Never before have there been so many private collectors making extensive acquisitions of contemporary art. Are they the real key figures of a global art business?...
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Historian Joachim Fest's memoirs of his youth, "Ich Nicht," document an elitism that seeks to distance itself from petty-bourgeois National Socialism, and form a counterpoint to the prevailing culture of memory in the Federal Republic of Germany. Although the historical establishment tended to view Fest askance, his recollections document a genuinely cultivated German bourgeoisie. By Jens Bisky
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The Arab intellectual behaves like a despotic father. No internal family matter may be exposed to the outside world. Regardless of what the reality may be, a facade of unbroken unity must be maintained. In private talks you hear opinions that are radically different from what is published in the newspapers the next day. By Khalid al-Maaly (Image © Brigitte Friedrich, Cologne)
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Autumn is the season of art in Berlin. Elke Buhr surveys the multitude of galleries, festivals and fairs and comes to the conclusion that art is mainstream and Berlin is at the centre of it all. (Image: Berliner Liste © Anja Vormann, Sausage Faces, 2002)
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In an interview with Holger Liebs the painter Neo Rauch describes the dense, apocalyptic nature of his work, puzzles over his need to retreat and is very thankful to no longer be 25.
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The cancellation of the Mozart opera "Idomeneo" in Berlin's Deutsche Oper for fear of reprisals from the Muslim community has unleashed a storm of protest. Harald Jähner, feuilleton editor of the Berliner Zeitung, finds the opera house's decision not only cowardly but dangerous.
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Berlin is host to the music trade fair Popkomm. For the first time since the Internet boom and bust in 2000, things are looking up for pop music. After years of steady decline, shrinking sales figures and what looked like certain death, hope has come back to the music industry. By Tobias Rapp
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It's finally happened. The film version of Patrick Süskind's mega-hit "Perfume" has hit the screens. Director Tom Tykwer talks with Dietmar Kammerer about his passion for the project, his proximity to the central figure - a serial killer in pursuit of love - and covering whole neighbourhoods with a layer of filth.
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German soprano Christine Schäfer is the star of this year's Salzburg Festival. In an interview with Wolfgang Schreiber, she talks about the irksomeness of marketing, the importance of listening to the music your kids listen to and the silliness of operatic gestures in jogging suits.
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The German housewife is the pillar of the nation - she cleans, organises, supports, nourishes and forgets that at one time, she had professional aspirations. Susanne Mayer takes a look at the employment situation of German women and concludes that the state is investing far too much in folded underwear.
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Having been violently attacked by the husband of one of her clients, the Berlin lawyer and Islam critic Seyran Ates has closed her legal practice. A fighter for human rights resigns. By Mariam Lau
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Elke Heidenreich is smitten by the Glyndebourne Festival in England and asks herself why can't Germans do this - enjoy the exquisite pleasure of opera without feeling obliged to analyse it to death?
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There appears to be a building gene for tallness. When the Twin Towers imploded, it was only a question of time before taller ones could be built. Steering clear of the ecological and economic absurdity of the super-skyscrapers, Europe too must see the vertical as a dimension to be inhabited. By Gerhard Matzig
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Post-Holocaust morality and the violence of today: Navid Kermani says Israel weakens itself if it builds on military might, and forgets its past as victim.
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Israel is not only defending its territorial security, it is fighting an Islamic anti-Semitism which European politics are determined to ignore. When it comes to the crunch, the Europeans' "critical dialogue" and culturally-obsessed interpretations, not to mention their playing down of anti-Semitism, have contributed to keeping the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive. By Tjark Kunstreich
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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)
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