Home story #41/2026

Germany in autumn is pretty uncomfortable. And the weather is bad too. You get this impression especially when you have just returned from sunny Armenia, where the pomegranates are just beginning to ripen.

It was also relaxing to temporarily follow the political events in Germany from a safe distance of almost 3,000 kilometers as the crow flies. Of course, the grass is always greener elsewhere, and Armenia also has problems - for example, the former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was responsible for gangster-like threats, recently remarked in an interview that the country could end up as the "new Ukraine" if it sticks to the course of breaking away from Russian influence. But at least there is no AfD there, which appears as the strongest force in state parliaments, and no Hamas admirers who want to march through Berlin-Kreuzberg on October 7th under the motto "Until Endsie ... ", no, wait, "Until total liberation" in order to celebrate the mass murderous pogrom on the anniversary, including groups such as the Alliance of Internationalist Feminists or Global South United from the horror cabinet of the Berlin anti-Semitic scene.

The change after returning from Yerevan was difficult for some in the editorial team. »I arrived and was immediately annoyed by the Berlin Marathon; “Everything was full of people, really everything,” says one. »In comparison, I noticed how relaxed the people in Yerevan are; Nobody shouts, not in Berlin, where shouting is a constant companion. Once you have lived among Armenians for some time, you actually have to steel yourself internally in order to get along with Berliners. One editor was at least happy about the bread instead of the Armenian “lawn rags,” sorry.

But of course there are also bright spots in Berlin, such as the Bajszel in Neukölln, and the people you meet there, see again or get to know, for example because they found their way there on Thursday last week to pour cognac on the launch of the extra-thick Armenia edition of this newspaper. May the texts brought from Armenia brighten up one or two rainy afternoons for the reader.