The Problem¶

In August 2024, following the bankruptcy of the "PHP" restaurant, the excellent Arabic restaurant Casalot opened its doors.

However, the restaurant attracts a clientele that likes to park in the pedestrian zone and fire lane of Otto-Weidt-Platz.

Back in December 2024, I wrote about this issue. By January 2025 at the latest, it looked like this:

At the time, I asked the Senate Department responsible for the plaza whether an retractable bollard could be installed to automatically lower for delivery traffic. The response: Not possible.

In November 2025, a meeting took place with Silke Gebel from the Green Party, followed in April 2026 by a meeting with Tilmann Häußler and Stanislav Klimovich from the SPD.

Various options were discussed, but aside from a sign at Casalot indicating that parking spaces are available in the parking garage, not much visible progress was made.

The Motion¶

In May 2026, I reported that on May 12, 2026, the SPD submitted the motion "More Kiez in Europacity – For a safe pedestrian zone on Otto-Weidt-Platz". The proposal called for installing a fold-down bollard. Initially, it included a time restriction limiting delivery vehicles for local businesses on the plaza to 7:00–10:00 AM.

The District Office is requested to examine the extent to which standard fold-down bollards (with triangular socket locks) can be installed at the access point Otto-Weidt-Platz 1 / Heidestraße 15, 10557 Berlin, in order to effectively secure the existing pedestrian zone. Additionally, signage with Traffic Sign 267 (“No Entry”) is recommended, accompanied by appropriate supplementary signs specifying exceptions for emergency vehicles, delivery traffic (working days 7:00–10:00 AM), and bicycle traffic.

Where did this restriction come from? It actually existed before the SPD motion and has been in place ever since the plaza opened:

Delivery traffic allowed on working days from 7:00–10:00 AM

Post Instead of Bollards¶

Even if it wasn't clear at the time who would actually fold the bollard up and down, it was still a step forward that everyone should have been happy about, right?

By mid-June, the following sidewalk sign appeared outside the Späti (and post office branch):

Post instead of bollards – No to the SPD motion

Wait, what was going on? The Späti doubles as a DHL and post office branch and is widely used by local residents. The argument on the sign: DHL delivery vehicles arrive throughout the day until about 6:30 PM, making a 7:00–10:00 AM window (understandably) problematic. And if we ignore the fact that the sign with the time restriction was already there anyway (see above), we arrive at: "Post instead of bollards!"

On June 17, 2026, the Berliner Zeitung reported on the matter in their article "Bollard as a patronage gift? Conflict over pedestrian zone in Europacity".

Local businesses warn of severe consequences

But also:

“Like other businesses, we also benefit from the pedestrian zone because it calms traffic,” says Markus (sic!) Held, manager of the post office branch.

“Our staff cannot serve customers while running out to fold the bollard up and down several times a day.” Furthermore, delivery drivers would need to coordinate with the shop, which isn't always guaranteed. His prediction: delivery drivers will stop right in the entrance and carry goods across 130 meters of cobblestone pavement using a hand truck. “That is unacceptable. The postal service, for example, won't accept that.”

Held explains that the postal service has already warned of terminating the contract if the bollard is installed. “If the operator loses the postal franchise, local postal services will collapse completely,” the manager warns.

The Conspiracy¶

As if that weren't enough, the Berliner Zeitung continued:

Why only this single access point? According to their understanding, two structurally and functionally almost identical pedestrian areas exist on site. However, the planned bollard affects only the access point at Otto-Weidt-Platz, specifically near the Casalot restaurant. The access point near Cafe Zuckersüss remains unchanged.

Looks like the "investigative reporters" at the Berliner Zeitung were onto something big! How could this be?

Rumors are circulating on site that the initiative may stem from complaints by individual residents active in the Green Party. (...) The suspicion that special interests might be at play has added a political aftertaste to the debate in the neighborhood, with affected parties mocking it as a "patronage gift" from the SPD to the Greens.

Well, had the reporters simply walked over to the second entrance, they would have seen this:

There hasn't just been one, but two fold-down bollards sitting there for a long time. What a scandal! Were those two patronage gifts to a mysterious resident on the north side of the plaza?

So let me summarize: According to the Berliner Zeitung, the SPD is using its motion to hand a gift to the Greens for a resident allegedly active with the Greens, installing one bollard on the south side while the north side has no... wait, two bollards?

However, no evidence for this has been presented so far.

Right. Let's just leave it at that.

Before my first meeting with local politicians, I surveyed nearly 200 direct residents of the plaza about the issues concerning them most. Illegal parking was the top issue. Informational flyers with the meeting details were posted across the neighborhood, and everyone was invited to join. In light of that, calling this the "interests of individual residents" after the fact feels disingenuous.

The Catch¶

The sidewalk sign disappeared fairly quickly. But on August 3, the next campaign arrived: the Späti distributed flyers:

An SPD motion in the District Assembly (BVV) aims to end the operation of our post office branch. Specifically, it requests installing a bollard at the Heidestraße entrance – making access to the post office branch impossible.

That sounds understandable, if not for one small catch: The initial time restriction in the SPD motion was scrapped by the Traffic Committee in its resolution recommendation on June 3—two full months before the flyer was distributed—and published as such:

I spoke directly with Marcus Held to understand the issue and ask for his suggested solution.

It turned out that, as suspected, there isn't really a problem at all. Mr. Held explained that, as mentioned in the article above, he supports a car-free pedestrian zone. He even offered that Späti staff could lower the bollard in the morning and fold it back up in the late afternoon after the last DHL delivery truck arrives, rather than doing it for every single vehicle.

This would resolve one of the biggest challenges with the bollard (the "who") and benefit everyone: peak hours for the restaurant start after 6:30 PM. Once the bollard is folded up for the evening, illegal parking should vanish into thin air.

So we've solved it, haven't we?

Campaigning¶

Unfortunately, no. At the end of August, the CDU—represented by Monika Trautmann—weighed in on the matter with a flyer of its own:

If the SPD initiative succeeds, delivery traffic will no longer be possible

Here again, Ms. Trautmann repeats something that is simply not planned. She goes on to write:

As the CDU, we will reject this ill-conceived proposal in the BVV

This is particularly interesting given that the Traffic Committee approved the motion unanimously, including all 4 CDU votes.

On September 4, the Berliner Morgenpost published an article describing the situation. However, as of today, that article is no longer online for unknown reasons.

The article referenced an open letter by House of Representatives (AGH) candidate Stanislav Klimovich, who wrote:

Following my review, the statements contained therein regarding an SPD motion in the BVV Mitte are factually inaccurate or misleading in key respects. As a district councilor and candidate for the House of Representatives, you bear a special responsibility to represent political positions and parliamentary proceedings accurately to citizens—especially in the run-up to an election.

The takeaway: We are right in the middle of election season.

What Now?¶

At the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing:

• Nobody wants cars parked in the pedestrian zone blocking the fire lane.
• Nobody wants the local Späti to close down.

So why not work together on a solution that doesn't seem so impossible after all?