Thousands march in Berlin against soaring rents ahead of state election

Demonstration draws thousands through Berlin-Mitte

Thousands of tenants marched through central Berlin on Saturday to protest against rising living costs and housing displacement. According to organizers from the Alliance against Displacement and Rent Madness (Bündnis gegen Verdrängung und Mietenwahnsinn), approximately 11,000 people took part in the event, titled "Her mit den Wohnungen, Runter mit den Mieten" ("Hand over the flats, down with the rents"). Organizers had originally registered 20,000 participants with authorities, and turnout during the midday gathering stood at around 3,000 before growing later in the afternoon. Police made no official estimate of crowd size. The demonstration started at the Rotes Rathaus and traversed central thoroughfares, including Unter den Linden, Friedrichstraße, and Leipziger Straße, before concluding back at the city hall.

Housing alliances demand caps and socialization

The rally brought together tenant associations, including the Berliner Mieterverein and Berliner Mietergemeinschaft, alongside district groups from Pankow, Weberwiese, and Tegel. Demonstrators carried banners reading "Eure Mieten sind doch Mondpreise" ("Your rents are moon prices") and "Enteigner enteignen" ("Expropriate the expropriators"). Their core platform demands a nationwide rent cap, the socialization of large corporate real estate companies, and an outright ban on evictions and personal-use contract terminations. Speakers also urged the Berlin senate to prioritize municipal, ecologically sustainable residential construction over speculative private developments.

A private new-build apartment costs on average 20 euros per square meter in Berlin. Only the top five percent of the population can still afford that.

Tenant activists voiced growing frustration over increasing financial strain and contract insecurity across Berlin's rental market.

We are afraid when we go to the mailbox and open a letter from the landlord.

Municipal housing conditions under scrutiny

Speakers on the podium addressed deteriorating conditions within public housing estates as well as the private market. Several community representatives from Neukölln estates, including the High-Deck-Siedlung and Rollbergsiedlung, reported issues with mold, asbestos, and out-of-service elevators in state-owned buildings. Rather than expropriating public firms, speakers demanded that state-run companies redirect rental revenues into property maintenance rather than subsidizing new construction projects. Out of nearly four million residents in the capital, approximately 3.2 million live in rental housing, heightening the broad exposure to maintenance backlogs and rate increases.

Housing platform ahead of state elections

The street action occurred two weeks before the Berlin regional parliament elections scheduled for 20 September 2026. Current polling shows the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and The Left (Die Linke) tied at approximately 20% each, followed by Alternative for Germany (AfD) at about 18%, the Greens between 15% and 18%, and the Social Democrats (SPD) between 11% and 15%, while the BSW and FDP poll below the 5% electoral threshold. The coalition of CDU and SPD focuses its platform on expanding new residential construction and regulating rent excess, whereas Die Linke campaigns to curb real estate conglomerates. Tenant groups have organized another demonstration on 10 September at 09:00 outside the Rotes Rathaus to protest against the demolition of residential space.