Last Saturday, as the sun shone on thousands of Berliners gathered in Alexanderplatz, one placard stood out in the crowd. Written on it – beneath a grotesque cartoon shark, driving a car and eating dollar bills – was “Miethaie raus!” “Rent sharks out”.
Tenants had taken to the streets incensed at spiralling rents. Their protest march fired the starting gun on a campaign that could see Berlin’s renters wrestle 240,000 apartments out of the hands of large corporate landlords.
In parts of the city, prices have more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to a study by property portal Immowelt.
