The German Review

The German Review

Blue collar no more

German bin men are solidly middle class

Jörg Luyken's avatar
Jörg Luyken
Apr 03, 2025
∙ Paid
a group of trash cans sitting next to each other
Photo by vvills_ on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

In mid-March, during the final, bitingly cold week of winter, Berlin was submerged in a sea of rubbish. Bins overflowed in backyards, bags were piled up on top of and next to containers on the street. The parks had turned into one large fly-tipping zone. Bags of stinking nappies, half-eaten döner kebabs—it was a r…

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