Society

When the coal mines were shut down, little remained in the village of Gremmin but an immense hole and some abandoned construction equipment. Yet out of the desolate landscape grew something new: Ferropolis, the city of iron.
 

In 2021, Germany’s federal government joined a global trend when it committed itself in its coalition agreement to a feminist foreign policy. Sweden, Canada, Luxembourg, France, Mexico, Spain, Libya, Chile and the Netherlands had already declared that their foreign policy – or parts of it – would be given a feminist orientation. But what is meant by such a policy approach and what form does it take in practice in Germany?

Bratwurst rather than caviar: Three-star chef Jan Hartwig on emotional culinary experiences, sustainability in gourmet restaurants and artificial intelligence in the kitchen.
 

More board and card games are sold in Germany than in any other country. They guarantee fun, variety – and sometimes even divorce: an article about good moods and bad losers.

“For free” and “shop” – is that a contradiction in terms? Not in Germany’s 25 or so for-free shops: they offer second-hand shopping at zero cost. The reality is colourful, democratic and highly sustainable.
 

Although moving to a foreign country may be an exciting experience, opening doors to new cultures and opportunities, it is not without ups and downs and unexpected turns. Dominic Otiang’a describes his encounter with the label “foreigner”.

So Germans are punctual, humourless, drink beer and are world champion travellers? We’ve subjected seven stereotypes about Germany to close scrutiny, and made some surprising discoveries.
 

The changes to how we live and work during the coronavirus pandemic have put pressure on everyone. But traditional role patterns mean women have been particularly hard hit. In an interview, the specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy Sabine Köhler talks about how women can protect themselves. 
 

Making companies more democratic and participatory is one of the biggest goals in the working world nowadays. This article takes a look at Germany’s worker participation and how it has caught on in Spain and Europe as a whole. 

Dealing with the pandemic demands quite a lot from us. Two questions are crucial right now: How ready are we to learn from it? And what lessons will we learn? Which is why EU countries in particular should now move closer together to become a Europe of solidarity.

The ongoing debate on whether the restrictions were justified during the coronavirus crisis emphasises the weaknesses in the biopolitical decisions federal and state governments make. Historians Hedwig Richter and René Schlott argue about the consequences for democratic societies.

Unions are anything but in or cool. Membership numbers have been dropping in most industrialised countries for years. So, has the collective action model had its day? Quite the opposite in fact: Our author argues that times of crisis are exactly when we need to reup on solidarity.
 

The art form of the caricature has never been more visible than it is today. It was the classic drawing that dominated the scene for a long time, but this has now been joined by cartoons, memes and TV formats. This is a short history of caricature culture in Germany.

The films of the GDR’s state film production company, DEFA, always bore the stigma of being permeated by propaganda. That, however, is only part of the truth. When it comes to feature and animation films, fairy tales and documentaries there is a valuable artistic film legacy to be found. The DEFA Foundation wants to make them more easily available digitally.

Thirty years after German reunification, are there still differences between East and West? In an interview, former GDR civil-rights activist Freya Klier talks about the time just after the Berlin Wall fell, the new freedoms it brought and about whether Germans are now “one people”. 

One year after Berliners danced on the wall, Germany is one country again. But how did the reunification feel for a former inmate of Hohenschönhausen? A story about Argentinean steak at the Stasi headquarters, unexpected reunions and Berlin clubs.

Reporting on the Global South is regularly criticised for attitudes more befitting of the colonial era than today's world. Terms such as “third world” or “developing country” hint at inherent biases. Patrick Gathara portrays these practices in a series of cartoons.

Enissa Amani’s show “Die beste Instanz” is her response to the controversial WDR show “Die letzte Instanz”, and it creates space for discussion about racism with the people affected by it on a daily basis. In this interview she explains what we still need to do in order to achieve greater diversity in Germany’s media landscape.
 

Is there a relation between the migratory movement of Peruvians to Germany and the postcolonial structures in Peru? The author and artist Helga Elsner Torres questions why her German great-grandfather Otto Elsner moved to Peru in the 1920s and goes on a rather personal journey of discovery.