Germany
Cultural Comment
Deciphering the Wagner Group’s Love for Wagner
Nazism influenced the mercenary group’s twisted aesthetics, but so did Wagnerian Hollywood spectacle.
Elements
The Strange Story of a Cat Lockdown
Feline residents of Walldorf, Germany, can’t go outside when certain birds are breeding. Is it cruelty or conservation?
Culture Desk
The Discovery of a Forgotten and Banned Nuremberg Film
“Filmmakers for the Prosecution” tells the story of how two scions of Hollywood contributed crucial evidence and made a documentary that was suppressed by the U.S. Army.
A Reporter at Large
How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unravelled
The tech company Wirecard was embraced by the German élite. But a reporter discovered that behind the façade of innovation were lies and links to Russian intelligence.
Q. & A.
The Failed Coup Plotters Yearning for the German Reich
A mishmash of conspiracy theories and imperial nostalgia has found purchase with the country’s far-right factions.
Dept. of Transportation
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Once, it sparked dreams of community and counterculture. What’s gained—and lost—when flower power is electrified?
The Front Row
What to Stream: “The Sorrow and the Pity,” a Historical Documentary That Transformed France’s National Identity
Marcel Ophuls’s 1969 film about France’s collaboration with German occupiers during the Second World War broke a quarter century of media silence.
Musical Events
A Grand Tour of Germany’s Opera Paradise
Even small cities have fine companies—and they’re all supported by the state.
News Desk
How Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Upended Germany
In the wake of Russia’s attack, Germany has reoriented its energy policy and committed to dramatic military expansion for the first time since the Cold War.
A Reporter at Large
Can Germany Show Us How to Leave Coal Behind?
The country embarked on an ambitious plan to transition to clean energy, aiming to lead the fight against climate change. It has not been easy.
Annals of Inquiry
A Political Philosopher Is Hopeful About the Democrats
Michael Sandel thinks that the Biden Administration is fulfilling its most important task: breaking with the faith that American meritocracy works.
Daily Comment
What Angela Merkel Left Behind
She was the first woman to hold the office of Chancellor—and the first postwar Chancellor to leave the office on her own terms.
The New Yorker Documentary
When a Memorial Is Placed Out of Sight
Güzin Kar’s documentary “Your Street” addresses a deceased victim of racist violence in post-reunification Germany and asks what places a society should allot to the shameful parts of its past.
Daily Comment
What Is Going On with the German Election?
As negotiations continue, it helps that Germans have experience building coalitions and that the largest parties aren’t extreme.
Satire from The Borowitz Report
Trump Claims He Won German Election
Reflecting on his purported win, Trump said, “I’ve always wanted to be the Chancellor of Germany. That’s a title that’s been held by some very fine people.”
Profiles
Neo Rauch’s Antagonistic Art
German painting’s arch-traditionalist has a brush with controversy.
Letter from Berlin
The German Experiment That Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles
With the approval of the government, a renowned sexologist ran a dangerous program. How could this happen?
Persons of Interest
Jenny Erpenbeck Is Keeping Time
When the Berlin Wall fell, some called it the end of history. For Erpenbeck, history just needed saving.
Under Review
The German Forester Who Wants the World to Idolize Trees
Peter Wohlleben’s “The Hidden Life of Trees” became an unlikely best-seller, and now has a sequel. Does it matter if the books are full of questionable science?
Dispatch
The Strange Story of Dagobert, the “DuckTales” Bandit
In the nineties, a frustrated artist in Berlin went on a crime spree—building bombs, extorting high-end stores, and styling his persona after Scrooge McDuck. He soon became a German folk hero.