Father Christmas battles through the Blitz
When the shrill air raid sirens blared their familiar warning cries over the city at 6.01 p.m. on 29 December…
Will Germany's compulsory vaccine plan backfire?
Covid was probably the last thing on Angela Merkel’s mind as she listened to the East German pop tunes of…
What explains Germany's vaccine scepticism?
By the end of winter, Germans will be ‘vaccinated, recovered or dead,’ according to the country’s health minister Jens Spahn.…
Germany's 'day of fate' is a reminder of the country's troubled past
The 9 November is often called Germany’s Schicksalstag – Day of Fate. The date punctuates the fabric of the country’s calamitous…
Why did neo-Nazis patrol the German border?
Just after midnight last Sunday, around 50 vigilantes gathered in east Germany to ‘patrol’ the country’s border with Poland. They…
The horror of tank warfare brought vividly to life
If Joseph Stalin was right about one thing it was his assertion that ‘the death of one man is a…
German voters set for a tense night
The German elections have turned out to be an unexpected nail-biter. Since the exit polls were released earlier this evening…
The sad circus of the German election
The German election campaign has been entirely lacking in substance. Laschet, Baerbock, Scholz: none seem to grip the public’s attention.…
Could a left-wing coalition end up running Germany?
A spectre is haunting Germany — the spectre of the left. As Merkel’s Christian Democrats fall further behind in the…
The Prince of Prussia's Nazi problem
Perched on a mountain top overlooking the Swabian Alps, Hohenzollern Castle, with its picturesque towers, seems like something out of a…
Hungary, Poland and the EU’s ‘diversity’ problem
It is quite something when the self-proclaimed ‘illiberal’ prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, reminds Brussels of its liberal principles.…
How will Merkel cope with retirement?
Retirement sounds pretty nice. The ONS says that pensioners spend an average of seven hours and ten minutes a day on…
The uninspiring choice facing German voters
The gloves are off in Germany’s electoral race. As personal insults are traded and skeletons dragged from their closets, even…
What's the problem with Gareth Southgate's 'war talk'?
War analogies are a cherished football tradition. From chants of ‘Stand up if you won the war’ to the Daily…
What Merkel's visit means for Brexit Britain
Angela Merkel visited the UK yesterday for the last time as German chancellor – the 22nd visit she has paid in…
The politics of Germany's Stasi archives
‘Oh please… not the letters I sent to my mum,’ sighed the East German pastor Gernot Friedrich as he randomly…
Why the far-right flourishes in East Germany
A spectre is haunting Germany — the spectre of the AfD. Having come to prominence on a wave of anti-migrant…
Germany's growing extremism problem
On 2 June 2019, a German politician was found lying in a pool of blood outside his home in Hesse.…
Is Germany about to go Green?
Could Annalena Baerbock decide Germany’s future?
Why Merkel's party is backing a political lightweight to replace her
The run-up to the German federal elections in September was supposed to be dull and predictable. Merkel would name a…
Berlin has been bounced into accepting Sputnik
Munich has had enough of the vaccine chaos in Berlin and Brussels. In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, Bavaria’s minister…
Failing upwards: the story of Ursula von der Leyen
The historic failures of Ursula von der Leyen
Support for Merkel's party is crumbling
On Sunday, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) suffered a historic election defeat in their former heartlands of…
The rapid fall of Germany's health minister
Young, polished and confident, Germany’s health minister became the country’s most popular politician in 2020. A darling of the conservative…
