WorldcrunchStay updated on Germany with Worldcrunch. Comprehensive articles on German politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural highlights with translations from leading international sources. Focus on Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, German engineering, philosophy, modern art, and events like Oktoberfest and Art Basel.
MUNICH — Pharmaceutical companies know that doctors more frequently prescribe medicine produced by companies whose sales representatives visit them regularly. That very logic means that these same companies are also busy trying to “recruit” future doctors across Germany, according to a recent survey of German medical school deans and some 1,100 med students. The study, […]
When she died of a brain tumor at the age of three, Naomi*’s parents, who were by her side until the end, decided to tell their story amidst a growing push to extend assisted death to children.
The hotel’s location is practical, in one of the most sought-after areas of Edinburgh: just steps away from the railroad station, with the Old Town and Princes Street shopping only close by. Old and imposing on the outside, inside it’s all modern, minimalist, and even a little Scottish. Chairs in the reception area are upholstered […]
The average man spends a year of his life waiting on women — outside bathrooms, in cars, beyond changing-room curtains. It may be the truest modern measure of gender politics.
A German court case’s impending verdict is poised to create a controversial precedent in this aging country, where a child is asked to finance elder care for a father who had cut him out of his life.
Torn T-shirts, dead remote controls and jammed DVD players aren’t necessarily doomed for the junk heap. Sustainability is the watchword at these special German locales.
MUNICH — The Israeli General Consulate in Munich has finally found permanent premises that sources say is likely next door to the former Nazi Party headquarters. The building’s location is virtually back-to-back with the so-called Führerbau that the Nazis built as a representation venue for Adolf Hitler, sources tell Süddeutsche Zeitung. Directly next door, built […]
HAMBURG — Georgios Titokis is actually too old for the remote-controlled car he’s holding in his hand. But the toy interests him. Cautiously, the Greek-born Titokis removes the beach buggy from its box and checks to see if any parts are missing. Then he checks the batteries and looks for any sign of wear and […]
A first-of-its-kind study last year found that one in 15 pregnant women is anorexic. Gaunt women are even posting cringe-worthy photos of their baby bumps on pro-anorexia forums.
Dane Dennis Aabo Sorensen lost his left hand and lower arm during a fireworks accident nine years ago. Now a new type of prosthesis has made it possible for him to feel sensation in his hand for the first time since then. “When I hold an object, I can feel if it’s hard or soft, […]
In the Netherlands, a growing movement to lease clothing rather than piling up ever more cheaply-made, environmentally damaging jeans, shirts and sweaters.
The German driving legend has been in an artificially induced coma for more than a month since a ski accident. Doctors take us inside the state-of-the-art head trauma treatment.
The unlikely story of a Bosnian refugee who stumbled into winning best actor honors at the Berlin Film Festival, yet still can’t feed his family.
A Die Welt editor spent four months living and working in California, and though many of his countrymen are critical of the U.S., he fell in love with its cool, can-do spirit.
MUNICH – After soccer star Robert Enke took his own life in November 2009, public dismay at the news was considerable. At a memorial service in the Marktkirche church the next day, followed by a funeral march in Hannover attended by some 35,000 people, fans were out in force for the German national soccer team’s […]
BERLIN — According to a popular German carnival song, “fat girls have pretty names.” Perhaps, but what’s abundantly clear is that heavier models have much prettier faces than their gaunt, undernourished counterparts. Any visitor to last week’s Curvy is Sexy expo in Berlin could see that. During the simultanous Fashion Week, stressed-out, expressionless stick models, […]
Berlin wanted Washington to agree to hands-off rules on spying to help mend fences after Edward Snowden. Now Germany is convinced the best bet is a deal with European partners.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 ANOTHER SUSPECT FOUND IN PARIS TERRORA Frenchman of Haitian origin who is believed to have been in contact “several times” with one of the brothers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo killings will be extradited from Bulgaria, AFP reports. Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, was arrested Jan. 1 as he tried to cross into […]
BERLIN — Purple is intense like no other color. It is opaque, disturbing and seductive. It is also the color of 2014. So says the Pantone Color Institute, which has named “Radiant Orchid” this year’s preeminent hue. Red and blue combine to make it: hot and cold, fire and water, the male and female elements […]
December 30, 2014 AIRASIA BODIES, DEBRIS FOUNDThe Indonesian navy has located debris from the AirAsia plane that disappeared early Sunday, retrieving more than 40 bodies from the Java Sea, AFP reports. The news came as a shock to the families of the 162 passengers, who reportedly “began crying hysterically and fainting” after Indonesian television showed […]
HAMBURG — It’s good to have a clear conscience about breakfast, so when the yogurt container or milk bottle pictures happy animals, it’s reassuring. Consumers frequently imagine happy cows in lush pastures and roomy stalls where everything is good. But that’s only part of the truth. To meet organic and animal rights standards, farmers are […]
-Commentary- BERLIN — When two soldiers fell in the first hours of the French military operation that began last week in the Central African Republic, President Francois Hollande declared, “Morts pour la France.” Yes, killed for their country. But the young soldiers also lost their lives fighting for Europe, even if Europe has hardly shown […]
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 CALLS TO PROSECUTE AFTER CIA TORTURE REPORTThe United Nations Human Rights Council has called for the prosecution of U.S. officials “responsible for the criminal conspiracy” unveiled in the summary of a Senate report into the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation methods, The New York Times reports. Praising the Obama administration for their courage […]
STUTTGART — Banbo is the first one to get the idea. The 11-year-old female chimpanzee presses her thumb firmly on the button and changes the channel on the TV set up in her enclosed living space. Fifteen-year-old Liboso is less certain and still sometimes presses her feet against the screen. The rest of the group […]
BERLIN — A refugee slams a briefcase down on the table, snaps it open and takes out a series of plastic cards. “Here,” he says, “health card from Italy, residence permit, identity card. We have everything. Our asylum cases are complete. We’re allowed to move around in Europe, but we’re not allowed to work, not […]
DUSSELDORF — The air is ice cold without a hint of wind. As night falls over Düsseldorf, they come flocking from all directions: thousands of ring-necked parakeets. They land on the plane trees that line the luxury Königsallee shopping street. Men in expensive suits and women in fur coats look up in amazement. A little […]
Exclusive: inside a special German intelligence program that questions asylum seekers about their home countries. Berlin denies that asylum requests are contingent on cooperation.
HAMBURG — When Natalie Leroy talks about this German city’s water, her voice changes. It’s as if it was bubbling directly from the holy spring in Lourdes, not from one of the thousands of faucets in Hamburg. “It’s just water…” you might want to tell her, but then you would be getting it totally wrong. […]
A German perspective on the mind-boggling modern art discovery this week in Munich – one more sign that the Nazi past is fading into history.
In Hamburg, a major Nazi monument is being repurposed into deluxe apartments. A lesson on the luxury boom, and the way Germany faces its uncomfortable history.
From Greece to France to Austria, political parties espousing anti-immigrant, anti-euro policies are making gains across Europe.
Public smoking bans, written warnings, shocking images on cigarette packets: Deterrent measures grow worldwide, though consumption in developing countries continues to rise.
MUNICH — It only takes two minutes to gather enough material to make a person squirm or provoke them to pick up the phone to call a lawyer. Two minutes to see that racism flourishes not only on the fringes but also in the heart of our societies, in the minds of philosophy students and […]
FRIEDLAND — “Germany is a country where rules matter,” declares Martin Steinberg. The pastor in this central German city is standing before a group of people who’ve just fled a country where the only rule that mattered was that of survival. “Here the most aggressive driver with the biggest car doesn’t automatically have the right […]
GIESSEN — It will make you crazy — the pyramid simply does not want to fit into the glass cube. Melih turns it again, this time just a little, and then sticks it in the open side of the cube again. No luck. He tries more forcefully, pressing down on the pyramid. But the fifth […]
BERLIN — Ritual circumcision for Muslim and Jewish boys remains legal in Germany. Germany’s legislative body, the Bundestag, decided as much last year in what was a win for the country’s religious minorities. But Muslim girls must participate in co-ed swim classes, according to a recent decision by Germany’s highest court on such matters — […]
BERLIN — Angela Merkel’s triumph in the German elections has a paradoxical flipside, as her unprecedented political strength may wind up undermining even her own interests. The Chancellor is reminiscent of an introverted child prodigy who is streets ahead of all her classmates but stands alone in the playground because the others know they can […]
BERLIN – Germany has voted for stability and consensus. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position has been confirmed with a convincing result. She has been entrusted with power for another four years, and will continue to lead the country with her cautious, considered politics. Strategy and long-term success form the yardstick for her short-term tactics. It is […]
BOCHUM — Katja stares into her laptop camera and bites her lower lip. “Hmm, yes…” She confirms that she understands how chromosome divisions work. In front of another laptop, her teacher Julia Wirth holds up a piece of paper with circles and Xs drawn in green and red pen. Meiosis and mitosis. Katja nods from […]
BERLIN — The all-conquering hero is traditionally a masculine figure, but in Angela Merkel it finds its feminine embodiment. Her election result is more than a victory; it is a triumph. Moreover, it is her triumph, and not her party’s. It is Merkel as an individual, as the chancellor with unprecedented approval ratings, who has […]