Politics

Seymour Gris: 2011 in numbers

Before we dive into 2012, here are a few stats to help you understand THIS tired old year.

Image for Seymour Gris: 2011 in numbers
Photo by Sigrid Malmgren

Statistics are nonsense, but fun. Here’s a sobering numerical portrait of the outgoing year.

3 Number of hours the entire S-Bahn network shut down on December 16

8 Estimated number of victims poisoned or drugged by the ‘Date rape’ Santa at Berlin Christmas markets this year

8.9 Percent of the vote won by the Pirate Party in the September Berlin election

12.2 Unemployment rate in Berlin, in percent. This time last year: 12.6 percent. Unemployment in Bavaria: 3.3 percent

14 Number of days that the mysterious 17-year-old English-speaking “Forest Boy” says he spent walking through the woods before ending up on the steps of the Berlin City Hall in September

19 Age of Susanne Graf, the Pirates’ only female representative in the Berlin parliament and youngest in the whole legislature

19.2 Berliners living under the poverty line (less than 60 percent of the average income) in 2010, in percent. But we’re still sexy. Keep up the good work, Wowi!

20 Percentage of electricity in Germany produced by renewal energy sources. Share in 2000: 6.3 percent

23.2 Increase in rental prices for new contracts in Neukölln since 2007, in percent

26 Berliners surveyed in December who agree with the statement: “I’d prefer if all foreigners left Germany and returned to their countries of origin.”

45.6 Increase in reported cases of bike theft over the last year, in percent

4,000 Cost in euros of the memorial for Knut the polar bear next to the grave of his deceased caretaker Thomas Dörflein in Spandau – paid by Dörflein’s widow

590,000,000 Latest estimated budget approved by the Bundestag last summer for construction of the Stadtschloss, the fake Prussian palace to be built in place of the demolished East German Palast der Republik on the Museum Island. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014.

Happy New Year!