I think Berlin is a dysfunctional city but it’s not just the government. It’s baked into the DNA of the city. So you find wild dysfunction in the civil service, and resistance to making anything more efficient. The story of how the repeatedly delayed airport is a good example. The dysfunction was all the way down to the contractors.

If you move district you may need to change your tax number because each district has its own tax office.

If you want the tax office to communicate by email rather than letter you must send them the form to request this by mail. And then they still won’t really do it.

Berliners are obsessed with organic produce, but there seems to be no demand to ban smoking in bars.

Berliners don’t want shops to open on Sundays so workers can have the day off. But they do want restaurants to be open so they can go there with their own families.

I could on and on.