#DeutschlandNoFilter: The Germany Magazine of the Goethe-Institut

The Bauhaus building designed by the architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius.

Photo (detail): © Thomas Meyer/OSTKREUZ/Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau

Detours | Dessau Form Follows Function: Tracing the History of the Bauhaus

Nowhere else in Germany is as inextricably linked to the Bauhaus as Dessau. Over a century ago, the architect Walter Gropius moved here with his visionary art school. Its influence can still be felt to this day.

The surface of the Earth being laid to waste due to climate change.

Contemporary novels about climate change Between Reality, Dystopia and Fiction

Climate fiction, eco-thrillers, docufiction – the climate crisis is reflected in contemporary German novels and reveals what concerns and affects us as a society. An interview with the literary and cultural scholar Gabriele Dürbeck.

Leonie Fößel

Portrait photo of Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç

Interview with Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç "Metamorphosis Offers the Chance to Break Free"

Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç has written a highly acclaimed debut novel, “Hundesohn”, which has won several awards. In this interview, he talks about how writing became a process of exploration, where faith and desire intersect, and why transformation sometimes has to be monstrous.

Benedikt Maria Arnold

Language

Berit Glanz on Rosalía’s Berghain Pop Icon Sparks Curiosity

It’s been a long time since a music video caused a stir on social media quite like Berghain by Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía. Writer Berit Glanz is equally captivated – not just by the performance itself, but also by the online frenzy as fans join forces to decode its meaning.

A cell phone leaning against the wall in recording mode, showing a young girl dancing.

Berit Glanz on Lip-Syncing Singing With Other People’s Voices

What do silent films and TikTok clips have in common? Why are lip-synced videos mini documents of practiced multilingualism? Berit Glanz knows the answers – and delights in the playful playback memes appearing in her feed.

Still life of a sweet candy pizza slice with colorful toppings

Berit Glanz on Internet Confession Memes Unfortunately, I Do Love

Guilty pleasures – we all have them. Once they were secrets no one was supposed to know about. Today, the opposite is true. Berit Glanz explores how personal and embarrassing moments are shared online – boldly and globally – often revealing something profoundly human.

Culture

A girl holding two flags is walking through a field.

Award-Winning Cannes Film “Sound of Falling” Where Memories Dwell

Mascha Schilinski’s award-winning Cannes entry “Sound of Falling” tells the stories of four girls who live on a farm in Germany’s Altmark region in different timeframes. It is a poetic masterpiece about remembering, physical memory and transgenerational trauma.

Anna Seghers – a portrait photograph, around 1975.

125th birthday – Anna Seghers A strong voice in exile literature

Anna Seghers: a distinctive figure; a biography marked by the dramas of the 20th century; novels that brought her international fame. The writer, who was committed to her work throughout her life, was born in Mainz 125 years ago.

Back then, we only had mini golf, nothing else

A Photo Book with Humour Photos from the past brought into the present

Max Kersting collects seemingly trivial old photographs. What he then does with them - using just a few words - is simply hilarious.

Germany

Students on the first day of orientation at the University of Cologne

The five oldest German universities
Studying in a historical setting

The world’s first universities were founded in Italy and England, admittedly. But Germany is shaped by a long academic history too. The five oldest universities were already up and running by the 15th century.

Monika Rathmann

A collage with pictures of wedding elements. A photo of a wedding bouquet. Next to it, a photo of a bride putting a wedding ring on her groom's finger.

Everyday Life in Germany: Wedding Edition
The Art of Celebrating Connection Between Cultures

Two weddings, two cultures – and one shared feeling: what happens when you experience a German wedding for the first time – and memories of a Syrian family celebration come flooding back?

Ahmad Kalaji

Rhön Star Park is just the place for anyone interested in the constellations: an image from the Planetarium.

Detours | Rhön Star Park
Where Nights Are Still Properly Dark

There’s a place at the very heart of Germany that offers a window into space. Rhön Star Park is one of the darkest places in the country – and the perfect place for stargazing.

Tim Pohl