Society

While the leaves on the right and left of the Berlin Wall are turning autumnal, the Peaceful Revolution is beginning in the GDR. One year later, Germany is again one country.
The facts are familiar - but how did autumn 1989 really feel? On Monday demonstrations and the sale of chunks of the Wall to tourists.

Languages, and therefore language learning, are closely linked to identity. Even in language classes for beginners, pupils talk about themselves, their experiences and their relationships. How can you help your students express non-binary gender identities?

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has held the world in thrall since spring 2020. Drastic changes to our everyday lives are supposed to slow its spread, and the coronavirus could have a lasting impact on some areas of our society. We look at developments so far.

People are more vulnerable to conspiracy ideologies when they fear a loss of control, making the corona pandemic the perfect storm. In an interview, political scientist and net activist Katharina Nocun explains how we should react when encountering people who subscribe to conspiracy theories.

Cities are growing around the world, and the need for more drinking water is growing right along with them. Here are a few ideas for making water management more sustainable. 

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.

How can colonialism be explained to young people today? Guillaume Le Quintrec is the managing editor of binational history textbooks for high schools in France and Germany, which strive to present every point of view.

Iltisstrasse, Berlin-Dahlem: In German, the word “Iltis” means “polecat”, evoking that little native carnivore from the marten family after which the road must surely have been named. But actually it wasn’t at all – to this day the street name commemorates a chapter in the history of German colonialism.

What should we do with colonial monuments and traces in the public space? Ever since the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent worldwide demonstrations in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, the discussion about historic monuments has been rekindled. 

Where do they belong? Ownership claims to cultural assets from the colonial period are often controversial and negotiating possible restitution is frequently a fraught and drawn-out process. Germany is taking some initial steps towards a resolution.

Would it not be great if we could study how to make the world a better place? Sadly, it is not quite as easy as that. But there are now a number of study programmes in Germany covering sustainability subjects that come fairly close. Here is a selection.
 

Almost 13 million tons of food goes to waste in Germany every year. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has ambitious plans to halve domestic food waste by 2030, a problem private initiatives have already begun addressing. 

It is almost impossible to find an affordable flat in many parts of Germany’s capital today. This may soon change though, now that the rent cap law went into force in Berlin in March 2020. It freezes existing rents for a period of five years. But it is not the only means of protecting Berlin’s tenants.

Berlin has already witnessed the end of the world many times. Today, Gerasimus tells us about how during the crisis he makes his way around the supermarket like Pacman and ends the day with a brief brush with the law while lying on a bag of shopping.

What’s the best way to include all gender identities when writing in German? This question has caused quite a stir in the German-speaking world.

Domestic violence is still a huge taboo in Germany – despite alarming statistics. What do women need to know about this subject? What can they do? Nine questions and answers.

Promoting alternative facts and conspiracy theories: a look into the world of climate change deniers.

Anyone in search of a deep, refreshing lungful of fresh air should probably head to the mountains or the seaside. A big city is unlikely to offer prime quality air. More and more German cities are taking measures to clean up the air.

Working towards sustainable energy for the future: Germany wants to completely abandon coal mining by 2038, an ambitious goal with quite a few obstacles still blocking the way.

Wasteful use of the earth’s resources is a leading cause of environmental disasters, and the wealthy industrialized countries are benefiting from the exploitation of developing countries.

A very small number of people question whether each individual online search query or the sending of every photo on the Internet is really necessary – this, too, can actually be environmentally harmful.

In all German cities, it takes money to live anywhere close to downtown, quite a lot of money in fact. Those who cannot afford the rising rents in cities are pushed out to the periphery. We asked an expert how urban planning could address this widening gap between rich and poor.

For a long time, encouraging toddlers’ emotional and intellectual development through play was considered unnecessary, a bit mad, and even a threat to the state. In the 19th century, the son of a priest from Thuringia challenged these convictions. His ideas are still influential today, as are his children’s songs.

At the end of the Year of Germany in the USA, the Goethe-Instituts in the United States have strengthened their network with three completely updated institutes in Boston, Washington and Los Angeles. This is a signal of how important it is to continue the cultural and civil society dialogue between North America and Germany.

The border that once divided the two Germanys - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic – has been transformed into the German Green Belt. The biotope provides a new home for flora and fauna while testifying to its conflict-laden history.

Every year thousands of people drown in a bid to find the freedom they hope for in Europe. Time and again, those who argue in favour of recusing those in distress at sea are criticised.  From a legal standpoint though, what are our responsibilities towards those in trouble at sea? 

The crypto currency Bitcoin turned many into millionaires overnight and was on the tip of everyone’s tongue, especially once it reached an all-time high in 2017.  Public interest in Bitcoin and the technology behind it, the blockchain, dropped in keeping with currency’s abrupt fall. So what is going on with the technology today?

What does being a man mean these days? We have asked a few people in Germany what masculinity means to them.

Plastic bans, disposable dinnerware made of bioplastics, and streets made of plastic waste: countries, companies and private citizens are all pursuing initiatives that show what the world would be like without plastic.

Scheduled to open in 2019, the Humboldt Forum with its collection of objects of non-European origin was conceived as a space of cultural encounter and understanding. But serious questions have arisen about how German and European cultural institutions are responding to critical questions about the restitution of artefacts brought in by colonialism.

University teaching has become increasingly specialised over the centuries. But the topics addressed in research today increasingly require an interdisciplinary approach.  Leibniz Association president Matthias Kleiner sees a renaissance of universal research. 

We explain the most important terms used in the creative industry, including defining a start-up, what innovation means, and how an incubator differs from an accelerator. 

In September 2019, the German research vessel Polarstern will depart for the Arctic to drift with the sea ice for a year. 600 scientists from 17 nations on board will study the dwindling, not-so-permanent ice pack.

Carbon offset schemes promise to compensate for the emissions caused by private individuals – as air travellers, for instance – with donations to climate projects. But are they not just a way of salving guilty consciences?  

Unfamiliar views of the land of opportunity: “Typical America” is far from the coastal cities. Detroit even has a special connection to Berlin. The Year of Germany in the USA presents the longstanding friendship from forgotten perspectives.

If you’ve ever wondered who coined famous phrases like “my belly belongs to me” or founded the first feminist newspapers, you now have the answers at your fingertips. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the history of the German women’s movement is available online for the first time in the Digitales Deutsches Frauenarchiv (Digital German Women’s Archive). 

Artificial intelligence is now an integral part of our everyday lives. It makes our smartphones smarter and can diagnose disease and write screenplays. Are there any limits, and might it soon surpass us in creativity and empathy – and perhaps even help us achieve immortality one day?

The “Deutschland spricht” (Germany Talks) project brings people with opposing political convictions to the table. Can discussion unite a society? For Zeit Online editor-in-chief and project co-initiator Jochen Wegner, the campaign was an experiment that garnered a great response.

Many Syrian refugees are trying to find a new home in Berlin. Meanwhile, they are discovering places that remind them of their city, and allow them to map Berlin in a new way.

How can and should reality be defined in these days of virtual and alternative realities, of VR goggles and fake news?

Politics has always played out on stages: from the popular assemblies of antiquity and to the live-feed public parliamentary debates of today, politicians have performed for their voters. Social media have both expanded and fundamentally changed this political stage.

80 years on, Germany is looking back at 1938, a year marked by National Socialist persecution and violence against the Jews and the failed Evian Conference on refugees. Historian Stefanie Schüler-Springorum explains the current significance of these events.

While many European countries struggle with high youth unemployment, Germany is experiencing lower rates than seldom before. There is more to these promising figures than just the country’s strong economy.

Germany is celebrating 100 years of women’s suffrage, but political power is still unevenly distributed. In terms of numbers, women have never been equally represented in any German Bundestag. Initiatives like the Helene Weber Kolleg are pushing for change. 

Sustainability and climate protection start in daily life, and they are something children can learn. Educational establishments all over Germany are involved in UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development – and schools are foremost among them.

Algorithms that reward or penalise the citizens of a country on the basis of collated data – in places like China and India, “algorithmic governance” has long been a reality. But even in Germany, computer software already takes decisions that have consequences for many people’s lives.