Germany
Angela Merkel will survive – but will the soul of post-war Germany?
The migrant crisis is testing the country’s post-war idea of itself
German refugees transformed British cultural life - but at a price
German-speaking refugees dragged British culture into the 20th century. But that didn’t go down well in Stepney or Stevenage, says William Cook
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s films verge on the incomprehensible — but that doesn’t stop him being a genius
London’s Goethe-Institut has a two-month season of films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (whose 70th anniversary it’s celebrating), but only five…
The house that Alfred built
This is a book about boundaries — and relationships. At its heart is the eponymous house by the lake, which…
Merkel’s grandstanding on Syrian refugees will lead to many more deaths at sea
By making them more likely to attempt the perilous journey to Europe, the German chancellor is luring would-be migrants to their deaths
As with so many Strauss operas, Daphne's one redeeming feature is its end
Richard Strauss’s Daphne is one of the operas he wrote during the excruciatingly long Indian summer of his composing life,…
The triumph of nuclear weapons – and the defeat of nuclear power
‘I visited the black marble obelisk which marks the epicentre of the explosion, and I saw the plain domestic wall-clock…
Wealthy, cosmopolitan – and sometimes rough: the secrets of Hamburg (and my grandmother)
‘What was it like growing up in Liverpool?’ a journalist asked John Lennon. ‘I didn’t grow up in Liverpool,’ he…
Greece’s secret weapon: Grexit would hurt Merkel most
Grexit would be worse for Germany than for Greece
Country house picnics (with some ace opera attached)
I stole a blanket last night. Rather a nice one, in fact. I feel bad about it, of course, but…
Why Viktor Orban could be David Cameron’s new best friend
Hungary’s Viktor Orban could be the PM’s most influential ally in EU renegotiations. So what does he want – and what can he get?
What really happened in the Berlin Philharmonic election
The morning after the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra failed to elect a music director, I took a call from Bild-Zeitung, Berlin’s…
The carpet-bombing of Hamburg killed 40,000 people. It also did good
The carpet-bombing of Hamburg killed 40,000 people. It also did good
Joseph Goebbels: Hitler’s ‘little doctor’ was devoted unto death
It is ironic that this weighty biography of Hitler’s evil genius of a propaganda minister is published on the day…
Spectator letters: England’s defining myth, and another forgotten genocide
Enemies within Sir: I thought Matthew Parris was typically incisive in his last column, but perhaps not quite as much…
Is this the greatest sculpted version of the Easter story? It's certainly the strangest
In April 1501, about the time Michelangelo was returning from Rome to Florence to compete for the commission to carve…
Here’s what a real reform of business rates would look like
Of all the measures talked up ahead of the Budget, the reannouncement of a ‘radical’ review of the business rates…
Miriam Gross’s diary: Why use Freud and Kurt Weill to promote Wagner?
Last week I went to the exhilarating English National Opera production of Wagner’s The Mastersingers — five hours of wonderful…
Paul Mason’s diary: My Greek TV drama
It’ll be a Skype interview, says the producer from Greek television, and not live. In TV-speak that usually means not…
Taki’s recipe for the survival of the Greek nation
The good news is that a Greek suppository is about to relieve the EU’s economic constipation. The bad is that…
Europe’s crisis is Cameron’s opportunity
For Angela Merkel, it’s a crisis. For David Cameron, it’s an opportunity
Confusion, snobbery and Pegida – a letter from Dresden
Sachsenschweine — Saxon pigs — said the graffiti as my train moved out of Berlin on its way to Dresden.…
You realise how little you know of anybody when they die
Whether or not you believe in the afterlife, death remains an impenetrable mystery. One moment a person is making jokes…
The eurozone is strong enough to kick out Greece if Syriza wins
Ever since European Central Bank president Mario Draghi declared himself ready, in July 2012, ‘to do whatever it takes to…