My Berlin apartment could be an oasis amid rising rents, but I had to tackle the kitchen first I finally had it: the lease to a Berlin apartment. It was open-ended, and thus my oasis in a sea of swiftly rising rents and scarce housing. For a freelancer who considers homeownership basically unattainable, this was the golden ticket, the sign that the city could be home?maybe for good.
The first room I saw was the small, rectangular one immediately to the left of my new front door. It was supposed to be my kitchen, the heart of my home, the place I would cook basic meals for myself and occasionally wash dishes. And it was nearly empty: There was only a grime-covered stove; a kitchen sink atop a water-damaged particle-board frame; sweat stain-gray wall tiles with dark, cracked grout on full display; a putrid green PVC floor; and a bunch of pipes with their ends uncovered. My situation wasn?t unique. In Germany, rental apartments typically come with only an oven and a sink. Theories for this kitchen Wahnsinn (insanity) abound. First off, Germans are more likely than Americans to be long-term renters, since only 44 percent are homeowners, according to the most recent data by the European Central Bank?s Household Finance and Consumption Survey. For a long-term renter, investing in a kitchen is arguably worthwhile. Many renters also take their kitchens with them when they move, despite the city?s unorthodox building shapes, so the no-kitchen problem perpetuates itself. Standi...