As usual, municipal elections and European parliamentary elections in Germany are held jointly. I don’t know what the level of participation will be, but the level of advertising for these elections is very high: literally every pillar is covered with posters. In this topic, we will sort out all small and big parties, study the unusual principle of communal voting and find out who votes for what. You may be surprised and learn something new about your favorite political party, and adjust your preferences not only for the European level.
politics
What’s new in Germany in 2024. Mobility, energy, ecology, consumption
Traditional review “What the coming year has in store for us.” Obviously, nothing good, but maybe a couple of positive moments will sweeten the pill. This part is mainly about energy, ecology and consumer news: railways, cars, shopping.
New heating law in Germany
The new heating law in Germany (in the media Heizungsgesetz, also known in full as Gebäudeenergiegesetzes, or, according to the German habit of abbreviating, GEG) was adopted with great noise and bang. Now the dust has settled a little and we can see what was born as a result. I must say that the worst thing is for those who need to decide right now, next year. Everyone else can save money, watch how others accumulate experience in use, and hope for the German bureaucracy, which will repeatedly delay the deadline. However, there is a risk that while you wait, the government will cancel compensation for reinstalling the heating system. Energy experts are definitely benefiting from the situation: instead of a bakery, we have an energy office that has moved into the entire first floor, which has suddenly become cramped in the old premises.
Volunteer firefighters in Germany – Freiwillige Feuerwehr
Volunteer firefighters in Germany are an important part of life. After all, they not only put out fires, but also go to the car accidents, help by various natural disasters or technical accidents, along with the voluntary technical aid organization of THW, and they are important part of the town community. Volunteer firefighters is called Freiwillige Feuerwehr in German.
Who can apply for German citizenship
In this topic we will collect information about who can apply for German citizenship, how much it costs and how long it takes.
In autumn, they talked a lot about easing the conditions for obtaining citizenship – they say, smart people should be lured to Germany. It is likely that some of these proposals will still be accepted, since there are no enough children, and someone needs to feed the retired baby boomer generation.
What’s new in Germany 2023. Social, insurances, medicine
The social sphere will be in the most turbulent state in 2023, because the old social benefits Harz 4 system is being destroyed, but what will appear to replace it will still have to be seen.
What’s new in Germany 2023. Energy, ecology, finance
We traditionally study what awaits us in 2023 in German laws. In the first part, these are hot energy, financial and environmental topics. In general, life is expected to be a little easier, but sometimes additional environmental fees or social contributions still pop up.
Election in Germany 2021. Questions and answers
Let’s look how the parties answer the important questions of election in Germany 2021.
Once again, I note that the websites will help you understand what questions is discussed, but do not trust them too much. One simple example: the question “Family reunification of migrants has been limited since 2015, is this correct” gives two answers – yes and no. However, “no” actually implies two completely opposite answers: “no, we must not let them in at all”, and “no, we must take everyone”. Thus, by answering “no”, you matched both the left guys and AfD. And there are many such inaccuracies – different wording of the questions will give different answers to the same party, “no” can be like a refusal and “no” like another proposal.
It turned out very clearly – you can see how strongly the greens developed the red theme and how strongly the red ones developed into the green. If you are going to vote for the Greens, please note that you vote as Linke in many cases. In my opinion, this is a combination of the incompatible: after all, following the green theme in the proposed from Greens and Reds form, they kill their social program (jobs, family cars …). Where does the money come from? The ÖDP in this sense are more understandable and consistent – back to the ground, digging potatoes and consuming fewer. Only for some reason no one wants and does not vote for them.
Nearby I wrote about possible coalitions, if obvious. For decoding of coalitions’ nicknames, see the first part.
I looked at the parties in parliament and a couple of the most visible small ones, because studying all parties that gain less than a percent is a waste of time. Die Partei also is not mentioned: this is for those who want to laugh (“we will make the speed limit 136 km/h, this is as much as 6 km more than the SPD …”). Since I looked at different sites, there were different numbers of answers to different questions. Abbreviation FW not typical – Freie Wähler
Test Leben in Deutschland (Orientierungstest). History
The Test Leben in Deutschland only takes the history of the 20th century, starting with the coming to power of the National Socialists, mainly the problems of nazism, the results of World War II, the division and reunification of Germany. I think most of us remember this topic quite well from school education, so the a few tips that you need to know for the test.
But there are a lot of questions to this thema, therefore I divide it in two parts: before / during WW II and after the war.