Many of history’s best-known painters and sculptors were thought to be gay or bisexual, but major Rembrandt and Michelangelo exhibitions have mostly remained silent on the subject. And yet the artists’ works are full of sexual symbols.
country: Germany
Stay 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.
Overweight, permanently exhausted and only able to work two hours a day: a few years after founding the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck was facing burnout. Then a young doctor came onto the scene. The diet he prescribed worked wonders, and may be worth reactivating for our busy modern lives.
For decades, countries like Germany have resisted implementing school uniforms. But dress codes in schools are not just for the elite. They can help reduce social stigma for students living in poverty, as well as helping fight the climate crisis.
After two months of war, experts in Ukraine are starting to consider what plan could work to restore the local infrastructure and economy, looking at the experience of Germany, Japan and Italy — countries that went down in history for their economic miracles after being destroyed by war.
Sooner or later, Hamas’ reign in Gaza will come to an end. What will happen then? An Israeli occupation? The handover of power to local stakeholders? There are clear parallels with Germany’s situation after World War II.
If Chinese food is a link to the homeland, then so is Chinese literature. Two Chinese immigrants in Europe have found a way to connect themselves and others to their culture by setting up spaces where people can buy or borrow Chinese paperbacks.
The latest season of Germany’s largest festival celebrating the adventure writer Karl May ended with a record audience. Over 430,000 visitors watched the adventures of the Native American character Winnetou, despite criticism of the story’s problematic legacy from some sections.
Trashing politics and politicians is a classic tool of populists to seduce angry voters, and take countries into quagmires far worse than the worst years of democracy. It’s a dynamic Argentina appears particularly vulnerable to.
The debate over the war in Israel is raging on social media. In this divisive atmosphere, it is impossible to call out anti-Semitism in Muslim communities or on the right wing without being applauded by all the wrong people. What Germans are failing to acknowledge is how much the country’s own history has to do with this.
Can Europe play a role in the current conflict in the Middle East? During the recent visit to the region by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, it appeared clear that Gulf States are in a much better position to negotiate a possible solution.
The post-War generation in Germany was shaped politically by one question: Why didn’t our parents prevent the Holocaust? Nowadays, as baby boomers are retiring, the inner political wrestling seems to have fallen out of time, because anti-fascism has long changed sides.
It was a wakeup call for some: pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Turkey tried to storm the U.S. base Incirlik where nuclear weapons have long been stationed. There is more discussion than ever about whether the NATO partner is still a trustworthy military ally with such potent weapons within reach.
Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan: the three conflicts highlight energy vulnerability.
The Germany-made thriller has made it to the “top 10” list of the streaming platform in more than 90 countries by breaking away from conventional tropes and mixing in German narrative techniques.
The European migrant crisis is once again making headlines, this time from the small island of Lampedusa, Italy. It exposes not only the far right’s eagerness to exploit the issue of immigration, but also the delicate balance of power in electoral terms.
The author set off on a three-week vacation trip across Europe in an electric car. Would the charging infrastructure be enough to get all the way, or would they end up stranded without battery, far from home?
Dry soil, hardly any rain — this summer’s drought is making life difficult for farmers. In one of the driest regions in Germany, environmentally friendly farmer Benedikt Bösel is turning his fields into a laboratory, experimenting with an exciting new approach.
The German public prosecutor’s office has dropped its sexual assault investigation against Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann. The singer could not be proven to have committed any criminal misconduct. You may be angry about that, but that’s how the rule of law works.
Higher, faster, more expensive – in German cities, renting out office space was a booming business. Then came remote working and higher interest rates.
Women play a vital role in the workplace, so the German government is introducing policies that reward families with two working parents. However, the strain of raising a family still falls unfairly on mothers, making them victims of capitalism.
You swipe until your fingers are sore, seeing the same poses over and over again, the same buzzwords and backgrounds. Online dating feels so hopeless because it has killed any notion of individuality.
The images of World War II have been used many times when describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But memory can deceive — many Ukrainian victims were forgotten as the Soviet Union spun history for its own purposes.
Since last year, over half of the fish in the river have died, and Germany’s environment minister has said that Poland has not done enough to prevent a repeat of the incident. Now the Oder, which runs through the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, is experiencing fish death en masse once again. Was this catastrophe doomed to repeat itself? Reporters from German newspaper Die Zeit and Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza looked for answers.
Just like ideas about racial theory, the notion of seeking purebred dogs is a relatively recent human invention. This animal eugenics project came from a fantasy of recreating a glorious past and has done irreparable harm to canines.
The “Pillar of Shame” in Hong Kong, a memorial to the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre, was a symbol of freedom and democracy. Beijing has taken it down, but a replica is being built in Berlin. Activist Samuel Chu explains why that means so much to him.
The West is deceiving itself if it hopes for a quick end to the Ukraine war. Above all, it must consistently implement an energy transition — otherwise, it will remain at Putin’s mercy, writes prominent Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in German daily Die Welt.
In 2021, Belarus strongman Lukashenko triggered a migration crisis when he actively drove asylum seekers to the EU. According to the German government, those numbers are on the rise again.
Ukraine has compiled a blacklist of companies it says are “sponsoring” war by still doing business with Russia. The list is causing a stir within the European Union, which is currently working on its 11th round of sanctions.
Germany is returning looted Benin bronzes back to Nigeria. But there are now concerns that they will now disappear into private ownership or that they will be threatened with damage or loss
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock have issued a strong and united call on Beijing to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine. It is a reminder of the potential of European power. But the “European Project” is as loaded as ever.
Goethe was eerily prescient in his predictions about the “unstoppable force” of mechanization. But he didn’t call for a pause in technological advances. More than 200 years ago, he predicted with surprising accuracy how technological and industrial developments would change our world.
The war in Ukraine has been going on for a year. Many have died, fled or been traumatized — day after day and night after night. Such harrowing experiences leave deep wounds. But there are ways to overcome traumatic experiences.
With a decisive deal with Putin out of the question, the only way to create a lasting peace is to recreate some fundamental dynamics of the Cold War.
The Mapping Diversity platform examined maps of 30 cities across 17 European countries, finding that women are severely underrepresented in the group of those who name streets and squares. The one (unsurprising) exception: The Virgin Mary.
A bloc of eastern European countries has distanced themselves from Western Europe — Germany in particular — by sending Soviet era jets to Ukraine, part of growing push to supply the country with Western-made fighter jets.
As material costs skyrocket, an old practice is becoming popular again: reusing building materials. In Germany, the first projects are already underway – and so far, results are promising as a model for sustainable cities.
The fundamentally irrational decision to invade Ukraine was the final proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been living in a world of illusions. He may be best understood by retracing the steps of history’s other tyrants, and gauging how their stories ended.
It has long been assumed that psychotherapy can do no harm at worst. But new research makes clear that for some people, it can have very serious, even life-threatening, consequences.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s visits this week to London, Paris and Brussels reinforce the intertwined fates of Europe and Ukraine. And for Kyiv that will ultimately mean more weapons support.