Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13.12.2005

Jürg Altwegg portrays Gerhard Schröder's second best friend, Frank A. Meyer, Editor in Chief and main man behind the scenes at the Ringier Publishing House. Meyer used a historic misfortune - his responsibility for the coverage of the sex affair of Sean Borer, the former Swiss ambassador (news story) – as an opportunity: "As an exile, Meyer chose Berlin. There he founded Cicero. And here, the outcast Frank A. Meyer found a new friend. In the months following his greatest humiliation, he prepared for his greatest triumph." A bonus for Schröder: "Because the Russian gas company NEGP, where Schröder is now Chairman of the Board, relocated its seat to the tax paradise in Swiss Zug, Schröder doesn't have too far to go to work." (news story) Meyer is said to have made the following extremely unfair comment about the German media. "If Berlusconi were to take over the German media tomorrow, one wouldn't have to exchange too many journalists."


Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13.12.2005

As the trade agreement between the USA and the EU approaches completion, Ulrich Sauter demands again (and again unsuccessfully) an obligation to label fractionated wines. In fractionated wines, the alcohol and flavour contents are separated and then put back together in altered proportions. For wine testers, it's going to get trickier in the future. "Under normal conditions, when tasting an unknown wine of dark colour, the smell of black current jam, a high alcohol content and tannins that rough up the gums would indicate a Cabernet Sauvignon from a warm climate zone. If one were to have a wine with a similar bouquet and colour, but less alcoholic and friendlier on the gums, the sensory impressions would give a contradictory impression: the bouquet would suggest a Cabernet from a warm climate, but such wines cannot have a low alcohol content."

The author Slavenka Drakulic comments on the arrest of the former Croatian General Ante Gotovina (news piece), who is believed to have committed systematic war crimes against rebel Serbs in Krajina during "Operation Storm" in 1995. "Croatia is both relieved that the obstacle to membership in the EU has been lifted but is equally concerned about what the trial may bring to light. The concern isn't so much about what evidence Gotovina will give or how many people he will incriminate, many presumably from the government. Much more important is how far Franjo Tudjman's politics will be held responsible. Was the systematic extermination of the Serbian minority the price to be paid for the founding of the republic of Croatia?“

Werner Bloch presents the virtual museum "Discover Islamic Art". This ambitious project documents Islamic art from 14 Arabic countries alongside that of southern European countries on the web and will be subsidised with 330 million euros from the European Union. The site returns works of art to their original settings, for example by placing the fassade of the Muqata Palace which is currently in the Berlin Pergamon Museum back in the Jordanian desert. Bloch celebrates this unique attempt to redress the imbalance and mistrust between Western curators and those from Arabic countries. "The methodology of archaeology and curatorship are considered to be Western domains. Now Islamic art is being investigated from the perspective of its countries of origin and local curators are gaining new self-confidence."


Die Welt, 13.12.2005

As Uwe Schmitt writes, if you were to conduct a public survey, asking which architect built most of 19th century Washington D.C., very few would be likely to name the German communist Adolf Cluss (1825 - 1905). This year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death, Cluss is being celebrated with exhibitions in both Heilbronn (where he was born) and Washington. "Cluss the Red" – as he was known both for his preference of red brick and his friendship with Karl Marx – designed and built at least 68 public buildings in Washington between 1864 and 1890. "Cluss was honoured, he got rich. When he stepped down in 1890, most of the public buildings in Washington were his. He was no longer in style. Marble, granite and a a new world market pomp replaced brick and his sensible style which had only wanted to be 'worthy of the republic'. With Zenlike equanimity, he noted in 1902, 'These years towards life's end are much more beautiful in a poetic way than one takes them to be.'"