On July 1, pensions rose by 5.35 percent (West Germany) and 6.12 percent (ex-GDR) – one of the most drastic increases since the introduction of pension insurance. With inflation this year already at around eight percent, groceries that have become 20 to 50 percent more expensive and energy costs that have risen by at least half, that’s a drop in the bucket.
First Corona, now Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine with all the economic consequences: Germany’s pensioners are particularly affected by these consequences.
BILD was at a pensioners’ coffee party in an allotment garden in Berlin-Neukölln and asked the elderly: How are you doing?
Horst Mitte (87, 1820 euros net pension) from Berlin-Biesdorf used to be a steel construction worker and is with his wife Inge (84, 1165 euros net), a former office worker, to ex-truck driver Wolfgang Persky (76, 2200 euros net) came into the garden. He has built a little paradise with his partner Pa Königsmann (68, 460 euros net). Pa, who used to work in a fish factory and as a flower woman, grows Thai vegetables and herbs from her homeland in the allotment garden.
Also there are the garden neighbors Rolf Hellmann (75, 1122 euros net), a former travel agent, and the trained hat maker and Berlin skat master Werner Theissen (83), who does not know exactly how much pension he gets: “My wife takes care of it care regarding it”.
The Berlin pensioners at the coffee party in the allotment garden
The sun is burning, the coffee is hot and cake from a Britzer Café is also on the beer garden table under a sunroof on a green lawn.
Horst Mitte, steel-rimmed glasses, white polo shirt, takes a sip of coffee and says: “When I was 16, my grandfather walked from the Kingdom of Saxony to the Kingdom of Prussia for two weeks and worked hard. But then everything broke. My grandparents experienced the great inflation in Berlin at the end of the 1920s. That’s where it comes down to now. The money becomes worthless.”
It started with Corona, now the war in Ukraine. “I remember what war means,” he says. “If something happens now, we won’t even have proper shelters anymore. At the age of ten I walked through a hail of Stalin organs in Biesdorf, which destroyed Frankfurter Allee at the time. The images are coming up once more now, the third world war is just around the corner.”
Horst Mitte (right) talks regarding the war, Rolf Hellmann (left) listens
When the Russians came to the city and the screams of raped women echoed from the houses, his parents wanted to hang themselves and their son in desperation. He just managed to dissuade her.
At that time the Russians were still liberators, following all they were fighting the genocide Hitler. “And now the Russians are claiming that there are Nazis in Ukraine. Where are there Nazis? If anyone uses Nazi methods, it’s now the Russians themselves,” he says.
His wife Inge, who has dyed red hair, says: “The prices are increasing significantly, but there are still a few offers. We stockpile, if something is cheap we buy more. Thank God we have our own home, but the heating is coming at us more severely. Then it’s time to put on a cardigan and shower less. In principle it is a solidarity with the Ukrainians. And it’s not for nothing that people say: ‘The rich Germans’. We are still doing very well globally.”
The allotment garden in Berlin-Neukölln
Her husband says: “Yes, if a crate of beer costs less than ten euros, I’ll just buy three and put them in the garage. But the worst is yet to come, namely the energy costs. This is going to be a big hit. We ate potato peelings at the end of the Great War, that worked somehow, but when you get up to it, the fun stops. Why are the Finns building nuclear power plants and we aren’t? We really have no other choice, we have no resources in the earth. Our politicians should think regarding something.”
Wolfgang Persky, a native of Berlin with a Berlin snout and a friendly smile, says: “When I go to the store, my wallet gets empty. With 30 euros I used to get a pretty big basket, now there’s a lot less in it!”
Wolfgang Persky is worried regarding his money
Rolf Hellmann, who originally comes from Saxony, nods: “When I looked at how much minced meat costs, my eyes fell out of my head. From 2.49 euros to double, that does not catch the pension increase. I’ve now watched and frozen special offers. And I worked on a 450-euro basis until I was 74.”
One thing particularly annoys him: “It’s absurd that we pensioners shouldn’t get the 300 euro flat rate for energy costs. We have almost all cars.”
Persky replies: “And this 9-euro ticket, that’s a chunk that’s been thrown at us, but it’s all useless. Drive to the Baltic Sea for nine euros and then? Everything is more expensive there.”
Werner Theissen, a happy old man, tells how his family is dealing with the increased prices: “My wife cooks more, we go to the restaurant less. My only hobby is still playing skat, once a week in the national league – but that doesn’t make any money. 50 cents for a lost game, that’s still possible.”
Werner Theissen was once Berlin’s treasurer
Wolfgang Persky’s partner Pa has the lowest pension with her 460 euros a month. She, too, makes ends meet as she can. “My dear daughter gives me 250 euros a month, that helps,” she says. “I also buy less, only the most important things. I grow vegetables and herbs here in the garden myself.” She shows fresh Thai basil and coriander from her bed. This tastes like their Thai homeland. “It’s too expensive in stores now,” she says.
Da Koenigsmann grows herbs to save money
The pensioners talk regarding life, the war, the future, grandchildren. How do you think this can all get better?
Wolfgang Persky says: “We survived the corona crisis and were vaccinated three to four times. Now we will do that as well.”
Inge Mitte says: “I hope you can still do something with diplomacy, weapons alone cannot solve it.”
Inge Mitte with her husband Horst. She hopes for diplomacy
But her husband Horst says grimly: “Unfortunately, diplomacy was overslept. The ex-KGB man Putin doesn’t even talk face to face, but with his long table in between. Such a bastard cannot be placated with kind words.”
They still have it good in the green garden between flowers, trees and the chirping of birds. “But a Russian shell might hit here at any time,” says Horst, thinking regarding the past.
