East Germany
Levelling up: don't copy the Germans
‘Germany has succeeded in levelling up where we have not,’ Boris Johnson claimed back in July last year, when talk…
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…
This crisis could be the catalyst for a golden age of British theatre
The coronavirus crisis offers theatre a golden opportunity to break free of the structures that have held it back for years, says William Cook
A blast from the past
If you had to choose one book that both typified spy fiction and celebrated what the genre was capable of…
The time when Putin seduced Corbyn in an East Berlin nightclub
Corbyn the Musical feels like it comes from the heart. Did the writers live through the 1970s when the hard-left…
The integrity and chain-smoking of these East German Commies is rather attractive
No one remembers this now but there really was a period, not so long ago, when the Eighties were universally…
I can understand those seduced by Isis; once, it could have been me
One of the great moments of my student life was opening the door and seeing visitors step back, shocked. I’d…
Tate Modern’s latest show feels like it’s from another planet
‘Some day we shall no longer need pictures: we shall just be happy.’ — Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter, 1966…
Germans see the best of their soul in Weimar. Everyone else, on the other hand..
For centuries hailed as the home of poetry, music and liberalism, Weimar was ruthlessly exploited by the Nazis and later served as a showcase for communism, says Philip Hensher
A military funeral for a heroic vintage
Alas, the ’63 ports are beginning to fade. I came to that conclusion the last time I tasted a Warre’s,…
Leave Ukraine to the Russians
‘You can’t always get what you want,’ chorused Mick Jagger, ‘but if you try some time/You just might find/You get…
What family life — and love — was like in East Germany
Historians still argue over whether the regime of the GDR can be called a totalitarian one. Some say that the…
