A Berlin Ban on Furnished Short Term Rentals?

Berlin to end furnished flat rentals? Updated Germany life guides. 13 funded German startups. A company more valuable than Germany's entire economy. Self driving taxis in Germany (not Teslas!)

Personal News & Musings

🫣 Sometimes I’ll overshare and/or rant a bit.

Is Berlin finally cracking down on the city’s inflated rental scene? We can only hope. I’ve got to move in a few years, and honestly, I’m worried.

In the meantime, I’ve finally slowed down and started enjoying Berlin summer. How about you?

Follow me: Threads / Instagram / Bluesky / LinkedIn

Community News

🤝 News from our community.

📩 Newsletter Business

• ICYMI: Missed last week’s issue? We rounded up German climate tech startups that just got funded - and yes, they’re hiring! 🌍

• Popular link: You all loved this one. A Berlin swamp becomes a clean, swimmable lake.

• Recommend us: We’re on a mission to help 4,000 people find their way in Germany. Got a friend job hunting? Send them to us. They’ll thank you later. 🙏

🗓️ Our Events (+ Other Events)

• They held an event just today, but watch for future ones with Silent Book Club. It’s super simple: Show up with a book and take part in silent reading for an hour in public with others.

• 🗓️ We’re on a break from events for the summer. If you want to be notified about the next one, subscribe to our calendar. And if you want to see your event featured here for free, hmu.

🔊 Featured Germany Life Guide(s)

• Our German cover letter guide just got a major FAQ upgrade, with more tips, fresh examples, and answers to all your typical questions. It’s one of our most practical (and most-read!) guides for a reason.

• Our German salary ranges guide just got a refresh, with a deeper FAQ and more trusted sources for comparing pay.

📖 See our 60+ life and career guides.

Sound Off: Your Take on Germany

📊 Results of our weekly polls.

Our last poll asked: What's your favourite German word on this list? And 55% of you love the biting brilliance of Backpfeifengesicht the most. It literally means, “a face that's begging to be slapped”.

Take part in this week’s poll. 👇

Berlin is finally looking to ban short-term furnished apartments. Short-term rentals enrich greedy landlords and leave less affordable flats available for those of use here long term.

Companies Hiring Right Now

🇩🇪 Companies in Germany hiring right now.

1. Bettermile (Delivery fleet productivity tools) - Berlin | 4 jobs

2. Denkwerk (Sustainable business change consultancy) - Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich | 21 jobs

3. Finoa (Blockchain investment infrastructure provider) - Berlin & remote | 14 jobs

4. Flink (Fast grocery delivery service) - Various DE locations | 50 jobs

5. Yepoda (Natural Korean beauty products) - Berlin | 16 jobs

📢 Job of the Week: Senior Backend Engineer @ rebuy in Berlin (english speaking role)

🏢 For even more companies hiring in Berlin right now, see our list.

Recently Funded Startups

🤑 German startups that recently raised new funding may also have vacancies.

✨ TL;DR - This week, 13 German startups were funded across 8 cities, nabbing around €235 M.

1. Cariqa (EV charging marketplace platform) - Berlin | 4 jobs

2. CarOnSale (Automotive dealer marketplace) - Various DE locations | 62 jobs

3. Circonomit (Sustainability data modeling toolkit) - Cologne | 11 jobs

4. coobi (Digital addiction recovery support platform) - Berlin | No jobs atm

5. CYNiO (CO2-based chemicals manufacturing) - Bitterfeld-Wolfen & remote | 4 jobs

6. Defenderbox (Cyber risk assessment tools) - Kreuztal | 1 job

7. ExpectedIT (Datacenter super server technology) - Esslingen am Neckar | 1 job

8. Filics (Autonomous warehouse robotics) - Munich | No jobs atm

9. FlyNex (Industrial drone management software) - Hamburg, Leipzig, Rotenburg | 16 jobs

10. Friendsurance (Peer-to-peer insurance platform) - Berlin & remote | 2 jobs

11. OllyGarden (Optimizes telemetry pipelines for better observability) - Berlin | 1 job

12. re:cap (Digital business debt funding and insights) - Berlin | 1 job

13. Skleo Health (Makes healthcare accessible through digital innovation) - Düsseldorf | 7 jobs

🥳 To see all 279 funded startups in 2025, check our list for even more job opportunities.

Job Search Tip

🙌 A weekly tip to help you crack that job search.

Q: Should I talk about relocation plans in my cover letter?

A: If you’re applying from abroad, briefly mention your timeline for relocating to Germany and any preparations you’ve made, like learning German.

➡️ Read more in our cover letter guide.

⭐ Struggling with your job search in Germany?
You're not alone. Let’s work together.

Smart Reads for Curious Minds

💡 Articles about tech, the world of work, & other random things.

🧑‍💼 The World of Work

• Just got fired? Microsoft’s solution is to talk to ChatGPT about your feelings. What could go wrong? 🤨

• Amazon just deployed a new fleet of autonomous warehouse bots. Your coworkers are now literal machines.

• If you’ve ever felt burned out from always stepping up, this one’s for you. A gentle reminder that boundaries at work aren’t selfish, they’re strategic.

👸 All About Women

• Want to change the world? Pay women more. The ripple effect is bigger than you think.

🤖 Everything Tech

• One company is now worth more than Germany’s entire economy.

• Elon Musk’s Grok went cuckoo for coco puffs this week, spouting some reeeeally bad anti-Semitic content, as well as linking him to Jeffrey Epstein. 🧌

• A new study of art students in China says the more narcissistic you are, the more likely you are to cheat with AI and pretend it was all you.

🔮 Random

• What if your feed could be dialed back to the ’90s? Gen Z’s obsession with retro authenticity is more revealing than you’d think.

• Imagine a 3.5-meter-tall flightless bird strolling through New Zealand again! It might happen. Apparently, no one learned lessons from Jurassic Park. 🦖

News in Germany

🗞️ The scoop on what’s happening in Germany.

ℹ️ General

• In transit news, the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn in Berlin will be closed for four months. Also, expect big delays to modernize the rail system.

• Young Germans are saying no to beer. If you buy Gut&Günstig and Naturalis mineral water, don’t drink the water. Some batches have been recalled!

• Can you guess which German cities have the best air quality?

• A court has ruled that consumers cannot be denied contracts based on their SCHUFA score if it has a negative impact on their lives.

• A tourist locked her dog in a locker on a hot day when she went to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. She’s been charged with animal cruelty. 😥

• On a positive note, that same castle recently achieved elite UNESCO status.

• A German memorial spaceflight capsule carrying the remains of 166 people has been lost.

📈 Politics & Economy

• How economics is changing the Berlin that many of us knew and loved. And not for the better.

• Self-driving taxis have arrived in DE, and no worries, they’re not Teslas. Germany is also investing in tech that may one day unlock near-infinite energy.

• Germany is pouring millions into startup factories, in a bid to revive the flat economy.

• Germany’s industrial output went up in May, but we need to see how TACO’s tariff threats pan out.

• The number of German businesses declaring bankruptcy increased by 2.4% in June, compared to this time last year.

• Travelling to Poland? Expect checks at the border.

• Germany is low-key trying to attract new soldiers to the military. Even if you volunteer, not just anyone is accepted.

• The ruling CDU is rising in popularity again. Meanwhile, the Greens just don’t know what to do with themselves.

• It’s not just hyperbole. How Donald Trump is modelling Hitler's tactics in 2025. Also, the AfD is embracing the US’s technique in trying to divide the population.

👩‍⚕️ Immigration & Labour Developments

• Germany has the fourth-best work/life balance in the world. But actually, not really. Listen to our podcast.

• Unemployment will likely rise to 3 million people this summer.

• The education minister wants to cap the number of immigrant children in German schools because she is too heartless and racist to conceive of solutions to help all children.

💃🏻 Fun, Interesting, and/or Useful

• The strangely popular Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebab is moving to a new location.

• The best ice cream in Berlin, according to Berlin Food Stories.

Germany Life Hacks

🥨 Things to make life in Deutschland (a little bit) better.

• Recommend newsletter reading: 20% Berlin & Smart Living in Germany.

Find a place to live in Berlin with Spotahome. Use code TBL15 to get 15% off your first booking.