Three Curious Stories

 1.  This AM (Tuesday)....cops raid the business headquarters of Vonovia.  They are a real estate companies that deal in apartments.  Present inventory?  490,000 apartments....in Germany, Austria and Sweden.  Yeah, they are a DAX index company, and it's a pretty big deal.

Charges?  Well....bribes, tax fraud, and tax evasion.

Yearly income?  Back in 2020....it was up around 2-billion Euro.....with the vast majority coming from Germany.

2.  The Abi.  Here in Germany....when you finish basic school, you would test and get a certificate called the Abitur.  Every state (16 of them) had a slightly different understanding on the test.

This morning....they (the federal government) announced a unified agreement....come 2030, there will be one single German national standard to exist on the Abi.  

The standard in the future?  Forty classes will be mandated in the upper level....over 4 semesters.  

3.  Finally, if you ever were stationed or lived around Berlin, you know of the significance of Tempelhof (the old runway in the middle of town).

After the Americans handed over the property, for about a decade....there was talk of 'using' it for something.  Then things got stressful, and a vote was mandated....resulting in a public statement....you couldn't build on Tempelhof (2014).  It became simply a big park.  

If you asked on the size of the park presently....it's about 1.5 km by 1.5 km....around 386 hectares.

Well....the CDU Party (coming in to lead the city)....has said they want a new review.  Green Party?  Totally against the idea of making the area into something.

Selling this to the public?  About the only thing that would gain support....is the idea of taking maybe 25-to-50 percent of property, and making affordable housing.  But there's such a huge pitch for recreation....I just don't see much changing.  Oddly.....the pavement for the two runways....still remains today.