#DeutschlandNoFilter: The Germany Magazine of the Goethe-Institut

Detours | Wadden Sea A Safari Through the Mud

Germany’s northern coast has been shaped by the wind, the currents and the tides, creating the Wadden Sea. It provides a habitat for some unique wildlife and offers an opportunity to head out in pursuit of the “small five”.

Key art from the Disney+ original series 'Deutsches Haus' shows the protagonists of the series against the silhouette of a concentration camp.

Disney+ Series: The Interpreter of Silence The Silence of the Followers

How can we help young people understand the horrors of the Holocaust? Award-winning series creator Annette Hess demonstrates this in her bestselling adaptation “The Interpreter of Silence”, which focuses on Nazi crimes and the start of the Auschwitz trials in 1963. A story that is more relevant than ever in times of growing antisemitism and a political shift to the right.

Luisa Neubauer at the Fridays for Future climate demo on 15 September 2023 in Berlin

Cherrypicker | Literature If numbers could speak

A book that explains the climate crisis in pictures, without a lot of text and a jumble of figures? Together with journalist Christian Endt and graphic designer Ole Häntzschel, activist Luisa Neubauer has achieved just that. They present facts about the climate crisis in 80 information graphics - presented in an easy-to-understand manner.

View of a high-rise building in Gropiusstadt in Berlin Gropiusstadt

Sound Bites | Music Staccato Neukölln

It is the soundtrack to the hit series "4 Blocks": "NB4" by Hasan K. and Gringo. But what does the song tell us, which only consists of fragments of words and allusions?

German coffee culture Fancy coffee and cake?

There's nothing like a coffee in good company with a delicious piece of cake. The Germans even have their own word for it: Kaffeeklatsch. Get your cups out, we present five specialities of German coffee culture.

Illustration mehrerer Zeichen: Windrad, Fahrrad, Müll, Erde und Thermometer — Nachhaltig erklärt

In unserem Klima- und Nachhaltigkeitsformat findet ihr Informationen rund um die Klimakrise und ihre Verbindungen zu Sprache, Kultur und Deutschland.

Language

Illustration: A person with a raised hand, looking at two signs. Inscriptions on the signs: “applause order” and “Filling trough”

Word! The Language Column Words waiting on walls

Elias Hirschl is fascinated by language in public spaces. For him, used texts are the most beautiful reading and writing material – to be found everywhere. And so the applause order might turn into a play and the building plan into a novel.

Illustration: A person pointing to a board with several diagrams; speech bubble with the content: “Performance, performance, performance”

Word! The Language Column Obsessed with performance

Why are some political parties in Germany and Austria so obsessed with the concept of performance? What is the thinking behind their platitudes? Elias Hirschl takes a close look at passages from the parties’ manifestos. And he rounds it all off with the idea of a better world.

Illustration: Two heads with speech bubbles, in the left speech bubble a record from which a piece has been broken out, in the right speech bubble a pie chart

Word! The Language Column Constantly inventing new words: Private languages

Whether in a relationship, at the theatre or in gaming communities, social groups sometimes develop their own languages. Elias Hirschl has written about what fascinates him about this.

Culture

German series in North America Complicit Followers - “The Interpreter of Silence”

Cherrypicker | Literature The glorious six

The shortlist for this year's German Book Prize is out! It has now been decided which six authors can hope to win the prestigious and lucrative prize with their latest novels.

The four band members of Tokio Hotel - looking into the camera - at the 2005 Comet Awards in the Arena Oberhausen

Sound Bites | Music "Monsoon" – The Beginning of an Era

Angela Merkel becomes German Chancellor, "Jamba" gets rich with ringtones and MTV plays 50 Cent's "Candyshop" in a constant loop. It's 2005, and the hype about boy bands seems to be over when four teenagers from the Magdeburg area enter the stage – and for the boys, nothing stays the same.

Germany

Celebrating at the Oktoberfest 2024 in Munich

Five typical German habits That's how it's done here

No sense of humour, always overly punctual, taciturn and a little reserved – one nationality immediately pops into your head when you hear these descriptions: the Germans. The list could go on and on – here we look at five habits that are seen as “typically German”.

The picture shows a girl jumping with a hobby horse in an indoor arena.

Hobby Horsing On the Back of a Hobby Horse

Galloping, trotting and jumping over obstacles on stick horses while imitating both horse and rider as closely as possible. Sounds bizarre? Not according to the proponents of the new trend sport hobby horsing. A visit to a tournament.

The image shows an old slide. It shows the garbage collection in Dortmund. In the foreground, a person dressed in orange is sweeping a street. In the background a garbage truck turns the corner.

Recyling and waste separation Germany - a Recycling Star?

At first glance, Germans recycle their waste like world champions. But what is behind the “Recycling World Champion Germany”? On what we create every day: waste.

EIne Graphik mit verschiedenen Gebäuden und Richtungspfeilen, dazwischen der Schriftzug "Umwege" bzw. "Detours" — Detours

Once a month, we take you to a place in Germany that you absolutely must discover!