Housing has become a hot-button issue in German politics and society. Given the skyrocketing housing costs of the past 15 years, German politicians across the political spectrum have called it the “decisive social question” of our time.
In this talk, Alexander Reisenbichler will present key findings from his forthcoming book, Through the Roof: Housing, Capitalism, and the State in America and Germany (Cambridge University Press), focusing on Germany’s policy responses to the country’s affordability crisis, including recent legislative measures and public protests in Berlin.
The talk will also explore the historical roots of Germany’s “nation of renters”—a housing system that has long provided high-quality and comparatively affordable rental housing—and consider why rental affordability remains a greater policy priority in Germany than in North America.
About the speaker
Alexander Reisenbichler is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His work explores the political economies of housing in Western Europe and North America. He is the author of Through the Roof: Housing, Capitalism, and the State in America and Germany (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
