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BERLIN

Car drives into Germany’s Brandenburg Gate

A car collided with Germany's famous landmark on Sunday night in Berlin, killing the driver.

Published: 16 January 2023 10:10 CET
A wrecked car lies in front of a pillar of the Brandenburg Gate.
A wrecked car lies in front of a pillar of the Brandenburg Gate. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Paul Zinken

According to police, the car – a dark vehicle with a notchback – had crashed into the capital’s landmark at around 11:30 pm on Sunday evening, having driven from the east along the famous Unter den Linden street. The car then came to a halt as it became wedged between two columns of the monument.

Firefighters found a dead man in the car, a police spokesman said, but said they were “relatively sure” that no one else was in the car at the time of the collision.

On Twitter, the police later said that, according to initial findings, no one else was harmed in the incident. “The investigation into the identity of the driver and the course of events is ongoing,” they said.

READ ALSO: Driving in Germany: What are the offences that can cost you points on your licence?

How fast the vehicle had been traveling is as yet unclear – as is the identity of the driver and the background to the incident.

30 emergency personnel attended the scene and a visual barrier was set up around the destroyed passenger car. According to the fire department, investigators secured evidence at the scene of the incident on Pariser Platz in the Mitte district of Berlin.

Whether the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which is popular with tourists, will be made freely accessible again in the course of the day was still unclear on Monday morning.

Black marks and minor chipping could be seen on the massive columns of the over 200 year-old monument.

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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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