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Did I do the right thing?
First time posting here and I'm a little nervous.
Last night while my boyfriend was putting some recycling in the bins in the shed outside our flat, a neighbour from the building next to u… Hi there,
First time posting here and I'm a little nervous.
Last night while my boyfriend was putting some recycling in the bins in the shed outside our flat, a neighbour from the building next to us approached me mumbling something. I tried to ignore him but he got in my face and said (in German) that he wants to kill someone. He lifted up his shirt and there was a gun in his waistband, then he leaned closer to me and put his finger on his lips and said "shhh".
I just stood stunned while he walked away towards another flat and took the gun out and was playing with it while walking. My boyfriend came out the shed and I told him what happened and we called the police.
By the time they found him he didn't have the gun on him anymore, and as far as I know no one was hurt. He's now been sent to a psychiatric hospital for a few days, which doesn't give me peace of mind at all.
I know he knows who must've called the police, and they haven't found the gun so I'm scared he'll come after me with the gun once he's out of hospital.
A neighbour living in his building approached us asking what happened but I just ignored him because I don't know how they are associated. For all I know, they are friends and now he'll tell the gun man exactly who made the call that got him sectioned.
I'm essentially living in fear now and doubting I did the right thing. I love Berlin but things like this just make me hate it. I feel like I can't trust the police or my neighbours.
The PsychKG placement is actually a better outcome than just having him released with a warning. The docs have to assess him properly and that report goes to the police file, so if he shows up near your building again, there's already a record of the threat. I'd suggest going to your local Polizeiabschnitt and asking for a Gefährderansprache, which is basically a formal warning visit to him about you specifically. They do these for domestic violence situations and it creates another layer of documentation.
For the nosy neighbour, just say "Die Polizei kümmert sich darum" and walk away. Most people in Berlin know better than to push when someone shuts down like that. If you're really worried about running into this guy again, plan a different route to your U-Bahn for a few weeks.
You definitely did the right thing. If you want some peace of mind, go to your local Abschnitt (police station) and ask to speak to the Kontaktbeamter, the community officer for your area. They can give you a direct number and might even do a quick safety check on your building's entrance situation.
The fact that he was sent to a psych hospital under a PsychKG order means the police took it seriously and documented everything. That paper trail matters if anything else happens. I'd also recommend installing a simple peephole camera if your flat door doesn't have one, they're legal as long as you point it only at your own door.
For the neighbour who asked questions, just keep it short if you see them again. A simple "I don't know anything" or "the police are handling it" is fine. You don't owe anyone details. Berlin is a big city and most people keep to themselves, but this kind of thing rattles you, I get it.
honestly you did the right thing, better safe than sorry. maybe ask the polizei if they can do extra patrols around your block for a bit
What is the correct spelling for a street name that appears differently on multiple signs in Charlottenburg?
Worth noting that Berlin street names have official umlaut and ß rules that trip people up, so a sign showing "Strasse" versus "Straße" is not actually a spelling error, just an older transcription. Same with "ue" versus "ü" (e.g. "Kantstrasse" vs "Kantstraße"), both are considered valid renderings and you'll see the ß version on the blue Schilder and the ss version on older plaques or in databases that predate Unicode. If the difference you're seeing is between those two forms, there's nothing to fix and both are technically correct.
if the signs u mean are the old enamel ones on the house facades those are often protected as Baudenkmal so nobody's allowed to correct them even if the spelling is outdated. the binding version is whatever is in the Berliner Strassenverzeichnis plus the entry in the Liegenschaftskataster, so if u tell me the street i can point u to the right Bezirksamt Mitte or Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf page. tbh the merged district thing is real but the facade signs are a separate story, theyre basically museum pieces at this point
honestly thats super common in Charlottenburg, the district offices were merged from older Bezirke and nobody ever fixed all the Schilder. if its a real street you can check the official strassenverzeichnis on berlin.de, that list is what the Burgeramt actually goes by. which street is it? some of the Kaiserdamm / Kantstrasse signs are notorious for this.
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