Monday, April 29, 2024

The wolves are back, and Germans are debating how to reconcile the large, carnivorous predators with the rural economy

By Eckhard Fuhr

At the turn of the millennium, the wolves returned to Germany. On a military training ground in the Lausitz region east of Berlin, a wolf pair was spotted raising pups for the first time in 150 years. In other words, …

What does the “new man” look like? And how will this man live in the future? 100 years ago, the Bauhaus in Weimar began to revolutionize the world of design. A new museum spotlights its work

By Klaus Grimberg

The contemporary being must begin anew, to rejuvenate himself, to achieve a new humanity, a universal lifeform of the people,” wrote architect Walter Gropius emphatically back in 1919. The sentence reveals the brutal disillusionment felt by an entire generation after …

East Germans continue to talk about the indignities they suffered after 1989 while nurturing a victimization myth that absolves them of any responsibility

By Ines Geipel

Laura, age 19, studies theater at a dramatic arts academy in Berlin. Elektra is her greatest role. She stands at the front of the stage: “Hate is nothing. It eats itself up and it’s gone,” she says, directly to the …

Trans-Atlantic Book Review #03

Trans-Atlantic Book Review #03
By Lutz Lichtenberger

THE NEGOTIATOR
There is a whiff of Cold War nostalgia permeating Horst
Teltschik’s book on the geopolitical state of play. But its profound historical underpinnings form the sturdy foundation of Russisches Roulette. Vom Kalten Krieg zum Kalten Frieden (Russian Roulette. …

The great historical gray area

By Lutz Lichtenberger

A new biography of Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who tried to kill Hitler, has reignited a long-running historical debate. It says a lot about the German state of mind

At midnight on July 20, 1944, four men are escorted …

Benjamin Balint has written a book about the long-running “custody battle” over Franz Kafka’s legacy

By Thomas Schuler

This story begins and ends with betrayal – or perhaps redemption, depending on whose perspective you take. For years, the literary legacy of one of the world’s most celebrated writers was stored in a three-room apartment in Tel Aviv and …

After Germany’s early exit at the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia, head coach Joachim Löw finally realized it was time to build a new team

By Thomas Kistner

Joachim Loew got his act together just in time. After balking and bristling at calls for change, he’s finally put the German national soccer team on a different track. Whether this proves effective has yet to be seen, but at …

Dirk of yore: After 21 years in the NBA, the great Dirk Nowitzki is calling it quits. A look back at a transcendent career

By Robert Normen

A typical German residential neighborhood at night, cars neatly parked in driveways, all the lights are out, everyone’s asleep, yet in front of one of the houses is a hoop attached to the garage. A very tall and lanky man …

Why Angela Merkel has banned two paintings from the chancellery

Why Angela Merkel has banned two paintings from the chancellery
By Peter H. Koepf

For the chancellor to grace the title page of Germany’s daily newspapers is nothing out of the ordinary. But the cover of the April 5 edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) managed to raise a few eyebrows: Angela Merkel has …

A spike in the number of measles cases in Germany has revived the debate over mandatory vaccinations

A spike in the number of measles cases in Germany has revived the debate over mandatory vaccinations
By Kathrin Zinkant

There are, no doubt, many pediatricians and health experts in Germany today who wish they lived in France. That neighbor to the west recently added eight new names to its list of mandatory immunizations – one of which was the …

Capital look: Coolness is the Berlin fashion scene’s biggest asset

By Julia Hackober

On the eve of Berlin Fashion Week, a group of bloggers, journalists and Berlin celebrities have gathered at Colette, the brasserie run by star chef Tim Raue. They were invited by Vreni Frost, one of Berlin’s first and foremost fashion …

Perfectly suited: Berlin designer Patrick Hellmann is preparing to take Manhattan

By Claudia von Duehren

German perfection, French charm, Moroccan temperament and American modernity – these are the characteristics Patrick Hellmann (64) uses to describe his own designs. But they are also an apt description of this Berlin designer himself. His father was a Berlin …

Berlin: An epic graphic novel

By Jason Lutes

I graduated from art school in 1991 with no clear idea of what to do with my life. I was interested in “alternative” comic books – which is to say, comic books that were not about superheroes – and I …

Berlin Wedding: A district in the process of reinventing itself

By Julia Boek

It’s a typical afternoon in Berlin-Wedding, not far from Leopoldplatz. The radiant early-spring sun is shining down, so much so that the Turkish barber has put a rack of wet towels out on the sidewalk to dry. In contrast, the …

Why Berlin should apply to host the 2036 Olympic Games

Why Berlin should apply to host the 2036 Olympic Games
By Frank Bachner

It was a happy and joyful big-time sports event. “A time to make friends” was the motto of the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany. The stadiums were full, the weather was sunny for weeks and the German fans were …