The socialist traffic symbol Ampelmann, seen here in Berlin, constitutes an international brand empire. In the age of mass consumerism, what’s behind a nostalgia for socialist symbols and the sugarcoating of socialist regimes?
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In the age of rampant consumerism, there is nonetheless an odd nostalgia for socialist regimes and symbols. What does it mean?
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Spoiler: NetzDG does not cover all hate speech and probably won’t have a ‘chilling effect’ on users.
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The importance of saving is so deep rooted in Germany that an exhibition recently opened to commemorate it.
Joseph Goebbels, left, shows the ‘people’s receiver’ to Adolf Hitler at a radio exhibition in 1933.
Badische Zeitung
Under an authoritarian government, freedoms can come at a steep – and lasting – price.
The pretzel has had a twisted path from Germany to global snack food.
Craig Barhorst/Shutterstock.com
Why are they shiny? And how did Pennsylvania become the pretzel capital of the world?
Merkel: looking for a seat at the table.
EPA/Clemens Bilan
As the UK and US retreat from the global scene, Germany is ready to step up to preserve the liberal international order and is seeking a seat on the UN Security Council.
Under the grand coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany is looking towards a new approach for their refugee policy.
Hayoung Jeon/AAP
The German approach to refugees is becoming increasingly binary: if you are not a refugee, you must leave; if you are a refugee, you must integrate.
Hub:raum’s open office workspace.
Hub:raum
Start-ups are innovative and agile, while big companies have abundant resources. Corporate accelerators bring them together, and a new case study outlines best practices.
A protest on March 25 in Catalonia against the arrest of Carles Puigdemont.
Jaume Sellart/EPA
The former president of Catalonia is in a German prison, awaiting possible extradition to Spain where he faces charges of rebellion.
Americans tend to prefer beers that have corn or rice ‘adjuncts,’ or fillers.
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The unique role of the temperance movement in US history might explain why, when it comes to Americans’ tastes, bland beer is still king.
EPA/Sascha Steinbach
The SPD is in government with Angela Merkel again after signing a coalition deal. But life has been harder for the social democrats.
Syrian refugees arrive to start a new life in Germany.
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Refugees hold religious prejudices against each other too – separating them by religion is not the answer.
EPA/Hayoung Jeong
Martin Schulz could face a major backlash from his own party after breaking his promise not to enter government with Angela Merkel’s CDU again.
Giving a new ‘GroKo’ coalition the go-ahead.
Sascha Steinbach/EPA
Germany’s Social Democrat Party leadership voted in favour of a new coalition with Angela Merkel’s block – but it’s far from plain sailing ahead.
Esther Utjiua Muinjangue commemorates the victims of the German colonial genocide in Namibia.
EPA/Stefanie Pilick
In mid-2015 the German Foreign Office after decades of denial seemingly acceded, in a very informal way, to labelling what had happened in South West Africa as genocide, is now backtracking.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, is welcomed by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel prior to a meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers in Bonn, Germany in February 2017.
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Germany’s foreign minister could take a page from Chrystia Freeland’s playbook on how his country should manage foreign policy in the Donald Trump era.
Refugees in Greece seeking reunification with family in Germany.
Orestis Panagiotou/EPA
The issue of whether to allow refugees to bring their close family to Germany has been a sticking point in coalition negotiations.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Martin Schulz has said he’d rather go back into opposition than agree to another grand coalition. But is that sensible?
Srdjan Suki/EPA
Responses to the recent discovery of a Nazi swastika raise some awkward questions.
EPA/Filip Singer
The parliamentary arithmetic suggests Merkel would actually be in quite a stable position if she goes it alone, without calling fresh elections.