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BERLIN NEWSLETTER
January 2007

GLOBAL WARMING COULD DESTROY SKI RESORTS

After a record warm December, a new OECD report has warned that climate change
poses "serious risks" to the future of ski areas in the Alpine region. Of the countries
studied, Germany is most at risk. An increase in temperature by one degree could
lead to a 60 percent decrease in the number of snow-reliable ski areas in Germany.

Ski operators are already adapting to rising snow lines and shorter winter seasons,
mostly with technology rather than changing behavioural patterns. Artificial snow
is popular and cost effective for ski operators but consumes a lot of water and energy
and can harm the landscape and ecology. Making artificial snow will become more
expensive as temperatures rise, and it will no longer be possible if the air becomes too
warm, the report said. Alpine tourism plays a key role in the economies of Alpine
countries, with some 60 to 80 million tourists to the region each year.

Do you think climate change will mean the end of skiing as a sport for the masses?

MORE CASH FOR BABIES IN 2007

For parents expecting babies around the New Year, the exact date of birth was crucial.
A new law meant a difference of tens of thousands of euros for parents, depending
when their babies were born. Parents of babies born in Germany after 00:00 a.m. on
January 1 will benefit from new family subsidies. Under the new Elterngeld law,
parents who stay home to look after a child will receive 67 percent of their last net
income, or up to €1,800 a month, for the first 12 months. "From Christmas on, I will
be standing on my head," expecting mother Antje Grimm told news agency DDP.

Critics say that while the subsidies will come as a blessing for many families, they will
also put the unemployed at a disadvantage for having children. Under the new
scheme, the jobless may only get €300 a month. But the motivation behind the new
law is purely pragmatic: The German birth rate has fallen to an average of 1.3
children per woman. The Federal Statistical Office has forecasted a drop in the
population from today's 82 million people to just 69 million by 2050. That kind of
demographic development would be a disaster for Germany’s pension system.

Do you think the new subsidies are fair? Will they lead to a higher birth rate in Germany?
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A NEW CULT DRINK

A fermented soft drink, produced using traditional beer-brewing

techniques? When inventor and brewer Dieter Leiphold told his
friends in the beverage industry about his idea, all he got was question
marks. Today, German consumers are drinking Leiphold’s “Bionade”
faster than his small family business can produce it – 70 million bottles
this year. Made from organic ingredients and with less than half the
amount of sugar in other lemonades, Bionade has become a cult drink.

Once the fermenting process had been perfected, it still took years before the drink
was successful. The breakthrough came in Hamburg in 1998, when the popular bar
Gloria began serving Bionade, which quickly became the favourite drink of media and
advertising professionals. Today, Bionade is celebrated as a modern-day David,
surviving amongst the Goliaths of the international beverage industry. In fact,
Bionade turned down an offer from Coca Cola to buy the company in 2004. Later,
the company signed a distribution deal with Coke, and consumers can now buy
Bionade at airports, on ICE trains, the Daimler Chrysler canteen, and at IKEA stores.

Have you ever tried this drink? In general, do you often buy organic food?

EUROPE'S BIGGEST PIZZA FACTORY IN BERLIN

Europe's biggest factory for frozen pizzas is located in Berlin. On

average, some 1.25 million pizzas are produced daily at
"Freiberger" and exported to more than 30 countries in Europe.
650 employees in Berlin work two shifts six days a week. First the
crusts are pre-baked in a 30-metre long stone oven. Then robots
put the toppings on the pizzas and sprinkle them with cheese.
Finally, the pizzas are frozen at minus 25 degrees Celsius and
packaged. Each pizza travels four kilometres during this process.

"We have more than 40 different crusts and some 1,000 recipes. We are a custom
tailor for pizza," managing director Helmut Morient says. How about "gorgonzola
cream with apple sauce and cinnamon", or "pizza with Nutella and strawberries"? No
problem. Of course, the customer's taste is most important. "There is no European
pizza," according to Morient. "The further north you go, the softer and thicker the
crust has to be. Go further south, and it has to be thinner and crispier." The English at
the moment prefer Indian toppings. "In England they'll eat anything with chicken and
curry," he says. In Germany, salami pizza is the undisputable number one.

What is your favourite kind of pizza? Do you sometimes like to make yourself a frozen pizza?

Newsletter — Jan 2007 2

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COPYRIGHT CONFLICT FOR YOUTUBE

YouTube, a trendy Internet portal for sharing video content,

is mainly used for harmless home videos. But when concerts,
movie clips and soccer games are shown, touchy copyright
issues come up. The collecting society GEMA has
demanded that YouTube either pay royalties for publishing
copyrighted material or erase it. YouTube’s parent company
Google, which bought the video portal in October for
$1.65 billion, has agreed. "Of course we will respect and
protect copyrights," said spokesman Stefan Keuchel.

However, since it is individual users put the videos online and not Google, this is
easier said than done. Some 70,000 new videos are uploaded by private users each
day. Currently there is no preliminary screening to prevent the upload of copy-
righted videos. The German Soccer League and FC Bayern Munich have announced
that they will not overlook copyright violations on YouTube. The biggest challenge,
it seems, will be to find a balance between satisfying copyright laws and maintaining
the essential principle of YouTube — that video exchange is freely accessible to all.

Do you sometimes go to the YouTube website? If so, what do you use it for?

ONE MORE YEAR FOR TEMPELHOF AIRPORT

A Berlin court has said that Tempelhof airport, which was supposed to close in
October 2007, could stay open for another year in a compromise deal. "It is an
attempt to create judicial peace," said judge Jürgen Kipp. Thirteen companies had
taken legal action to keep the airport open arguing they would be disadvantaged by
the forced move to the site of the new BBI Airport in Schönefeld because of its poor
transport connections. The BBI is expected to open in late 2011. The states of Berlin
and Brandenburg voted to close Tempelhof so as not to have additional competition
for the BBI. Tegel airport is due to shut as soon as BBI is open for business.

It is not yet clear what will happen to the massive Tempelhof complex once it is
closed. Germany's national railway company, Deutsche Bahn, said it would be
interested in investing in a plan proposed by the former chairman of Estée Lauder,
Fred Langhammer, to construct a giant health and wellness centre on the Tempelhof
site. Another investor group, the Silicon Valley based Capricorn Management, also
announced a business concept for Tempelhof earlier this week. They propose
building a conference centre, hotel, art centre and office complex. The problem is,
both plans depend on the airport staying open.

Do you think Tempelhof and Tegel airports should be closed soon? Give reasons.

Newsletter — Jan 2007 3

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EXPLORING BERLIN UNDER YOUR FEET

There's an unremarkable green door in a central Berlin subway station. Hundreds of

people pass by it every day. Few of them suspect that behind it lies the passage to a
World War II bunker and an extensive network of underground rooms. The Berliner
Unterwelten association regularly puts on tours of this structure and others like it. The
association’s aim is to uncover the secret treasures hidden under Berlin’s streets.

Once the people on the guided tour have gone through the green door, they enter
into a world that seems unchanged since the war days. Old writing on the walls
prohibits smoking, or states the room’s maximum number of occupants. Some
rooms have bunk beds, others just long benches on the walls. It’s not hard to
imagine frightened Berliners sitting here as bombs rained down on the city above.

But there’s much more than just bunkers lying buried below Berlin. Sewers and
underground vaults were built in the 19th century along with a pneumatic tube
system called Rohrpost that was used to transport letters and postcards and secret
mails. All the ministries were connected with this communication system, the most
modern of its time. It had a maximum total length of 400 kilometres and was in use
from 1865 all the way up until 1976.

During the Cold War, Berlin’s underground continued to change with the times.
Bunkers were used for storing food for the West Berlin population during the Soviet
blockade. New tunnels were built, by people digging under the Berlin Wall or by
American spies trying to intercept East Germany’s messages to Moscow. And there
are twelve subway stations and tunnel sections that were built but never connected to
the rest of the system for various reasons, usually financial.

"Berlin is sitting on a treasure it doesn't even know about," says Dietmar Arnold,
co-founder of Berliner Unterwelten. Mr Arnold thinks that many of these treasures are
being destroyed. "Much too much is being torn out. It’s a pity because it means a
destruction of a part of our history."

Have you heard of these tours through Berlin’s underground? Would you like to go on one?

Newsletter — Jan 2007 4

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Mini-Glossary

accessible zugänglich judicial peace Rechtsfrieden

according to laut landscape Landschaft
adapt s. anpassen maintain beibehalten
announce ankündigen modern-day modern; unserer Zeit
artificial künstlich; Kunst- net income Nettoeinkommen
association Verband occupant Nutzer; Insasse
at risk gefährdet organic Bio-
beer-brewing Bierbrau overlook hinwegsehen über
behavioural pattern Verhaltensmuster package verpacken
bench Sitzbank pension system Rentenversicherung
benefit profitieren perfect perfektionieren
beverage Getränk pneumatic tube Rohrpost
blessing Segen system
breakthrough Durchbruch pose stellen, darstellen
brewer Braumeister pre-bake vorbacken
bunk bed Stockbett preliminary Vor-
buried vergraben prohibit verbieten
celebrate feiern purely rein
chairman Vorstandsvorsitzender recipe Rezept
cinnamon Zimt resort Urlaubsort
co-founder Mitbegründer royalties Tantiemen
collecting society Verwertungsgesell- satisfy genügen
schaft screening (Vor-)Auswahl
compromise Kompromiß section Abschnitt
content Inhalte sewer Abwasserkanal
crispy knusprig shift Arbeitsschicht
crucial entscheidend ski operator Skigebietsbetreiber
crust Teigplatte ski resort Skiort
custom tailer Maßschneider snow line Schneegrenze
decrease Abnahme snow-reliable schneesicher
degree Grad soft drink Erfrischungsgetränk
disadvantaged benachteiligt sprinkle bestreuen
distribution Vertrieb store speichern
drop Abnahme subsidies Förderung
due fällig suspect vermuten
ecology Ökologie take legal action vor Gericht klagen
erase löschen tear out ab-, herausreissen
explore erforschen topping Belag
fermented fermentiert touchy empfindlich
forced erzwungen treasure Schatz
forecast vorhersagen trendy angesagt
frozen Tiefkühl-; gefroren turn down ablehnen
giant riesig uncover aufdecken
increase Zunahme undisputable unbestritten
ingredient Zutat; Inhaltsstoff unremarkable unauffällig
intercept abfangen vault Gewölbe
inventor Erfinder violation Verstoß; Bruch
issue Frage vote votieren
judge Richter

Newsletter — Jan 2007 5