On 5th July 2007, the German Bundestag passed the Second Act Governing Copyright in the Information Society ("Second Basket" of copyright law reform). Four years after the first reform, a new balance has been struck between the interests of authors, exploiters, equipment producers and end-users, none of whom are, however, especially happy with the compromise solution....
more
Stalin for president
Sixty years after the end of World War Two, Russia is seeing a dramatic re-Stalinisation under President Putin's leadership. As hopes for prosperity dwindle, "Uncle Joe's" star is on the rise again. By Sonja Margolina
read more
As many wars as nations
May the 8th is the anniversary of the end of WW II, but was it really a liberation? Each European country has a different memory of the war, and there is no real consensus on the Holocaust either. With the EU entry of the Eastern European countries the competing myths will no longer exist in isolation, but will have to be contested with the neighbours. By Adam Krzeminski
read more
The Mongol devastations
The Americans and British practised the systematic annihilation of entire cities and their populations in the Second World War. Their main goal was to impress Stalin. The burning of Dresden was the first act of the Cold War. By Jörg Friedrich
read more
The woes of Berlin's memorials
The monuments to the victims of the Nazi era are in a miserable state. Götz Aly has made himself very unpopular in making this very clear.
read more
I am the people
In response to the furore caused by Oliver Hirschbiegel's film "The Downfall", historian Götz Aly describes how many Germans were seduced by National Socialism's heady mix of generous state handouts and high-speed history making.
read more
RSS
A large-scale and long-overdue project has begun. German historians are documenting the persecution and extermination of the Jews in 16 volumes of primary source texts where metal merchants and budgie lovers all have their say - with no recourse to hindsight. By Eckhard Fuhr
"Fear" is the punchy title of book about Polish anti-Semitism whose recent publication in Poland has sparked an emotional debate. Very few people have come to the defence of its author, Jan Tomasz Gross, who has taken on the difficult task of making uncomfortable facts known to a wider audience and removing blind spots in Polish history. By Jakub Kloc-Konkolowicz
Thuringia and Saxony Anhalt are two of Germany's most neglected states today, yet they make up the country's cultural heart. Gustav Seibt drives two hundred kilometres south of Berlin to the land of Bach, Goethe and Hegel that brought forth Bauhaus, Protestantism and the German Enlightenment.
The dawn of a new era in Central Eastern Europe means confronting the legacy of communism and fascism. While there is no lack of advice and admonition from Western Europe, or coarse dressing-downs from Moscow, these nations must be given the time they need to unravel their complicated history. Romanian-German writer Richard Wagner guides us through some of the thorniest issues. (Photo © Lothar Deus)
A document recently made public testifies that the secret police of the GDR were instructed to shoot anyone attempting to escape over the border to West Germany. While the fact is already widely known, the publication has unleashed a new debate about the shootings at the wall. East German author Reinhard Jirgl explains why. (Image © Peter-Andreas Hassiepen)
Raul Hilberg, the father of Holocaust research, died on August 5th. The sobriety of tone and relentness precision with which he exposed the administrative machine behind what he termed "The Destruction of the European Jews" contributed to the book's failure to receive recognition for decades. His portrayal of facelessness spells out a chilling lesson for the future. By Gustav Seibt
Brilliantly narrated, justly arbitrated: historian Christopher Clark has written a masterpiece on the Hohenzollern state of Prussia. By Volker Ullrich
Some people will think: "Not another book on the Holocaust!" But historian Saul Friedländer depicts the "Years of Extermination" with tremendous power and drama. His narrative style is much like that of a film director, elegantly combining individual stories with world events. By Dan Diner
The new permanent exhibition at the German Historical Museum has reopened in Berlin's Zeughaus. Historian Christoph Jahr says the show is too soft on the GDR, makes unreflective use of both communist and Nazi lingo and is overly rooted in the idea of the nation-state. Lots to say, but little substance. (Image: Bernhard Stigel: Kaiser Maximilian I, 1496)