What actually connects Germany's extremists?

They disagree on almost everything, except one thing.

Aug 03, 2026

Personal News & Musings

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

Something has been sitting with me since the CSD attack, and it isn’t only the attack itself. It’s how quickly the conversation split into different camps, with each side reaching for an explanation that already fit the argument they wanted to have.

What gets lost in that rush is the real danger, which is extremism itself, from whatever direction it comes, and the way it works to turn people against each other. That division is not a side effect of these attacks. It's more like the main goal. There's a DW piece that names this pattern better than I can, and I've saved it for this week's poll.

What has stayed with me more, is what happened next. Zug der Liebe cancelled its parade out of respect, and hundreds of thousands turned out for Pride in Hamburg. Before he went, I asked a colleague who had been close to where everything happened in Berlin whether he still felt safe going to the celebrations in Hamburg.

He said yes, and then asked what else he was supposed to do, live his life in fear? He was determined more than he’d ever been and said he wasn’t going to be anyone other than himself. More on all of it below.

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Sound Off: Your Take on Germany

📊 Results of our weekly polls.

⁉️ Our last poll asked: How do you feel about Germany's closed Sundays?

Germany’s Sunday closures aren’t going away just yet, but the debate around them remains fierce. As the government considers allowing longer opening hours for bakeries and libraries from 2027, and retailers push for wider reform, the conversation about convenience versus tradition is only growing. You can read more about the debate here, or take advantage of my guide to Sunday shopping in Berlin.

A total of 183 people voted, and the community was fairly split. While 42% think Germany’s closed Sundays are outdated and should be opened up, 30% want to keep the tradition exactly as it is. Another 25% landed somewhere in the middle, saying a limited number of shops opening would be enough. It seems many people aren’t looking for a seven-day shopping culture, just a little more flexibility.

🫂 Take part in this week’s poll. After the Berlin attack, most of the coverage stayed on one question, which was who the attacker was. This DW piece goes somewhere else.

A researcher who has spent years studying extremism points out that Islamist and far-right movements are not opposites so much as mirrors, sharing a hostility to queer people, a distrust of institutions, and the same aim of splitting society into two camps that cannot live together. Each treats the other as proof that coexistence is impossible, and he warns that fixating on the attacker’s nationality plays directly into that.

🧑🏼‍🤝‍🧑🏽 Connect with others: Join our chat on Substack.

Companies Hiring Right Now

🇩🇪 5 German companies hiring right now.

Five German deep tech companies hiring now, from fusion and quantum to green hydrogen and reusable spacecraft:

Black Semiconductor (Graphene chips connected by light)
Aachen | 36 jobs
Analog transceiver design engineer, semiconductor materials category manager, photonics lab technician.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Onsite/hybrid mix
planqc (Quantum computers from neutral atoms)
Ulm & Munich | 18 jobs
Quantum systems architect, senior accountant, people & culture working student.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Hybrid
Proxima Fusion (Fusion energy from stellarator reactors)
Munich | 41 jobs
Head of licensing & regulation, computational engineer, enterprise AI intern.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Onsite
Sunfire (Electrolysers for green hydrogen)
Dresden, Lingen, Solingen, Magdeburg | 54 jobs
Sales manager, SAP working student, quality supervisor customer projects.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Hybrid
The Exploration Company (Reusable capsules for space cargo)
Munich & Düsseldorf | 64 jobs
Site director, FPGA engineer, ecodesign working student.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Hybrid

👋🏼 That’s not all: See our weekly-updated database of 400+ Berlin companies hiring right now.

Berlin Companies Hiring

Recently Funded Startups

🤑 German startups that recently raised new funding.

📊 Weekly Snapshot

A leaner week, but 33 open roles are still up for grabs. Last week, 6 funded startups across 4 German cities raised about €27 M, and 5 are hiring:

5U AI (AI worker for freight forwarding) - $3.2 M
Munich | 7 jobs
Full-stack AI engineer, sales development representative, founder’s associate.
🇩🇪 & 🇬🇧 | Onsite
Celsio (Power-to-heat provider for factories) - €1.2 M
Munich | 2 jobs
Founder's associate, business development & operations intern.
🇩🇪 &/or 🇬🇧 | Onsite
metr (Smart metering and heating platform) - €10.5 M
Leipzig | 1 job
Senior key account manager.
🇩🇪 | Hybrid
PadelCity (Padel sports franchise) - €12 M
Various German cities | 12 jobs
Coaches and club managers, mostly.
🇩🇪 | Onsite
Willidrop (Vehicle logistics platform) - Undisclosed
Frankfurt | 11 jobs
Product engineer, carrier network manager, founder's associate.
🇩🇪 & 🇬🇧 | Hybrid

🧐 Key Insights

What last week's funding tells us:

The biggest hirer isn’t a tech company. PadelCity, a padel-court franchise, has 12 open roles, more than any software startup this week. A reminder that “startup jobs” in Germany doesn’t only mean engineers. If your background is coaching, hospitality, or operations, the roles are there, just not where the hype points.
The money went almost everywhere except Berlin. Six raises, four cities, and Berlin took just one. Munich pulled three, Frankfurt and Hamburg the rest, skewing toward energy, logistics, and industrial software. If you’ve been treating Berlin as the only place to job-hunt, the map keeps arguing otherwise.

💸 Job hunting? See our weekly-updated list of 339 funded German startups, and who's hiring now.

Funded German Startups

Job Search/ Work Life Tips

🙌 Weekly career tips to keep you sane in Germany.

The first salary advice many newcomers hear in Germany is to take whatever gets offered, because supposedly Germans dislike a counter offer. That is flat out wrong. Negotiation is expected here, and my rule is simple, never accept the first offer.

I wrote a full, honest guide to negotiating salary in Germany that walks you through when the conversation starts and how to research a fair range using real German resources. You will also learn what you can push for beyond base pay and the mistakes that cost people money, all drawn from more than a decade here as both a job seeker and a hiring manager.

It’s the guide I wish someone had handed me when I landed, and I have shared everything I know in it, including the times I tried to negotiate and failed, and the times I pushed past my comfort zone and won.

Advice this important should not sit behind a paywall. Knowing how to advocate for your worth is too valuable to gate keep. My complete guide to negotiating salary in Germany is free, it always will be, and I hope it helps you walk into your next offer knowing exactly what you are worth.

Bonus article: The simple trick to negotiating higher pay, one calm line and then silence, no three-paragraph justification required. Consider this your reminder to ask.

If you want help improving your CV or job applications for the German market, I’ve got you. 👉🏼 Learn more or book a session here.

Germany Life Hacks

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

Hot tip: If you have heard me talk about the financial adviser who helped me stop joking about working until I die and actually plan for my future in Germany, that is Expat Heroes, and their free English-speaking consultations are an easy first step if your own pension and insurance picture needs the same honest look mine did.
Recommended newsletters: 20% Berlin & Smart Living in Germany.
Weekly deals: Setting up internet in Germany is … a whole thing. If you're moving or switching, PŸUR offers cable internet, TV, and phone, plus up to €190 for every friend you refer. Use my signup link to get started.

Featured Germany Life Guide(s)

🔊 Guides to help you settle in Germany.

Three guides for navigating a job change in Germany:

If you are weighing up an offer or just started somewhere new, probation periods in Germany explains how the Probezeit actually works, from shorter notice periods to what your employer can and cannot do before you are through it.
Thinking about moving on? How to quit your job in Germany walks you through resigning the right way so you protect your reputation, your references, and your next move.
The one to actually read before you hand anything in, notice periods in Germany breaks down exactly how much notice you owe, how it changes with time served, and how to count it so you do not accidentally tie yourself in for longer.

ℹ️ More where that came from:

60+ guides on living and working in Germany.
We also have a podcast. See our past episodes.

Our Events (+ Other Events)

🎟️ A weekly event round-up.

This week is about making something with your hands and looking up at the sky:

Aug 5: Cry Session: Ceramic Painting at Mao Mao (men-only) is a hands-on ceramic painting evening from Hot Boys Cry, a men-only space to slow down and connect. Paint a piece and collect it glazed a few weeks later, all materials provided. 18:30–20:30. €10.
Aug 6: Crochet Bag Workshop at Nomad Day Bar is a beginner-friendly session with Ania where you make a small bag from first stitch to finish. Small group, all materials included. 18:00–21:00. Only 2 spots left. €35.
Aug 12: The World You See: Solar Eclipse & Perseid Meteor Shower is a collective evening of sky-watching: an 80% partial solar eclipse, then the Perseids as day turns to night. Eclipse glasses provided, come and go as you like. 18:30–23:30. Free.

📅 Subscribe to our calendar to receive event alerts from The Berlin Life as they happen.

News in Germany

🗞️ The inside scoop on what’s happening in Germany.

ℹ️ General

The August changes that will actually affect your daily life? Fewer trains during the heat, higher regional ticket prices from August 1, a new EU AI-labelling rule, and a country-wide speeding crackdown.
Do you actually know what "6-7" means, or are you ready to feel old? Germany's Youth Word of the Year 2026 shortlist puts the meme-born "6-7" up against "digga," "Macker," "crashout" and "ragebait," with the winner crowned on October 10.
How is a hotter Germany actually affecting people here? RKI counted roughly 9,800 heat-related deaths by mid-July, a new study finds climate doubt has grown into what it calls a mass phenomenon, and near Berlin, residents and industry forces are battling to draw on the same stretched water supply.
The EU’s exploring a satellite system that would automatically cap your car's speed at the local limit.

📈 Politics & Economy

The community is carrying both grief and resolve at once, as Zug der Liebe cancelled its parade out of respect after the CSD attack in Berlin, while hundreds of thousands turned out for Pride in Hamburg to show that love wins and nothing else.
The reasons the queer community feel threatened aren’t limited to the CSD attack, as hate crimes have risen roughly tenfold since 2010, Pride symbols are being blocked in public spaces, and the push to add sexual identity to Article 3 of the Basic Law is meeting resistance.
Ever feel like nothing in Germany quite works anymore? You're not alone, as just 17% of people now trust the state to do its job, a record low, with pensions and the economy now the top worries.
Is Germany's economy finally turning a corner? GDP grew 0.2% last quarter, just above forecasts and defying the fallout from the Middle East war.
Germany just hit a milestone worth noticing! Wind and solar out-produced fossil fuels for the first time in 2025, at 44% of the country's electricity.

👩‍⚕️ Immigration & Labour Developments

The July jobless figures crossed 3 million as industry keeps slumping, but a chunk of that is the usual summer dip when apprenticeships end and hiring pauses, so a slow response right now is not necessarily about you.
The €603 minijob may soon lose its tax-free, pension-optional status, so if that is how you top up your income, it is worth understanding now what full social-security contributions would mean for your paycheck and your future pension.
Europe's working day is eating into more people’s personal time. While Germany has no standalone right-to-disconnect law yet, knowing that France, Italy, Spain and others do can help you push for clearer boundaries at work.
Ever wondered what the top of the German pay ladder looks like? Lufthansa's CEO is estimated to take home €9 to €11 million a year, a useful benchmark next to the salary and pension debates hitting ordinary workers.
A new study finds net migration has more than halved since 2023, driven by fewer asylum seekers, EU workers leaving and rising German emigration, though work-linked residence permits are still growing.

💃🏻 Fun, Interesting, Thoughtful, and/or Useful

Need somewhere to escape the Berlin heat this month? Görlitz gives you a walkable, film-set old town 3 hours away (read my personal travelogue), while the North and Baltic Sea coastlines and a handful of small, car-free islands offer sea air and slow days … without the Sylt crowds.
If you like your day trips a little eerie, a Lübars hay shed on Berlin's northern edge doubles as a fictional Highsmith crime scene, and a few hours away Route 46 lets you walk Germany's longest abandoned Nazi-era motorway.
This DW portrait of 93-year-old high-wire artist Frieda Daniels is a moving reminder of a part of the Holocaust that gets far too little attention, the murder of an estimated 500,000 Sinti and Roma.

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