What’s new in Berlin
Berlin events in August
- Rave the Planet (August 15)
- Zug der Liebe (August 29)
- Long Night of the Museums (August 29)
What’s new in Germany
Youth slang of the year
Every year, Germans vote on the Jugendwort des Jahres. It’s worth it just for Susanne Daubner’s deadpan reading of the list of candidates.
This year’s finalists are “Gute Käse”, “Süper”, “Macker”, “Schere”, “67”, “Crashout”, “Peak”, “Digga”, “Ragebait” and “Du bist guuut genug”.
You have until August 20 to cast your vote.
New euro bills
You can also vote on the design of the new euro bills. There are 10 design proposals, and the European Central Bank wants to know what you think of them.
Health insurance changes
The public health insurance reform is official. This is what will change in 2027:
- Price increase
Public health insurance costs a percentage of your income, but the cost is capped to around €640 per month. In 2027, this cap will be raised to €704 per month. This means that high-earning employees will pay an extra €756 per year for health insurance. Freelancers will pay up to €1,512 per year more. - Higher bar for private health insurance
Employees must earn at least €77,400 per year to choose private health insurance. Starting in 2027, they must earn at least €84,483 per year. - Higher co-payments
Some treatments and prescriptions have a co-payment of €5 to €10. It will go up by 5%, so you will pay €7.50 to €15. - Coverage changes
Homeopathy and cannabis flowers are no longer covered.5
This is what will change in 2028:
- No free health insurance for spouses
Public health insurance covers your unemployed spouse for free. Starting in 2028, covering your spouse will cost an extra 2.5% of your income. Your children will still get free coverage.
If you want to switch to private health insurance for 2027, you must do it before September 30. Don’t just look at the price difference; switching can be a bad idea. Ask my insurance guy if it makes sense first.
How to choose health insurance
Sick leave changes
After 3 days of sick leave, you need a sick note from a doctor. Your employer can require a sick note on day one, but that rarely happens.
Soon, everyone will need a sick note on day one.6 Sick notes by phone will also be abolished. Merz thinks that we take too many sick days, and wants to change that.
AI disclosure law
Businesses must now disclose AI-generated content. This applies to news articles, websites, social media posts. It does not apply to private or internal communications.
This only applies to fully automated AI-generated content. No disclosure is needed if a human has reviewed the content, and is responsible for its accuracy.
Businesses must also tell you when you are interacting with AI. This applies to customer service chatbots, for example.1
This is required by Article 50 of the EU AI Act. I found this clarification helpful. I will update my website compliance guide to mention it.
All-day care in elementary school
Children can go to Kita until they start primary school. Some primary schools only have lessons in the morning. In other states, parents must care for their children in the afternoon.
This is changing. First-graders are now entitled to after-school care. They can now get 8 hours of care per day, 5 days per week. This will extend to second-graders next year, then third-graders the year after, and finally to fourth-graders.3
This does not affect Berliners, because things already work this way in Berlin.2
On my radar
- Pension reform
The government is still refining its controversial pension reform. I have covered the proposed changes last month. - Parental leave changes
The government plans to slightly increase Elterngeld payments, but for 12 months instead of 14.4 - Local elections (September 20)
On September 20, Berliners must vote in city and district (Bezirk) elections. They will choose their representatives for the next 5 years. These representatives pass laws that affect all of us. German citizens can vote in state and district elections. EU citizens can only vote in district elections. Non-EU citizens can’t vote. For the first time, the voting age is 16 years old instead of 18. - No dismissal protection for high earners
This proposal would allow employers to fire high-earning employees more easily. Employees earning over €177,450 per year would effectively lose dismissal protections.7
What’s new on All About Berlin
Podcast appearance
In July, I was interviewed for an NPR podcast. I talked about how AI chatbots and Google AI summaries are destroying All About Berlin and the web. The episode is a good explanation of what’s going on, with a few sound bites from your truly.
In the middle of my July vacation, Google doubled down on AI summaries, taking another 20% of my traffic.
New home page
Look at this gorgeous new home page! The brings the design in line with the home page of A Good Start, a business I am slowly launching with a friend.
What I learned this month
Sick leave for parents
If your child is sick, you can take unpaid leave to care for them. Your public health insurance usually covers 90% of your salary during that time, up to €135.62 per day. Some private health insurance policies also include parental sick leave.
Sources and footnotes
-
verbraucherzentrale.de (August 2026) ⤴
-
tagesschau (July 2026) ⤴