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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

Tesla’s factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

Tesla has confirmed its plans to extend its production site outside Berlin had been approved, overcoming opposition from residents and environmental activists.

Tesla's factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

The US electric car manufacturer said on Thursday it was “extremely pleased” that local officials in the town of Grünheide, where the factory is located, had voted to approve the extension.

Tesla opened the plant – its only production location in Europe – in 2022 at the end of a tumultuous two-year approval and construction process.

The carmaker had to clear a series of administrative and legal hurdles before production could begin at the site, including complaints from locals about the site’s environmental impact.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

Plans to double capacity to produce a million cars a year at the site, which employs some 12,000 people, were announced in 2023.

The plant, which already occupies around 300 hectares (740 acres), was set to be expanded by a further 170 hectares.

But Tesla had to scale back its ambitions to grow the already massive site after locals opposed the plan in a non-binding poll.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Lutz Deckwerth

Their concerns included deforestation required for the expansion, the plant’s high water consumption, and an increase in road traffic in the area.

In the new proposal, Tesla has scrapped plans for logistics and storage centres and on-site employee facilities, while leaving more of the surrounding forest standing.

Thursday’s council vote in Grünheide drew strong interest from residents and was picketed by protestors opposing the extension, according to German media.

Protests against the plant have increased since February, and in March the plant was forced to halt production following a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines claimed by a far-left group.

Activists have also built makeshift treehouses in the woodland around the factory to block the expansion, and environmentalists gathered earlier this month in their hundreds at the factory to protest the enlargement plans.

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