistic, beyond happiness, friendly, nice, clean and extremely polite to people, really open minded and open in general, i love meeting new people, i have ambitions and projects in life, have a large background and studies, i'm curious and love cultivate myself with a bunch of books, documentaries, travels and so on, this place is not for people like us. i repeat. THIS . PLACE. IS .NOT. FOR. US. AT.ALL.
An advice still, if you need to stay in Berlin while waiting to escape this place:
-only stick with expats
-avoid germans the most that you can
-stay at home with nice books/movies/wine
-keep treating yourself right
-do diners at home with expats
-think about the fact that you could be in place much worse than that (even if it looks like the bottom of hell)
-and do not give a fornicate about everything beside your own happiness, to save your soul from this doomed place
And what about doing a Berlinhater hangout somewhere someday? I would love to meet my fellow berlinhater like me :)
We gonna survive this place till we escape, we must stay strong!!!
because i think first, a lot of berliners/germans speak french, i don't know why, but it seems that a lot of berliners learned french at school when they were younger,(half of my berliner friends speak french) maybe germans in general? i was last week in munich and a lot of munichers tends to speak french too, so it might be the reason, but it's just for practicing their french that they talk to us nicely sometimes... and i know that french people tend to stay discreet and low profile in the city (speaking of partying all broken up in the streets for exemple), so maybe that's why germans tolerate us more than other countries... French people tend to have a behavior a little bit close to germans for the "what people gonna think of me" for everything, so they know how to fond in the berliner mass... it's just suppositions, except that i don't see the reasons...
and i'm still treated as sh*t most of the time (not everytime) when i'm talking to every german i meet
mon ami francaise, my nephew travelled to Paris on school vacation and said it was hell, dirty, stinky, refugees sleeping in the streets, but Berlin "en solidarite" also is dirty, main thing in Berlin is to find a girlfriend who is 25 years older then you a la Macrone!
Paris is now an aweful place to live, i can confirm it, people are stressed, robots, angry and grumpy all day, the city is dangerous, dirty, the subway is aweful, and people are judging you 24/7...not future and and it's expensive...so yes much worse than Berlin
Agree Paris is worse to live in these days. Other French cities are much nicer, but Paris is like the worst traits of London and New York x 100 plus rampant petty crime like Barcelona. No fan of the far right, but it's not surprising Le Pen is so popular lately.
Great post. Let's meet at www.happycow.net/reviews/bamerang-berlin-75888 this Thursday night and have a chinwag. It's a very friendly bar/cafe near EberswalderStr U2. Let's say, between 7.30-8.30 start.
We can know each other by placing a piece of fruit on the table, apple, banana, orange etc. Unless someone has a better idea. I too came here as a positive, happy, optimistic person, and now I find myself lost into some kind of Berlin hell, and have to to take holidays often to remind myself of who i really am. Germans hate anyone wit a spark of life and joyfulness for the sake of it.
i am finallly out out of Berlin , like many here , i questioned my sanity there , i thought" perhaps its ME ??? perhaps what i think and feel about this place is all in my mind ??? perhaps .,,the problem is me ???? ..
but i can say now clearly ,,,after hopping about in 8 other countries ,No ,,the problem was not me ,it truely ,was Berlin ,,,,what a magnificent city :) I really dont think there is anywhere like it ,
The city itself is great ,BUT the people ???
my God ,
it truely is the lowest level of human depravity ,
like something you see in a film
or you read in a book
some post apocalyptic nightmare
Which for visiting
is Fantastic ,,,kos its sooooooooooo different to every other place uv ever been ,so it feel slike ur in some strange movie ,
so toursits come and pass through this wonderful illusion ,,
and it must feel great :)
but living there ???????
wow :)
i think i will bear the scars for years ,
to this day ,,,
i am shocked and horrified by the ill human behaviour i have seen ,experienced ,been part of ,been a victim of ,
i truely cant believe that a place like this exists ,
the incredibly ,deluded ,low level ,spiritless ,,,heartless ,faithless ,meaningless existence there ??
i can at this point ,
ONLY feel sorry
for the victims who live there ,
and tell themselves every day ,
that is all GOOD :)
and sincerely believe they are in some kind of paradise ~@?
and truely believe they have found heaven ???
while never looking in the mirror ???
and watching whats happening inside of them ?
never looking at their real self ?
never self reflecting ???
never questioning what they are doing ??
just simply " riding the wave"! :)
having a @ magic time @ ,,,,in the greatest city in the world ,,????????????? so FREE ?????? :) ,,,,,so OPENMINDED ????:) ,,,,,Ha :) ,,,,,,,,,
wHAT A JOKE ??
is there anything more depre3ssing than watching the enslaved bragging about their freedom ???
is there anything more amusing than watching a brainwashed idiot boast about his liberty and opendmindedness ???
its beyond belief :) ,,,
somebody form this site or somewhere should really make a documentary on this town ,,
there are lots of other documentaries on the net about cults,,the power of cult teachings ,the enslavement of cult members ,and the final results of being part of a cult mentality ,
Some poor sucker who is arriving tomorrow to live in the magic BERLIN ,, perhaps might learn a thing or two about the place ,before he lays his path to a destiny of doom ,gloom ,madness ,poverty ,spiritually and emotionally ,,,
there ya go :)
ps,,dont bother analysing my diction ,English ,or points ,,
this is a site to vent ur frustrations with a place ,
anyone who believes their criticisms of a post ,or correcting a grammar mistake ,has any relevance to the writer ,
is clearly as deluded ,
as the victims one meets in Berlin are ,,:) GOOD LUCK YOU ALL ,there is peace out there ,just not in Berlin :)
Look forward to a new generation of boringly bland Berliners:
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/the-toy-free-kindergarten/520905
I totally agree that they need to reorganize childhood education in Germany but not by taking away toys. What a bunch of nut cases. The goal should be to prevent more automatons and blind rule followers. Allow them to compete, teach them to see things from other viewpoints and help out the weak from a standpoint of compassion.
To be born here is reason enough to hate this god darn place.
Yes! Thanks again for this entry, it is a very good assessment of the situation in this place which I refuse to call a city. More, please!
I think Maria would like these women (scroll to second story) kookykimbo.tumblr.com
Here is the best line ever from Maria's post below, actually, it's all brilliant:
Politics - mostly they are deranged wannabe anarchist pseudo leftist types who think they are “free" while being dependent on the German government, alcohol and drugs. Lots of SJW, 5th wave feminist type of brain damaged morons who find Berlin to be a mecca for their ilk.