The Pros and Cons of living in Berlin
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
- Considering living in Berlin? These are my biggest pros and cons of living in Germany's capital.
Vlog channel / evanedinger
Thank you so much for watching! Hope you enjoyed it!
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Liveliness
2:47 - Price
3:48 - Coffee
4:22 - Sundays
5:23 - The Dirt
6:51 - The Art
7:42 - The Graffiti
9:06 - Safety
9:30 - Fashionable
9:43 - The Bread
11:16 - The Food
11:58 - Cash Only!
12:41 - Public Transit
14:35 - Smoking
15:49 - Berliner Schnauze
16:24 - The Nightlife
17:06 - The Healthcare
18:07 - The Taxes
19:05 - What You Get with your Taxes
19:35 - Winter kommt
20:32 - Diversity
20:40 - Conclusion
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Yes it’s the Londoner in you that finds renting in Berlin affordable. What you’re paying for one room should be the price for a whole flat. Please be careful with statements like this as this is exactly one of the reasons why rents went up in Berlin - it’s affordable for people outside of Germany who are used to paying £2k in rent but it is not affordable for the people living here.
no, rents went up because the stupid left wings blocked building all the time and even made depts about 4 billion euro to take out a few blocks from the private market - instead of building with the same money 15000 new appartements. another reason are different mistakes (most are also from left wings. exiting nuclear energy which Germany was once nr. 1 in in the world raised EXTREMELY the energy costs (and forced now from the same stupid ppl to use more fossile like coal or gas) and damages now all the time everything, construction, industry, every little shop, everyone. other mistakes are too many rules which added over the 20. century (not just a Berlin problem but in many parts of the Western world) which makes now the structures/buroucracy in general very reluctant to fast solutions. there are also many other (mostly by left wing mistakes) things like unnecessary limiting new investments, makinng building/constructions much more expensive than necessary and so on. problems all German (and many other Western countries) share. in the 19./20. century many city structures and limits were made and over time ppl got used to it. but instead of expanding to greater areas to make in general construction/city planning/infrastructure from the point of speed much faster, now too many different players/institutions/communities/regions fight for everything which just costs time, raises the costs ,create permanently inefficient results and so on. and btw., also the most urgly way to construct a city is also based on left wing ideologies (Plattenbau, Gartenstadt Mist) instead of like Prussians did the BEST structures of the world, Gruenderzeitstructures with wide streets with enough space for cafes/shops, pedestrian, bike lanes, trees/alleys and cars and at the same time block-at-block urban building. instead left wing always try to build the worse of all: single banlieu-plattenbau/-communist like structures with dead pseudo green. they always oppose the MOST attractive city building, because they are to stupid to get that fighting beautiful houses does NOT mean fighting feudalism anymore (was stupid anyway ever to think that). other ones who followed those ideologies are not better btw... because now most are intellectually not able to get that there could and should be NEW Kreuzbergs, Prenzlauer Bergs, Friedrichhains, Charlottenburgs be build combined with modern constructions and skyscrapers - and NOT getting lower if outside of the city but CONTINUE with a true urban construction (which also creates much more density to make public transit more cost efficient). most Germans are even to stupid to get that intellectually - not getting that we are sitting now on the structures the old Prussians made while not being able to do the same (with the technology of the 21 .century) right now as well, beacuse its the best city planning in the planet (combined with new s-bahn-rings and so on).
Macht mich richtig aggressiv der Typ. Der lebt auch nur im Prenzlauer Berg und denkt, ganz Berlin sieht so aus
Berliners earn a fraction of Londoners.
Agree Berlin is expensive ... don't know how he can say that lol
Well prices are relative. As a foreigner I have different expectations for prices (just for comparison, back in my home country I earned like 400 euro per month, now in Germany around 2k)
Something I would add on the con list is how hard it is to find an apartment in Berlin. There may be affordable rents, but that doesn't mean much if you can't find somewhere to live
It’s AWFUL to find a place atm! There are WhatsApp groups and wait lists everywhere.
Which is pretty much a world wide problem I believe (I've seen similar comments about America, Europe, Asia, Africa), rising prices and hard to get a home.
Totally. It isn’t affordable most of the time though.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen, Ebay, Immoscout…
I heard it's because most people who own rentals have turned them into air bnb's because it's much more lucrative.
It's really interesting how different we consider living in Berlin to be, purely based on prices for apartments or rooms in a shared flat. As a university student in a smaller city in Germany I could *never* live in Berlin and study there, because the rent prices are so ridiculously high. The rent my roommate and I pay for our three-room flat is less than the rent for many rooms in shared flats in Berlin. It's crazy.
rent is pretty high in Berlin these days. If you want your own apartment in a good neighborhood you're looking at 2k or more. And then good luck actually finding anything.
@@nicktankard1244still hella cheaper than Ireland
@@sams3015 yeah I’ve heard that Dublin is insane. Still Berlin is not cheap. I’d say it’s various degrees of unaffordable. You have to make 6 figures to live comfortably in Berlin these days
@@nicktankard1244 I think 6 figures is an exaggeration, but it is very hard for newcomers to find any apartment, let alone an affordable one, on an average Berlin salary. I don't know anybody with a 6-figure salary here, and many of us live comfortably, but we have old leases.
@@berlinorama I know several people with 6 figures salaries there. Salaries in tech went up a lot in the last couple of years. I was making 75k when I left and now the same position is 90k easy. Many of my friends who stayed make 100-120k But apartments went from 1300 to almost 2k as well. It’s all relative ofc and depends on your definition of “living comfortably”.
I was born and raised in Berlin but had to move to Bavaria for a job for a few years. When I started to miss all the chaos, dirt, the mouldy smell of ubahn stations and even the grumpy bus drivers I knew I had to go back home 😂
If you also miss construction sites 24/7 and noise you can come to Cologne 😄
omg same here❤ moved back to B after 3 years in Bavaria
As an "ur-berliner" who lived the first 35 years of his life in this city, it's interesting how different your view on Berlin is. I disagree with many points made because I think they are heavily influenced by the district you are living in, while the Berlin experience is quite different depending on where you live. Also, Berlin doesn't end at the S-Bahn Ring, as many newcomers believe (not you of course). ;) I totally agree on its ugliness, dirt, and the best Döners in the world though. I have been living in Vienna for a few years now, and the Berliner Döner is one of the few things that I'm regularly missing about Berlin. :)
Where did you move to if you don’t mind me asking? I lived in Berlin when I was 32-35 and then moved to Canada. I miss it a lot
PS Absolutely agree on different neighborhoods in Berlin being almost like their own mini cities. Some parts of Berlin are not even that dirty and quite chill. It’s a huge city
I ended up first living in Halensee, and then moved to way off past the Weißensee, it was either a 10 minute walk, or a 2 stop bus ride to get to the M4, so it was actually pretty inconvenient to get anywhere. And the only restaurant in walking distance was a Dönerladen, which at least was something. Later during my marriage separation, I was staying near Karl Marx Allee, which put me again in walking distance to restaurants, which was nice.
Living outside the ring though was quite an experience, but also one I would have rather avoided. Same as you, so many of these points, I’m just like, “heh?” But I do miss the Döner now here in Nürnberg area. Sure, the bread is fresh baked, and the meat is of a higher quality… but man… it’s just not the same. 😂
@@puellanivis I moved to Vienna a few years ago. I feel you Döner-Bro! 🥲
@@puellanivis You lived outside of the ring on the wrong side: the southwest of the S Bahn Ring includes Grunewald and Wannsee, where the really big mansions are. I lived in a Studentendorf in Schlachtensee, also a very posh area. Very quiet, green. But you can hop on a bus or U/S Bahn and be in Steglitz or Wittenbergplatz really quick.
True, next to bread I miss Currywurst and Döner. Abgesehen davon ehrlich gesagt nicht so viel, ich bin froh das ich vor 13 Jahren aus Zehlendorf geflüchtet bin, erst nach NZ dann nach NL.
Getting an affordable flat in Berlin has become absolutely impossible. All the screenshots you present are flats well outside of Berlin or in shitty neighborhoods. Only way you're paying a reasonable or cheap price is if you've been living in the same place for more than 10 years. Moving to Berlin now if you're not in the top 10% of earners will likely mean moving from a flat share to flat share, not being able to get an Anmeldung in any of them.
Exactly. I was looking at those prices and went "what? really? where?". In Fhain where he stayed a good 1bd flat is at least 1500 these days and almost impossible to actually get anyway. Especailly if you're not German.
100% true! Most newcomers move every couple of months in the first two years or so nowadays, and it is so hard to organize your life if you can't officially register your address, which most sublets don't allow you to do. Plus the masses of housing scammers preying on folks desperately seeking a place to live. People are already leaving the city because it is so hard to find a flat or even a long-term room. The population has risen by almost 150,000 in the past 5 years and they have built very little new housing, almost none of it affordable for ordinary mortals. I say this as somebody who has lived here over 40 years and loves Berlin.
True, only way is if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone licing there for a few decades already. Or find a boyfriend/GF in within a few months without anmeldung
It doesn't seem bad to me at all, but I'm used to American rent 💀 considering taking a job in Berlin
I lived in a very small farming community in Germany for 2 years. (Who wants a US Army missile base next to a city?) I loved it. I've never had good bread since leaving (40+ years ago). My walk from my apartment to work took me out of castle gates & over a moat, passed the "new" bakery (est. 1387), through Roman ruins, along WW 1 & 2 fortifications. I had just graduated with a dual degree in history and anthropology. I had died and gone to heaven. Thanks for the reminder about how nice Germany can be to live in.
the base is most likely a relict from WW2, so not really that the community wanted it....
@hicrhodushicsalta4382 The community was welcoming enough. My wife and I were the only Americans living in town, and they went out of their way to invite us into their homes and events.
As a German I always thought, that Berlin is not that cheap. It probably isn't if you compare it to smaller citys.
But right now I live in Munich & I pay the exact same price as this whole apartment costs, just for a tiny room & need to live with roommates. That is crazy to me.
Probably my own fault for finding a job in the most expensive city in Germany.😅
Well, the price he mentioned is referring to a single room, not the apartment. The average price for a WG room in Berlin is 650€ nowadays. So, yes, compared to London, really cheap… but within Germany, it‘s definitely one of the priciest.
The culture shock I've had when I travelled from Germany to the uk and see the shops label toast as bread. THAT'S NOT BREAD!
jjjajajajajaja
"toast" is a condition of bread. We have bad bread and ok bread and you can make toast out of either of them.
@@timmurphy5541 how do you make toast out of bread-?
@koschmx yea, but Toastbrot isn't Brot. Wie das gute alte Mischbrot. In all my years of working in a bakery I've also never heard someone call ,,toast" a condition of bread. Toasted, yes. But toast itself, no
@koschmx calm down there lol. No need to blow low cus you've run outta arguments lmao
Also ich hab noch kein toastbrot in der brotabteilung gesehen, but that's just me. Also, that's not even a good botched german accent. You wanna know a ✨️gud tschörman akzent✨️? Zis iß ze better botschet tschörman akzent, take notz
Yeah as a British person one of the hardest things for me whenever I go to mainland Europe is the smoking. I have health issues plus the smell makes me feel sick and I just can't get used to being around smoking all the time. To end on a pro though as a physically disabled person in a wheelchair I found people in Berlin very nice and helpful and polite which I kind of didn't expect being such a big and busy city. Compare that to somewhere like Brussels in Belgium where people acted like I didnt exist and would literally constantly push in front of me in situations like having just watched me struggle to open a heavy door thry would then go in front of me through said door or waiting in line to pay in a shop they would squeeze in front of me ect (I think this is specifically a Brussels thing because I've been to smaller belgian cities and it was very different). I would highly recommend anyone disabled wanting to a large central European city go to Berlin just for the fact that people are willing to help you figure out how to do what you want to do or go where you want to go and the size of the buildings means it's a lot more accessible than many other cities.
Adding to that, compared to London or Paris, Berlin has put much more efforts into making their trains accessible, both the mainline and S-Bahn train systems are almost completely step free accessible and the U-Bahn also has about 80% of its stations accessible, at least when the lifts are not broken lol
@@haisheauspforte1632 oh god yes. I can just about manage public transport in Berlin. London is a nightmare. Plus the buildings are tiny unless it's a new build and there are so many stairs everywhere.
Not from Germany, but neighboring Poland - and someone who worked in retail for several years. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that most shops are closed on Sundays (except for a couple special days before holidays and such). Like, I don't even care that a lot of the reason for that ławy change was religion, as I'm an atheist, but getting that one guaranteed day off was fantastic. Especially since a lot of the time people shopping on Sundays were the worst kind of clients - not people that actually needed something, but people that just went out to the shops because they can't stand to spend some time with their families at home apparently. Sundays always had the most Karens
This comment needs three thumbs up at minimum.
I‘m so happy you mentioned this. There are more and more young ppl in Germany complaining about Sundays being closed. No one thinks about the minimum income workers getting their life becoming even more shit by not having a fixed day off during the week. I worked in a call center during uni and the majority of ppl working there were just old or ppl whose education didn‘t let them work another job. Seeing them having to fight against each other for weekends off or mot having to work at night was makes me sick now everytime I see people complaining they need to get their grocery shopping done during the other six days a week during regular working hours
I am a male, American Karen. God save the bitch.
I grew up in a country where also for religious reasons everything was closed on Sundays. I grew to love and cherish those days and even tho many years later everything is open on Sundays now where I live I still 'take the day off' - from Anything negative - on a Sunday. No phone calls, text messages or bad news channels. Just friends, walks in the forest and lots of food at home.
Well... if you think of it... the cheap public transport tickets and high taxes are tightly connected! I don't mind paying my taxes at all!
The cigarette thing in supermarkets is actually the same everywhere in Germany.
It's only Switzerland is way worse when it comes to smoking. That smell is really everywhere and no street is not littered with cigarettes everywhere.
This is so interesting to me, as the Netherlands used to be the same in the early 2000's, but nowadays it's all behind closed doors and cabinets in stores.
I’m grateful that shops in the UK must hide cigarettes in the shops and can only use plain packaging. Soon, the minimum age for buying them will go up every year. Anyone under the age of 14 now won’t ever be allowed to buy them in their lifetime.
@@myrrhsense it’s like that in berlin/germany too though! The insert he showed of the cigarette brands are actually just pictures so people know what’s available. You have to ask the cashier for the cigarette brand you want and they will get a key, unlock the cabinet and give it to you as you pay for your other groceries - it’s not open for the taking.
Pandemi Lovato...I was just about to take a sip of my drink when you said that, and I started laughing hysterically. Luckily I didn't take that drink.
SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is naturally so funny.. very quirky
I would love a more in depth video about health care. As a Canadian I find it really interesting to learn about health care systems in other countries.
You can ask me. I lived in Berlin for 3 years and now I live in Canada :) I think Germany’s system is far better
The general contribution rate of the GKV ((=Krankenkasse) - there is no real translation for it) is 14.6 percent of the member's income subject to contributions. Employers and employees each pay half of this contribution (7.3 percent). If you earn 5,000 euros, 365 euros automatically go to the GKV and your employer also pays 365 euros to the GKV.
Evan seems to be self-employed, hence the following addition:
As a self-employed person you pay the entire 14.6%. For this reason, many self-employed people choose private insurance because it is much cheaper... but - a big but - the premium here becomes more expensive as you get older.
However, there are special options for self-employed people with low incomes to insure themselves with the GKV without having to pay the 14.6%. - Well, if you can't afford health insurance, you should consider whether you want to remain self-employed.
there are many videos here on youtube which you can find easy.
I cannot agree more with all the points, accept a little about the price of rent, it got expensive in the last few years.
And the bread OMG! the bread here is so friking good!
Nice video Evan, hope to run into you around the city.
The cigarettes have to be by the tills by law and you actually have to ask the cashier press a button so you can get a packet. This is done in order to prevent teenagers stealing them and smoking underage. It's not an ad
So I did a trip through Germany this summer, and the graffiti problem is in every city. Sure, it's nowhere near as bad as Berlin but in literally every town and city you go you can't get anywhere where you can't see at least a tag on a building. (sorry that sentence was a mess)
My sister moved from southern Germany to Berlin several years ago... and from what she told me, I can confirm pretty much everything you said in this video. 🤓👍
Really appreciate this video, I've been considering moving to Berlin for a long time now and I'm finally ready to take the leap.
Here’s what I’d love to see a video on related to your recent move: as a guy who’s moved countries and cities several times as an adult, how do you make new friends when you move to a new city?
Oslo has a pretty good coffee scene as well. 😊 As for closed shops on Sundays, that's what I'm used to from Norway. 🤷🏼 I love the fact you have a nice free day. ❤
But Oslo - Norway in general - is extremely expensive.
I (German) was in Oslo twice for a weekend and for the same money I can stay in a 5 star hotel in Marakesh for a month. By the way, London isn't significantly cheaper either.
Marrakesh
@@nettcologne9186 With the current weak krone, it's not as expensive as many think.
@@LunaciaBooks o-oh-o, 20 percent loss in value in one year
I'm visiting Berlin for the first time end of this month. Very excited!
As a former Londoner living in Aachen Germany, I really appreciate the higher taxes; the better services that the taxes pay for are great. I also did a direct comparison between UK and German Tax rates, but then looked deeper into the wages for each job, and you’re paid more in Germany, and taxed more. So i’d actually say it’s better here in Germany compared to the UK, because you take home more money. A Junior software developer in the UK gets between £22-26k a year, in Germany its €40-50k. That’s a big difference and considering overall lifestyle is cheaper here in Germany, I feel better off financially, even though my tax/insurance payments are higher. Growing up in the UK, the conservative governments have always barked that high taxes are bad for everyone; when the reality is so different. One of many reasons I am happy to have left the UK for the EU
I love you! I am an original home grown Berliner and it touches my heart to hear to praising my city so much. I have traveled the world, studied abroad, work globally and people ask me why I love my home city so much and you just put it so well! ❤
Thank you for bringing the nice things about linving in Germany to my attention. Its so easy to always just notice the things that are not working.
Berlin & Cheap Housing? 😅 I had luck, but I talked to others searching for a 2 room flat at a budget of 1200 and not finding anything. A woman has been living in her car for 6 months.
1200 for 2 rooms? Probabably somewhere outside of the ring. It's not cheap at all. In Fhain where Evan stayed a 2 rooms flat will be more like 2k and impossible to actually secure.
Yeah, and the places Evan is comparing it to (other big, international capital cities such as London) are easily 1200 for one room in a shared flat, so 1200 for a 2 room flat is - by comparison - cheap(ish)
@@user-es7ui5mc1m just because London is ridiculously expensive doesn’t mean that Berlin is cheap. Also salaries in London are higher. Especially for highly skilled workers
Berlin is cheap compared to London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and NYC.
You stayed around my hood in Berlin, no wonder I thought I saw you a couple of times!
Having watched your first German video, I can't wait to see your upcoming one. I am really impressed. If it's better than that one, you will leave me in the dust.
Having lived in both Munich and Berlin about 13 years ago, I must say I hands down preferred Berlin. But had the fortune of living on Berhen Strasse, and that’s because it was so affordable. It was quite clean around there then. The further you got from Mitte the more graffiti and the things you mentioned were apparent. But the energy of this city is just amazing.
You really sound a Munich snob who is fresh in Berlin.
Berliner here. Wanted to point out that apartments are not cheap for Berliners/people growing up in Germany and there are not nearly enough flats to rent.
Another thing I wanted to say is that some areas of Berlin are a lot dirtier than others Friedrichshain being a good example. Personally I don't feel like Berlin is any dirtier than other cities but I may also be biased. The things I hate the most about Germany/Berlin are supermarkets being closed on Sundays like you mentioned and that we loose our bankholidays if they fall on a weekend where as in the UK they get moved to Monday. So good.
Would absolutely love to see a more in-depth video on the TRANSPORT in Berlin and the HEALTHCARE. Loved this video it was so interesting!!
Schön, dass wir auch mehr von anderen Hauptstädten hören:D jetzt musst Du halt in allen Ländern mal leben
Wiesbaden, Saarbrücken, Magdeburg, oder Madrid, Rom, Paris ?
Did not expect this video to be so good,really interesting and good 👍
The emphasis on detail is mind blowing! Sir, I salute you
Closed shops on Sundays is not a con!
Vibrant, cool, inclusive, affordable usually comes with graffiti, litter and cigarettes 😂. For clean, tidy and posh you get a bit of an uptight, controlled vibe. Pick your losses and follow your heart 😊
I actually think it is: left Berlin years ago, here in the Netherlands our small village supermarket is open on Sundays and just the smaller shops close. Way better but I am afraid Germany will take 10 to 20 years longer to move forward to what other countries already did.
for me it was a con for sure. Lived there for 3 years. And I still have nightmares about stuff not being open in Sundays. Hated that. I wouldn't actually mind Saturdays being the rest day. Because it's the first day of the weekends and I want to sleep in and rest not shop.
@@mogreen19 🤷♀Before it could “move forward” it would require a change to the Grundgesetz, since it’s in Article 140. Evan praises the amount and accessibility of Späti, but they were much more prolific and open pretty much 24/7 when I first arrived. But then, the authorities cracked down on them, specifically citing Article 140 G.G..
@@mogreen19I don't think this is a matter of "forward" or "backward" at all. Yes, the original reason was religious, but now it's just so nice to have one day a weak that is purposefully a bit slower, and not just "consume, consume, consume, work, work, work". Retail workers get a guaranteed day off (on the same day as their other family members!). Maybe this is naive, but more purposeful and slower living is (hopefully) in our future! Closed sundays fit right in!
@@user-es7ui5mc1m Germany is defiantly backward in a lot of ways, and having a religious holiday every week that most people don't care about and don't fit into modern lives, well is just not up to date. Having just the supermarkets open on Sundays gives our village youth jobs they can do out of school, people who work night shifts have no problem going shopping when they have weird days off. I was in my supermarket on Sunday around 5 PM to get asian veggies for my rice. Totally normal and one of the reasons I am happy that I escaped Germany. They do not have modern infrastructure or laws, still into old cars, the internet in my farming village is better than in Berlin. Germany truly is backward, that is why many educated Germans have left and still are leaving.
As someone who has to always speed up the video I literally just checked if the speed is 1.25. 😂 there’s no time to waste! Thank you!
I love this video, so good and funny😂
I was in Berlin for 5 weeks in September/October, and everything you have said is so true! The bread in particular is to die for.
I really grew to appreciate the German closed sundays after living abroad for a while and experiencing everything being open! At first I thought it was the coolest thing obviously, but after a while the novelty wore off and it honestly didn't make that much of a difference anymore. It's not like you need to shop and consume, consume, consume, every single day. And what I ended up doing on sundays (cafés, city trips, hikes, go see a play/concert/movie, etc.) are all things you can do on sundays in Germany too. After I returned home, I really noticed just how quiet everything gets on sundays (compared to other days of the week and sundays in other countries). It forces life to slow down for just one day! And it also means that one day out of the week, I can open my windows (lüften!) and not hear constant car noise and the hustle and bustle of the Edeka and Aldi parking lot right outside my window.
caveat: I live in NRW and have a late night kiosk and multiple takeaway places and cafés (all of which are open on sundays) close by and regular grocery stores are open till 9 or 10 on saturdays, so it's really not an inconvenience.
Am a Berliner. Travelled to London. Raved about their bakeries, specifically Papillon, when I came home. Guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
THANK YOU! REALLY COOL!
And here I am, constantly in search of the grimey, "Berlin style" places here in Munich since I find this city to be so god damn boring very often 😂 (gotta say tho while we're not too great in terms of graffiti, our sticker game is pretty strong)
Btw the 49€ ticket is a pretty recent thing and before that the cost structure of public transit actually often times wasn't too great, also we really gotta fight for it, obviously if you get something good for once the neolib idiots in the government wanna kill it immediately again.
Yeah, monthly tickets here in Nürnberg area were 80-90€ before the Deutschlandticket rolled out. I now also commute to München sometimes for work, and being able to use my monthly card for both systems is really nice, rather than having to buy daily tickets so often in München.
At least the people of Munich aren't arseholes like Berliners.
Hey Evan, thanks for the entertaining and informative video. I'm in the midst of searching for a city to stay for three months. Berlin is now on my list. :)
I love your videos!
Great video!! I have been staying in Berlin from March 2022 and I can relate almost everything which you had mentioned in pros & cons about Berlin. Nevertheless, Lots of Love to Berlin!!
From Bengaluru, India.
Great video, but as a German and Berliner, I still have to complain^^
1.) I found it funny while talking about amazing bakeries, at the same time primarily showing pretty bad "Back Shops" or Franchise bakeries.
2.) I have to partly disagree of the "Berlin is dirty" con. Yes it is dirty, but I don't think that Berliners are the main reason for it, rather than tourists. Sure they are drunk people, teens or else who live in Berlin and litter, but usually Berlin becomes much cleaner the further you are away from the tourist and party hotspots. Same for graffiti. I live just 3 stops outside the S-Bahn Ring and it's quite clean in my neighborhood.
Yay a Burgermeister shoutout! 😂 They really make one of the best burgers in the world. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It's a must-have whenever I visit Berlin, even if I'm nowhere close to the East side gallery.
In terms of dirt it's really facinating that the Berlin main train station is so clean and nice. Unlike the Hamburg station which is so filthy.
Did you luck into your apartment? Because prices have skyrocketed in the past few years, and I think it's rather rare to have a 2-room (1-bedroom) apartment for under 1k warm right now.
Also re: "dirty af," Berlin is actually fairly clean you just live in the nightlife area where drunk people leave their garbage all over the place. Other neighborhoods in Berlin are not that dirty!
I'd like to add a few things:
1. Berlin is the second most expensive city when it comes to rent. Yes, Munich is first place with a bigger gap.
2. The 49 € Ticket is pretty new and was a bit controversal. The first district in germany will stop to subsidize the ticket, so from the beginning of 2024 the ticket won't be valid around Stendal. It's only one district, but it also shows, that this convenient ticket could easily end if more districts don't like it. I guess Berlin will be safe for longer, I just wanted to add this, cuz there is still the risk the ticket might not last that long and eventually it'll only be a temporary thing. Aside from the 49 € Ticket, I don't think we have good prices in public transport. For what we have, the usual prices are, in my opinion, more in the higher end.
I got to visit Berlin for the first time this summer and can't wait to go back
I agree) Berlin has a lot of locals stores on ground floor ! Nice video and I also live in Berlin
I had to laugh about litter or the scent in the U-Bahn .... Greetings from NYC (-;
It’s very similar to NYC in that regard. I love both cities anyway
@@nicktankard1244 NYC has FAR less graffiti than Berlin. There are laws about it, although they are ignored often. But NYC subways are WAY dirtier.
A dispute about cigarettes in supermarkets was the reason, the Albrecht brothers split up Aldi in two different companys. In munich you could shop groceries in Aldi south, but Berlin is Aldi north terrain. Btw Aldi in the UK and USA are both aldi south. (But Trader Joes in the US belongs to Aldi north)
Funny that in all videos speaking about German bread the pictures shown feature only big chain or supermarket bakeries not even the artisanal ones. 🤔
My main bakery was just my local in Friedrichshain which was in this? As were some chains for variance
Visited Berlin for a few weeks during the summer. Loved it! Has a nice vibe about it! Spent a lot of time in Treptower park, which partly reminded me of hyde park in London.
Interesting how Berlin is objectively one of the most expensive cities to rent in, in Germany. For you it feels cheap. I remember, when I lived in Dublin for a while at first I could not believe the price of housing.
The cigarettes by the till is the same everywhere in Germany! I don't think it's "here, have a cigarette", it's more that to get them you have to through the check-out lane (so little chance of being stolen?) and kids can't reach (or again, steal them). I think that's also the reason you can't just grab them (in most places), you either have to press the button to open the "gate" (?) thing to get the kind you want or press the button for the kind you want and it comes out of the machine (or it's behind the cashier and you have to ask for them). Don't think it's a good system, just think the "it's like candy" comparison is also kind of misplaced, especially considering the unappealing packaging.
Thank you for a great video. Hoping to visit Sept 2024
Berlin is cheap? Not sure about that. It was 7-10 years ago. Now, at the end of 2023, not so much. I left Berlin 2 years ago, but even then, a good 1bd flat in a decent neighborhood was at least 1300. These days, I hear from my friends that it's closer to 2k or more. But the main problem is not the money but actually finding a place to live. It's pretty much mission impossible these days.
Also, that famous Berlin's mayor quote doesn't apply anymore, really. It's not that poor. Even when I left in 2022, it was way more built up with high-end stores and fancy cafes, etc. Berlin of the past, with squats, abandoned buildings, free land and cheap housing, is almost gone. Some areas are outright fancy now with very expensive housing.
It only appears that way for Even, because he chose to live in the most expensive city (for accomodation), in the UK, potentially, the world.
The flats in Berlin WERE cheap in the eighties, when I moved to Berlin. Maybe they where cheap until the early nineties. If you have an old contract... You are lucky. But if you have to search for a new flat NOW you'll pay the double or triple rent.
Restaurants are still cheap, compared to Zurich, Paris or London.
Loved the analysis of Berlin and I would mostly agree as someone living adjacent and working there. Especially the dirty part. Wich is why I always prefered living in Potsdam. I can very much recommend it if you want to get a bit of a calmer vibe and soak in some very condensed histroy and nature.
It isn’t accurate. I was born here and I never moved and what he says isn’t accurate.
Too much dog poo in Berlin? Dude, you should have seen the sidewalks before the poo bags became mandatory in 2016!! Some streets where so excessively covered in shit, you couldnt take your eyes off your feet while walking and still end up with poo-shoes everyday... Dog poo reduced by 95% since then...
Fun story from winter 2010: we had 3 months of snow, layer after layer, it never melted until spring. Only the main routes where cleared by communal service. The layers on the sidewalks gradually turned into a growing ice crust, freezing all the dog poo into the ice layers. Imagine the fun we had on the day of thawing. It was hideous!
Funny to see, you seem to live in the same kiez as I do :)
You have to remember that Berlin is probably 60% foreigners, if not more.
I think it's important to state that this is your experience of living in Friedrichshain. I always say Berlin is a dozen cities next to each other and especially when it comes to dirtiness and graffiti, Friedrichshain is along with Neukölln and Kreuzberg by far the worst borough. Most other boroughs have far less graffiti and are much cleaner. Especially the ones outside the ring are suprisingly clean and even safer than the inner districts, which are by the way not as safe as you give them credit for.
Tube is expensive but outside of London the buses are affordable. Just not as frequent
The main reason why Berlin feels so lived in compared to central london is because German home ownership is only around 45%,the second lowest in the EU whereas it's around 65% in the Uk,in other words most German are renters while most Brits are home owners, I know which I would rather be!😂
Well, Berlin is indeed poor. Saarland and Rheinland Pfalz have about 64.7% and 58% homeowners, far above German average and very far above Berlin's ownership rates. It is too expensive to build in Germany, that is why so many rent.
Great video
It's not about the cold of the winter. You can have weeks without much of any traces of the sun - that is why we don't like the winter in Berlin. xD
hey Evan! video idea for you: Interviewing locals and finding out how they see their country. eg. which areas are seen as dodgy /as only for rich folk / touristy / for chavs / worth visiting etc etc. Also, are there different accents in different areas? can they demonstrate them - could be interesting : )
tbf the meal deals are a really cool idea imo! Just get an ultra-processed wrap, it's slightly better than an ultra-processed sandwich.
Lmao, the specific thing about entering a train is relatable. Like, it literally doesn't cost anything to wait on the side of the door for people to exit. Instead, people just push in like they're the main character. Also, idk if this happens in Berlin, but people standing on the left-hand side of the escalator instead of leaving it for walkers is also very annyoing. If you use public transport, please don't do these things
Berlin is still one of my favourite cities in the world (up there with London, Glasgow and Palermo). It's almost perfect. The transport system great (apart from the new airport which IMHO is a nightmare). It's hardly surprisingly that the design of the rail system is so good.
Thanks to Corona Germany as a whole has gotten better regarding this cash only thing. But it still is very far from everywhere. Same goes for digitization.
I just recently moved to Munich and have to say I enjoy it more than Berlin so far, just kind of feels cleaner/nicer. The graffiti and broken glass is definitely not my vibe. I was also wondering why I could understand your German so much more than when I try to listen to people here in Munich (still learning), but apparently it's because you're from Jersey too 🤯. Crazy how much the accent makes a difference in my understanding 😸
Welcome to Munich :) Don't worry, your experience of loving it more, that is totally normal.
Be aware that many people in Bavaria are speaking a dialect that even other Germans often find difficult to understand. So, you’re definitely not alone here in having difficulty understanding the natives!
@@puellanivis yesssss, exactly my thought. If you are not used to some of the Bavarian accents you will not understand them..... even as a German.
@@puellanivis Bavarians are the missing peace between human and austrians
As someone who lived in Berlin for many years and loves the city, i agree with pretty much everything.
As others have pointed out though, Berlin has become more expensive (prices go up everywhere but still) partially because it was trendy and people from other big cities were used to paying a lot more.
It's still affordable though and there is so much to see and do. I will take it anytime, grime and all.
Moved to Frankfurt from South Africa recently and I have to say the switch from third- to first-world was a shock (mostly for the positive). I can say that nearly all your points apply here too. I suppose for the cons, the litter here isn't as bad (or maybe that's just my SA comparison messing with my perception) the graffiti is also a lot less worse, but this place isn't called 'Mein'-hattan for no reason so you're not going to escape those elements entirely. That and the housing here is maybe a middleground between Berlin and Munich, with cheaper accomodations existing, but they're usually further from transit, further from city hubs, and have an insane demand (500+ viewing requests per if its under €1k). I have gotten away without cash quite often, its just the older and smaller businesses that don't work with card...
Not 'Mein'-hattan but Mainhattan (also Mainhatten) is a portmanteau of “Main” and “Manhattan”. Occasionally used as the name for the city of Frankfurt am Main (the river there is called Main)
@petitblanc I'm a South African female who's lived in Cape Town all my life and still live here. I love this country (except for loadshedding lol but I invested in an inverter so it doesn't really bother me). I don't know of any youtube channels where an entertaining South African talks about moving from SA to a first world country - except Trevor Noah but he's so wealthy that he's not a good comparison. Can you list some of the pros and cons? I'd love to hear what it's like to actually live there!
GIven I still live in the US, the transit system in just about any European city is amazing.
Tuition fees are outlawed *at public universities*! (except for international students in Baden-Württemberg and I think Bayern now). Private unis exist and can (and do) charge obviously.
The Semesterbeitrag is more like 50-400 (not 200, although I guess in UK and US terms, +/- 200 is negligible). And "admin fee" is... a bit of an inaccurate description, although I know that's often how it's explained to internationals because it's just easier, but in reality, the bulk of the money usually goes to:
The "Semesterticket" (not sure how the 49€ ticket will affect this in the long term): essentially your student public transport ticket. Usually if your uni happens to have a really high "Semesterbeitrag", the cost for the "Semesterticket" is the reason. At least pre-49€ ticket, this was usually reflected in how "good" the ticket is tho. In NRW (where I live) at most unis you get a ticket that's valid for the entire state of NRW (and sometimes even gets you just into the Netherlands), but usually Semesterbeiträge are pretty "high" by German standards (in the low €300 range). In some other places, the ticket is only valid for the uni city and surrounding area, which results in a cheaper "Semesterticket" and thus a cheaper "Semesterbeitrag", but also higher costs when travelling outside of that area (e.g. to travel home to your parents or visit friends in other cities).
The Studierendenwerk (not sure how to translate but it's a state-run, non-profit organisation at German unis that provides the cafeterias, Wohnheime (accommodation/"dorms"), helps with "Bafög" (government financial assistance) applications, etc.). My understanding is that the part of the fee that goes to them essentially subsidizes these services.
And then a couple of euros go to the "AStA" ("Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss", kind of like the Student's union at UK unis), which also offers different services, e.g. legal advice, uni politics, anti discrimination groups, random activities, etc. and then also sports clubs/classes at uni and the admin fee. But these latter ones are usually like... €2-20 each, if that, so calling it an "admin fee" when at it's basically only like €10 of a €320 fee actually go to admin feels kind of inaccurate. Unis usually (? always? are potentially required to do so by law??) break down the exact costs of where every cent of the Semesterbeitrag goes on their websites if you're ever curious
Thanks for an interesting video. I'm in favour of shops being closed on Sundays - everyone needs a rest day.
We had strikes for guarding our right for the stores to stay closed on Sundays. Retailers have families and friends too and they are entitled to have some fun. Don't be so spoiled. There's plenty of time to shop during the working days.
That! Contain your consumerism people! It's only one day
I am from West Berlin and have been living in the Netherlands for 9 years, I went to the supermarket on Sunday today. Netherlands really is viel weiter entwickelt than Germany.
You work the weekend you get two days off thru the week . That’s a win as people working Mon- Fri only get super busy Saturday to shop . Going shopping thru the week is a much more pleasat experience .
I think this is stupid. NOT everyone has family and friends, or ones who are local enough to visit. And even of those who do, their family and friends might be working (doctors, fire fighters, police, gas station attendants, etc.).
@@julieb737no, you have all week to shop, before it after work. You don’t have to wait till Saturday.
A US v UK v Germany hsalthcare video would be so interesting!
phew... that would be a 3 hours video.
And inevitably depressing if you’re American
Ha Ha - your description of German baked gods was so funny, but also so true, I've visited Germany many times and yes the bakeries there are wonderful. I live in Iceland and it's not as good, but in the late 70's there was a revolution in Iceland bakeries dues to German influence, suddenly we had a lot's of different types of bread instead of the basically only 4 types we had before.
ornleifs: the bakeries in Berlin are different than in most parts of Germany, because you have not only the classic good bakeries anymore but MASSES of individual different concepts and styles. same goes for food which makes now Berlin one of the best food spots in the world (grew over years almost unnoticed by most Germans). most still think 'food from all over the world' are 'the thing', but its already additionally about new concepts and compositions (with highest quality) - same goes with drinks btw...
Only the last year of daycare are covered by taxes, you have to pay for the years before that and it costs about 400€ a month where I live in germany
If it’s only 400euro it must be heavily subsidised or very limited hours. A full day in an English day nursery is from about £55 and more in London.
i enjoyed your video. iam planning to move to Berlin next yea from Chicago.
I don't remember Berlin being especially dirty or graffitied, but I was visiting from NYC and it's all relative! I was also warned that the neighborhood I was staying in was dodgy (I suspect because of the immigrant population), but it seemed fine to me and I never had any trouble or felt unsafe. Definitely somewhere I would love to revisit.
NYC is the dirtiest city I have been to so far. The smell in Manhattan was quite bad. I don't remember Berlin being that bad either.
NY has much less graffiti but is in some parts even more dirty/trashy/smelly ...
Great video.
I’d love to see a video comparing the Berlin/German health care system vs. US and UK.
our high taxes are what fund those niceties that would cost you extra in other countries like tuitions etc.
Welcome to my hometown 😊
House prices have gone up a lot..I'm originally from Berlin, now living in Germany.
When I moved into my first flat in 2010, I paid 370€ for the whole flat. 56 Square meters
190 warm, 40 qm, Maybachufer (2006)
Businesses are close on Sundays in many European countries originally for religious reason: Sunday is Lord's day, people are supposed to attend the Mass in the church. Nowadays, even if people are becoming less religious or even atheist, shops remain close on Sundays because businesses clearly don't make more profit by extending the opening hours in the weekend. In France, only shops in touristic areas are allowed to open on Sundays. Apart from that, it would just help the customer to have a more flexible schedule for shopping. Supporters of this policy always raise the point that if police officers, firemen and hopsitals work on Sundays, shops should open on that day too. But nobody can plan when one will be assaulted, have a accident and get injured whereas you can plan your three meals a day.
Just compare the noise level in Berlin between a weekday and a Sunday.
Less traffic and less noise.
If British and Germans speak about weather--- you should spend more time in Finland
Love the vid Evan. Being born in West Berlin and having moved out of the city 13 years ago, here is a bit of a scroller: Yes Berliners are known to be rude/grumpy but honest, called "Berliner Schnauze". German bakers and butchers are world champions in the amount of diversity for bread and cold cuts. Yes I as a German also miss good bread, be it my time in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all do not have good bread. Yes, Germans love cash, easier for tax evasion. Germany holds the world record in most complex tax laws on the planet. You see Germany is really a tax haven, but only for companies. So small business love to do deals cash "Schwarzgeld". I grew up in Berlin in the 80s and 90s, end of the Cold War, attended a German-American school in Zehlendorf, a Bonzen Viertel or expensive zip code. Berlin has gotten really, really expensive I think, but yes still cheap compared to Amsterdam, Munich, London etc. Berlin is known as the "Hauptstadt der Diebe" or capital of thieves. Generally Berlin is very safe except a couple of hot spots at night etc. Crime is rampant, but not violent, mostly thieves and tax evaders and drug dealers. Berlin has a United Nations of organised crime as it is in the middle of the continent and various ethnic groups have various areas or cimes under their control. I actually fled from Berlin as I thought it was not safe, living in Schlachtensee and having my business in Lichterfelde West 13-20 years ago. I still think German health insurance is cheap as I live in Netherlands but still have my Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung from Germany. Evan you should go visit the Allierten Museum in Dahlem, go to the Wannsee and have a Beer and Pretzl at Loretta. I now live in small dutch country village with 2,000 people and I have faster Internet than I ever had in Berlin. Germany as a whole is not very digital, government literally still uses fax machines, Germany has notoriously slow Internet. I really miss the bread, I love Laugenbrötchen but totally want to try the Laugenecke you had. I have also spent 7 years with the Boy Scout of America in Berlin and in 2010 it was -20C and -28C and the scouts built Igloos in the Grunewald I stood around in the cold supervising them. Fun times :-D
"still cheap compared to Amsterdam, Munich, London etc." -- Unsurprisingly, Berlin wages are about as impressive as its rents. It's really only "cheap" if you have expat vision.
@@niwa_s even then it’s not cheap. I was an expat there and worked in tech but I didn’t think it was particularly cheap. And it’s gotten worse since I left in 2022
@@nicktankard1244 The point is more that if someone does claim it's cheap, chances are pretty good they're an expat (or just plain don't live there). Doesn't necessarily work the other way I guess.
@@niwa_s yeah I guess if you’re an expat making 6 figures it’s not bad there. It’s all relative. It’s still cheaper than most other western major cities like London, NYC, Paris, Amsterdam, SF etc where you need to make crazy amounts of money to live comfortably. But I wouldn’t say it’s cheap.
@@niwa_s Did you read and comprehend what I wrote? I am not a Berlin expat, I am Berlin born. A local. Yes, Berlin is one of the cheapest capital cities. Has been and still is. A lot of Berliners leave Berlin because of the low wages - classmate of mine went to New Zealand because as a programmer for the Government he earned 4 times as much. If you don't think Berlin is not cheap you have not seen much of the world.
Hello Evan,
Your content is great, I have a question for you
if you you have choice between Berlin or Amsterdam which voice do you choose basing on your own review ?
I m planning to expatrite into Amsterdam, Dublin or Berlin if you have any tips or recomandation
Thanks in advance
Evan, what did you use for that weather comparison at 20:28? I would like to use that to compare my own city
Weather Spark
London has trams too, in the lovely town of Croydon.
Hey Evan, I have heard that now it is more difficult to find an apartment in Berlin now. Is that true? Do you have any websites where I can search for a house/appartment/studio? How did you find your place?
A great video. Berlin is one of my fav cities in the world as it is so diverse w lots of history everywhere. Will you be going to any sport events whilst your there?
Hi Evan, I think you should visit Warsaw. It's much cleaner there, really safe and it's becoming IT hub of Europe