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WEATHER

Arctic cold wreaks quirky havoc across Germany

The bitter cold is wreaking havoc across Germany in unexpected ways, with the subzero temperatures freezing an ice cream factory, forcing gravediggers to use jackhammers and driving penguins indoors. But Hamburg can look forward to a party.

Published: 8 February 2012 15:30 CET
Arctic cold wreaks quirky havoc across Germany
Photo: DPA, The icy turbo-stalagmites in North Rhine-Westphalia

Residents in the northern port city can look forward to the so-called Alstervergnügen frozen lake festivities, which will take place for the first time in 15 years this weekend.

Food an beverage stands will be step up on the lake on Friday and Saturday each afternoon for the traditional Hamburg event. In recent years, the weather wasn’t cold enough to eliminated the risk of revellers falling through the Außenalster’s ice.

Click here for The Local’s weather forecast

But the weather has been so cold lately, that the pipes froze at the R&R ice cream factory in Osnabruck, Lower Saxony, causing production to grind to a halt on Wednesday morning. A spokesman told the Bild daily newspaper that the pipes were being defrosted and that they hoped to have everything up and running soon – which should be a huge relief to those few desperate for a frozen treat while its -15 outside.

In Berlin gravediggers have been disturbing the peace in the Charlottenburg district by using a jackhammer to prepare the final resting places of the newly deceased. They decided to take a no-nonsense approach after they found digging a grave was “taking two hours longer than usual” due to the ground being frozen solid.

And it’s not only the people in Germany who have had enough of the Arctic chill, as even penguins at a zoo in Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate are finding it too chilly. The birds, which come from southern areas of Chile and Peru, are staying firmly out of their pool and have taken to “hiding in the heated cave” according to the zookeeper.

However, geology buffs in Warstein in North Rhine-Westphalia are happily braving temperatures of -20 just to see hundreds of ice stalagmites that have formed in a limestone cave. The so called “turbo-stalagmites” are expected to melt as quickly as they formed when the weather begins to warm so enthusiasts are catching them while they can.

While Wednesday’s weather might be a balmy -4 in some regions, the German Weather Service has reported temperatures will drop again over the coming days, with an increased possibility of snow.

The Local/DPA/jcw

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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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