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CRIME

BERLIN: Post-pandemic crime rate surges in the German capital

Crime in Berlin saw sharp increases in 2022 as most pandemic restrictions lifted. While some crime simply returned to pre-pandemic levels, youth crime in particular has gone up to a new high.

A crime scene cordoned off by German police.
A crime scene cordoned off by German police. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Reichwein

2022 was the year most Berlin residents moved on from the pandemic, left their homes more often, and got on with life the way it was before Covid-19 – and the capital’s criminals were no exception.

The pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 led to an increase in cybercrime, which then fell in 2022 as murders, theft, and violent attacks all went up again in Berlin.

The capital and country’s largest city saw almost 520,000 separate crimes last year, representing an almost eight percent increase since 2021, according to statistics from Berlin Police. The city saw 38 cases of murder and manslaughter in 2022 and a further 76 attempts – for a total of 114. That’s about 14 more than in 2021.

While some crimes in Berlin in 2022 remained at a fairly average rate when looking at the last ten years, there were some notable exceptions. Almost 214,000 cases of theft were reported in the city last year – marking an increase of about 20 percent.

That’s still below the ten-year high set in 2015, but theft from machines – including ATMs, vending machines, and even the coins from city toilets – went up 1700 percent in 2022 to over 10,000 cases.

READ ALSO: FACT CHECK: Is crime really on the rise in Germany?

Another worrying statistic concerns increases in both knife and youth crime. Knives were involved in over 3,300 crimes in Berlin in 2022, a 19 percent increase over the year before.

Police also recorded a little under 25,000 suspects in 2022 who were younger than 21 years of age. That represents a 20 percent increase over 2021, but also a new ten-year high for youth crime. That means that pandemic restrictions being lifted doesn’t by itself explain Berlin’s recent spike in youth crime.

Berlin Police say most other crimes are happening at roughly the same rates as in 2018 or 2019 – and not quite at the ten-year high seen in 2015.

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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.

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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