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I love Berlin but it does have its less attractive quirks

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For example (in addition to the many lies being told seemingly totally accceptably and described in a previous post) when outdoor temperatures drop to zero and below, I can often only manage about 17 C inside my flat.

I know from previous years that reporting that to Hausverwaltung (Schön & Sever) is a waste of time. They don’t care, and at best refer to the plumber who knows the house (Detlef Spinka) who ignores my messages.

That is also Berlin.

Normally, it is not a big problem for me – I don’t like having more than 19 C indoors anyway, and can manage with socks and blankets when I am at home, but having people around can be a problem, for example for the bridge evenings.

I am currently considering cancelling tomorrow’s film evening, alternatively have loads of candles to light in the hope that they will raise the temperature a degree or two, and provide the aforementioned socks and blankets. But candles are also a health hazard.

During some of the past much colder winters, I have shut off the bedrooms and only used the living room (where I have also slept) and the kitchen.

The colder is it outside, the colder the radiators. That is Berlin logic. Or schön & Sever Logic, or whatever.

And before anybody says “Mieterverein” for the thousands time I am not the “Mieter” and therefore have no rights ;-).

For now, I shall just enjoy the views in the knowledge that it is only a matter of weeks till it becomes warmer outside and no longer a problem.

In the meantime, here are some photos from last night’s snowfall:

The Balcony that "would not be affected"

Oh, what a Beautiful Morning ….

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07.30 on a Saturday morning. Settling in to spend a QUIET weekend AT HOME, in and out of the balcony, pure bliss, no need to go out in order to escape the ear-splitting noise from the neighbours from hell.

When suddenly: Same-old-same-old. Just half an hour later than during the week. Like from drilling into a rock or a wall or something, I can’t actually see it but other neighbours can and are trying to ask them how long this will last. Which they are of course ignoring. Their arrogance never stops reaching new heights.

I feel like crying.

It is a good thing guns are not readily available in this country. If I had access to one right now, there would be dead people.

Cresco Capital Group @CrescoRealEstate

The Balcony that "would not be affected"

Only in Berlin …

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does it take a spring and a summer, and by the looks of it also an autumn, and so much noise, to landscape such a small piece of land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3k7t5ApDEQ.

Of course there would be no fun in preparing the tiles BEFORE transporting them here, because then you would miss a golden opportunity to continue, in year eight, to make life a living hell for a large area around you, and rendering our balconies unusable for at least as long, and that would be no fun, would it?

The Balcony that "would not be affected"

Can anyone explain?

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Here is another phenomenon I don’t understand – perhaps someone can explain: If occupants of an apartment building have been plagued by noise and other nuisances from a construction site for years (and in my case the size of my balcony was halved for a couple of years, at the height of the pandemic when it would have been really nice to have the full use of my balcony), then those owners who are renting out their flats while living somewhere else will get compensation, so that they can (choose to) compensate their tenants, but the owners who live in the flats themselves will not be compensated. Is it just me who can’t see the logic in that? Cresco Capital Group

The Balcony that "would not be affected"

Where is the sense of proportion in this country?

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As detailed in this category, the building next door has been under renovation for about seven years which has meant an inferno of noise, and for example, I have not been able to use my balcony for as many summers, for one reason or the other, including this summer, which has perhaps so far been the noisiest of all because they are pretending to be doing some landscape gardening downstairs.

During all this time, our Hausverwaltung has been mostly silent and seemingly more on the side of the investors next door than on ours.

Imagine my surprise, then, when this morning I received a letter (yes – as in snailmail – how absurd and laughable is that in itself?) informing me that the fence downstairs between our plot of land and that of the monstrosity next door will be replaced this week. End of.

Now, when I receive an actual letter, as in by Deutsche Post, I assume it is about something important, and which will have consequences for me and/or require some sort of action from my side. So I opened it.

But that is literally all they write. Not a word about why they are telling us this after basically never having warned us about particularly noisy weeks months and years. Not to mention the scaffolding and debris which prevented me from using my balcony for at least two summers, one of which was at the height of the pandemic when it would have been really nice to have the use of that outdoor space. Especially since I was promised at the beginning that my balcony would not be affected. One of, as it has turned out, many lies told to me since I moved to Berlin.

Seriously? Is that all they wanted to tell us – by LETTER, as if we don’t have eyes in our heads and can see what is happening? WHY BOTHER TO SEND A LETTER about something so unimportant, trivial, and non-conseqential after having ignored all the real problems we have been having basically for the last handful of years????? Who cares that an old FENCE is being removed and replaced by a new one?

Berlin

So there are SOME rules in this country ….

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I have figured out the division of costs between flat owners and “Hausverwaltung”. In most countries, all outside maintenance and repairs are paid for by “the community” and all inside costs covered by the flat owner.

Not so here. Here, all costs, external and internal, are covered for you if you are ethnic German. If not, you have to pay for everything yourself.

Berlin

And another thing that (I hope) is peculiar to Berlin

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While I am in the process of getting things off my chest: Here, rules are not rules. Everything is debatable. At least in flat-owners meetings (Eigentümerversammlungen).

The first time I came across this phenomenon was when the people who ran the café in the ground floor of my building asked for permission to install a cash withdrawal machine in the café. For some strange reason still incomprehensible to me, that had to be approved in the annual meeting of owners.

In what I have since come to see as a pattern, of course the answer was no, because the people who asked for this permission were not ethnic Germans. My first real encounter with racism in this country, described in more detail in this post.

In any case, the way these things go is: Year one: a proposal is made and discussed in the annual meeting. Year two: the issue is put to the vote. Year three: the issue is implemented. That is how long things take.

On to the next issue: BBQ-ing, or grilling, on the balconies. The first spring and summer I lived here I could not believe that that was really happening, and to what extent. Of course that only got worse during Covid, the level of home outdoor cooking increased, as did everybody else’s need for spending time on their balconies. For a couple of hours each day, we have to keep doors and windows closed to avoid that stink, which I have always hated, entering our flats and hanging in clothes and furniture.

When I asked our Hausverwaltung (“admin”) – years ago – whether that is really allowed, the answer was vague and wishy-washy – that as long as nobody complains, then yes. Pathetic. And since I am also an immigrant, I knew what the reply would be if I took it up in the owners meeting, so I did not bother.

In the meantime, after last year’s owners meeting, I decided that the atmosphere and tone there is so confrontational, hostile and toxic that I am not going to attend any further meetings. There is especially one person there who for some reason seems to have a lot of power, and each time I dare to open my mouth, immediately contradicts me, like a metaphorical slap in the face, before I even manage to finish one sentence. Being treated like that is a complete waste of time.

Now to the current issue. I have to have a window replaced, and it turns out that that requires a plate on the outside of the building to be removed in order to install the window, and then put back again. An incredibly stupid way of building buldings. Anyway, there is a rule, or so I thought, that basically, indoor repairs are paid by the owner, and anything facade related is paid by admin. So when I asked them who were to pay the cost of renting one of those ladders needed for this operation (between 2000 and 3000 euro) I was told to pay, and then take up the issue of a refund in the next owners meeting.

Will I bother, forget last year’s promise to myself, and give them the pleasure of interrupting me and refusing before I have even had a chance to make my case? Don’t be ridiculous. Not worth ruining an evening for.

Beginning again after a surreal six months, The Balcony that "would not be affected"

Hallo neighbour

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Long time no see. You looked a lot better clad in scaffolding. I had forgotten quite how unbelievably ugly you really are.

But I will never forget being deprived of the use of my balcony for two years – in mid pandemic where it would have been really nice to be able to use one’s own balcony. Not to mention the repeated cleaning up each time a load of various types of debris – and cigarette stubs (!) – had been thrown onto the balcony, and each time layers of some kind of dust covered EVERYTHING on it. All documented here: “The balcony that would not be affected”. And the lack of light – again – during the pandemic!! – in my living room because of the scaffolding. After I had been told that my balcony would not be affected. As far as I know the biggest lie ever told to me.

Victoria Berlin

Cresco Real Estate

Beginning again after a surreal six months

Energy crisis or just a Hausverwaltung that does not care?

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In view of the current situation, I was thinking of doing this for the winter anyway, but now I have had to: In order to keep a reasonable temperature in those rooms that I do use, I have closed off my two bedrooms and am only using the living room, and sleeping there, and kitchen.

This is working out fine and I can do that till spring, except I am still only able to reach an indoor temperature of 16 to 17 C. (Once again, Gabi Fastner comes to the rescue in order to keep warm :-)).

I am not sure whom I have to thank for this – Putin? Merkel? Schröder? Or Schön & Sever? In the beginning, I thought it was the same for everybody, but I am not hearing from anybody else that they have the same problems, so I am starting to suspect the latter, i.e. our Hausverwaltung.

The good nesws is that the fact that I don’t have a stinking cold by now, or even a hint of a sore throat, probably means that my immune system is back to normal, if not better than in spring.

But I am searching for another expression to replace the usual: “I am freezing my tits off”…….

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

I must have completely misunderstood what a Hausverwaltung should be doing

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A couple of weeks ago, our “Hausverwaltung” – Schön & Sever – forgot to tell us that we would have no water for over half a day, starting in the early morning and lasting till the early afternoon. They did not reply to our questions when we discovered it, nor did they bother to let us know how long it would last. I don’t go in for bottled water normally, so I don’t have a stock in the house, but if I had known, I would have made sure I had some for my dog and myself to drink, to make coffee, and to at least be able to brush my teeth in the morning.

Today, our lift will be out of order till about noon tomorrow. This is not due to an emergency but part of a major overhaul which has been in the planning for a while. The people who have arrived to do the work told me that. Not Schön & Sever. Admittedly, it will do both Max and me good to walk up and down the stairs the five to seven times it will be necessary over the next 30 hours. But if I had known that, I would not have set aside part of today to do my weekly supermarket round, and I would not have booked the mobile vet for noon today if I had known they would have to schlepp themselves and their gear up the stairs to the sixth floor. Not to mention my trusty cleaning help who always brings much of his own gear in a trolley. The janitor was here yesterday. Would it have killed them to make sure he put up a note about this then?

Is it just me ……?