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People sitting by the riverPhoto (Detail): Svetlana Kerestely © Goethe-Institut


Summer in Germany

For most people summer is mainly a holiday season - for others it's peak season. We tell you what the summer routine of a flight captain or lifeguard looks like.

Heirlooms. European Stories

In the basement of the brewery in PilsenPhoto (detail): © Pilsner Urquell

Pilsner beer
 No risk, no gain

Pilsner beer comes, of course, from the Czech Republic. Yet it’s not so matter-of-course as that. The citizens of the city of Pilsen were once so dissatisfied with their beer that they even spilled it out in protest in front of the town hall. Then they had a brilliant idea. [more …]

The Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, is the largest bath complex in Europe in terms of sheer square metres.Photo (detail): Günter Flegar © picture alliance/Westend61

Spa towns
 Some liked it hot

Even the ancient Romans placed their trust in the healing powers of water, and spas would latest establish a firm foothold throughout Europe. The well-heeled travelled to England, Germany, and the Czech Republic to “take the waters”. Spa in Belgium was also a popular resort town – and British tourists imported its name into English. [more …]

The Marktfrucht Coop in Lützow in Mecklenburg-VorpommernPhoto (detail): Jens Büttner © picture alliance / dpa

Cooperatives
 Stronger together

Roughly one in four Germans is a member of a cooperative, which might make it seem like they are quintessentially German. Not really, as it turns out: the idea first originated in France before becoming a movement in England. And Spain is currently home to the largest cooperative in the world. [more …]

Popcast© Goethe-Institut | Illustration: DOON

Current music from Germany
 Popcast in August

August brings you music from Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. In the new issue of our “Popcast” Presenter Ralf Summer introduces songs about happiness – and about wanderlust. Included: a new album by the band UNS and the debut of singer Stella Sommer. Quality pop made in Germany – listen now!

Most popular articles

Screenshot from the video „Literatursitz“Photo (detail): © Katharina Wibmer

The New Municipal Library in Stuttgart
 “Are you looking for your contact lenses or is that art?”

The artist, Katharina Wibmer, has literally turned the new municipal library on Mailänder Platz in Stuttgart upside down. In her video installation, Die Biblioskopin, she explores the unusual building and, while doing so, she creates her own architectural fantasies. [more …]

Immersion into virtual reality.Photo (detail): © Adobe

Virtual Reality
 VR “made in Germany”

Ten German virtual reality and 360-degree video projects you should know about. [more …]

Inside the German pavilion at the 2018 Architecture Bienale.Photo (detail): © Jan Bitter

2018 Venice Biennale
 A Psychological Profile of No Man’s Land

“Unbuilding Walls” is the German Pavilion’s contribution to the 2018 Venice Biennale. The exhibit takes on the history of the Berlin Wall to explore what happens when borders dissolve. [more …]

Series: Future Libraries© raumlaborberlin im Auftrag von Kulturprojekte Berlin

Series
 Future Libraries

Libraries lead us through a flood of  information. They are a platform for exchange, space for encounters or social anchors in the city. With our series “Future Libraries” we shed light on challenges, and examples of success around the the library of tomorrow.

Goethe worldwide

Posters by Lech Majewski, Götz Gramlich, Uwe Loesch© Goethe-Institut Israel

The Art of Utopia
 Statements in Posters

Which values, which utopian ideas and goals are still relevant today? Are there new utopias that elicit hope? In the project of the Goethe-Institut Israel, 35 poster artists express their views – and visitors respond.

Marx in the Humboldt-Magazine© Revista Comando

Marx in the Humboldt-Magazine
 Diversified reception and discussion

The Humboldt Magazine presents divergent views on topics from Germany and South America. In the current issue, the Goethe-Institut Brazil focuses on the German philosopher and social theorist Karl Marx on the occasion of his 200th birthday.

Museum of the FutureGoethe-Institut | Aarushi Surana

Museum of the Future
 Redefining public spaces

What is the role of the museum in the society today? In its project “Museum of the Future” the Goethe-Institut India invites academics, museum professionals and other experts from Germany and India to discuss the new role of the museum.

Dance and Theatre

Reception at the Berlin Theatertreffen 2016© Piero Chiussi Agentur StandArt

Theater Festivals in Germany
 Art for coal

Thematically or programmatically, curated or judged –  the landscape of theatre festivals in Germany is diverse. And their importance for different regional, national and international target groups is just as diverse. [more …]

„Caligula“ by Albert Camus, Berliner Ensemble© Julian Roeder

The Theater Season 2017/2018
 What comes after the flight?

The programmes of the 2017/2018 season are still defined by the theme complex “Migrant Life in Germany”. However, the theatres are also reacting strongly to the increasing number of autocrats who are transforming democratic state structures into presidential dictatorships. [more …]

Paula Rosolen: “Aerobics”Paula Rosolen: “Aerobics”

Dance, Migration, Cultural Exchange
 Movement

Dance is movement – and movement over borders also shapes dance. For about 300 years now, travel and migration have had a strong influence on an increasingly globalised dance scene. Our portrait series shows: cultural exchange across and beyond all borders and limitations gives dancers impulses for creative work and enlivens their art.

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Film

On the set of “The Young Karl Marx” by Raoul PeckPhoto (detail): © picture alliance / Jens Trenkler / dpa

Marxism on Film
 Marxist ideas live on in film

Over the past 120 years, Marxist ideas have undergone frequent revivals on the silver screen. [more …]

Attractive: working with rope systems and firePhoto (detail): Melanie Benna

A Stunt Woman in Germany
 “Bruises are par for the course.”

Falling down, lowering yourself on a rope from a great height or staging a moped accident – for Melanie Benna, this is all part of her everyday working life. The native Berliner works as a stunt woman. How does she assert herself in this male domain? [more …]

Just as in a traditional “Western” plot: Construction worker Meinhard is riding a horse.© 2017 Komplizen Film, Chouchkov Brothers, coop99, KNM

“Western” Movie
 Encountering the Other

How do we interact with strangers and engage with foreign countries? The film “Western” tells the story of German construction workers sent to build a hydroelectric power station in Bulgaria, where their encounters with local villagers do not, to put it mildly, always go smoothly. [more …]

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Literature


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A reliable Sunday primetime viewer magnet since 1970: Tatort.Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa-Bildarchiv

Drawn to the scene of the crime
 Hunting serial offenders

Every Sunday evening, around ten million people settle down in front of the telly to watch the German police procedural, Tatort, or “crime scene” in English. Regional mysteries and thrillers are also flying off the shelves in bookstores. So what is it that makes a good murder mystery so riveting? [more …]

Language and literaturePhoto (detail): © Adobe

Language and literature
 “The relationships are clearer in German”

Isabel Fargo Cole was nominated for the 2018 Leipzig Book Fair Prize for her debut novel “Die grüne Grenze” (the Green Frontier). US-born Cole wrote her novel in German, and here she shares her thoughts about writing in a foreign language. [more …]

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Music

The Frankfurt Musikmesse is an important meeting point for instrument makers worldwidePhoto: Petra Wenzel © Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH

Instrument Making
 Technology, art and species protection

Some bank on software, others on local woods. The current range of instrument making in Germany is great, but so too is the international competition. [more …]

Trikont boss Achim BergmannPhoto (detail): © Sebastian Weidenbach/Trikont/dpa

The Trikont label turns 50
 Bavarian for Rebellion

As news of Che Guevara’s death spread around the world in 1967, an independent label declared a cultural revolution in Bavaria. 2017 marks the 50th birthday of the Trikont record company, still a subversive thorn in the establishment’s side today. [more …]

A spontaneous choir directed by Oliver Gies during the choir meeting chor.com Photo © Reiner Engel / chor.com

Young Choirs
 Sing Along instead of Performing

Traditional German male choirs look pretty old in the twenty-first century. Sing-along formats, however, such as “pack singing” are booming. In any case, Germans’ desire to sing remains unbroken. [more …]

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Additional themes

Fassade, modernes Gebäude© colourbox.com


Architecture

BibliothekenFoto (Ausschnitt): © SLUB Dresden/Henrik Ahlers - CC BY-SA 4.0


Libraries

Glas vergrößert © colourbox.com


Visual Arts

Bildung und Wissen© Fotolia/quickshooting


Education and Knowledge

Krawatten in einem Schaufenster© colourbox.com


Design and Fashion

Gesellschaft und ZeitgeschehenFoto: © Shutterstock


Society and Current Affairs

Growing up with the InternetPhoto (detail): © maria_savenko - Fotolia.com


Media

Modernes LebenFoto (Ausschnitt): © EpicStockMedia/fotolia.com


Modern Life

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