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CRIME

Two mass brawls leave eight injured in Berlin’s busy Alexanderplatz

Alexanderplatz is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the German capital. But it is also regularly the scene of violent crime, as two mass brawls over the weekend once again proved.

Published: 11 September 2017 09:27 CEST
Two mass brawls leave eight injured in Berlin’s busy Alexanderplatz
Berlin's Alexanderplatz. Photo: DPA

Police arrested 16 young men at Alexanderplatz in central Berlin over the weekend in connection with two mass brawls, involving knives and tear gas, that broke out over the weekend.

The first clash occurred late on Friday night and left six men injured. One 18-year-old had to undergo emergency surgery after being stabbed in the back. By Saturday he was in stable condition in hospital.

A 13-year-old who police say was accidentally caught up in the violence was also slightly injured and needed to be treated at the scene.

According to police, those involved in the brawl were Afghan and Syrian citizens. Police made eight arrests.

The second brawl took place on Saturday evening when an argument escalated between two groups of men for reasons which are not yet clear.

Two men were left injured after the fight, which involved men from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. Police arrested eight men aged between 15 and 25.

Police are looking into whether there is a possible connection between the two fights.

Alexanderplatz has now been the scene of three violent confrontations within a week. Last Tuesday a 21-year-old man from Afghanistan was stabbed when a group of around 20 men attacked him and his friends.

The Berlin square which is famed for being the location of the Fernsehturm, the capital's highest structure, has a deserved reputation as a focal point of petty criminality and violence. Police recorded 7,820 crimes there in 2016, with most of the crimes involving theft.

A new police station is being built at the square which will be manned 24 hours a day. It is scheduled to open in December.

BERLIN

Anmeldung: Berlin to re-launch online housing registration in October

Finding an appointment at the Bürgeramt to register an address has long been an unwanted chore for new arrivals in Berlin - but from October, this gruelling ritual will be a thing of the past.

Published: 19 September 2024 13:51 CEST
Anmeldung: Berlin to re-launch online housing registration in October

Every foreigner who’s lived in the German capital has experienced the stress of trying to find an appointment at the Bürgeramt, or citizens’ office. 

In order to register an address – a process known as the Anmeldung in German – residents generally have to scour a list of available appointments, sometimes waiting weeks for a spot or travelling to a far-flung part of the city to complete the process. 

From mid-October, however, the city has announced that people will be able to register and deregister their place of residence online. The Local has contacted officials to ask for the specific date in October that this is happening and will update this story when we receive the information. 

According to the Senate, the move will free up around 500,000 appointments that would ordinarily have been taken by the hundreds of thousands who move into and around the city each year.

Berlin had briefly offered online registrations during the Covid-19 pandemic, but removed the service once social restrictions were lifted. 

How will the new system work?

The online registration system is apparently based on Hamburg’s system, which was developed under the so-called ‘one-for-all’ (EfA) principle. This means that other states around Germany can adopt the same software as part of their digitalisation efforts.

People who want to register address will need to fill in an online form, provide proof of their new residence and also identify themselves using their electronic ID, which will either be an electronic residence permit or a German or EU ID card. 

READ ALSO: What is Germany’s electronic ID card and how do you use it?

After the process has been completed, a sticker for the ID card will be sent out via post.

Aufenthaltstitel

A German residence permit or ‘Aufenthaltstitel’ with an electronic ID function. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Karmann

This can then be used to update the information on a residents’ eID card and access the registration confirmation digitally.

Those who don’t have access to a validated electronic ID will need to either activate their eID function at the immigration office or Bürgeramt or register their address in person.  

In 2024, the service will only be available for single residents, but online registration for families is also in the pipeline.

Is Berlin making progress with digitalisation?

It certainly seems like it. This latest move is part of a larger push to complete digitalise Berlin’s creaking services and move to a faster, more efficient online system.

At the start of the year, the capital centralised its naturalisation office in the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) and moved all citizenship applications online. 

Since then, citizenship applications have been completed around ten times faster than previously – though tens of thousands of applicants are still waiting for a response on their paper applications.

More recently, the LEA also announced that it had moved to a new appointment-booking system designed to end the predatory practice of appointment touting, or selling appointments for a fee.

Under the new system, many residents permits – including EU Blue Cards – can be directly applied for online, with in-person appointments reserved for collecting the new (or renewed) permit.

READ ALSO: What to know about the new appointments system at Berlin immigration office

Meanwhile, those who can’t apply online yet can access appointments by filling in the contact form, with the LEA hoping that this will deter people from booking appointments with the intention to sell them on. 

In another move to speed up bureaucracy, Berlin also opened a new Bürgeramt in the district of Spandau this September, with the governing CDU announcing on X that more new offices would follow in the near future. 

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