handelsblatt explains Germans and Russians share a long history of attraction and repulsion, fear and embrace, conflict and harmony. That endlessly complicates their relations today. Published on July 25, 2017 5:28 pm The longest sea-floor pipeline in the world runs through the Baltic from Russia to Germany. Russian gas has been flowing through Nord Stream 1 since 2012, and in a few years a twin, Nord Stream 2, will double its capacity. Everything about it is controversial. Poles and Balts hate it, because the pipeline, by circumventing them, threatens their energy security and could leave them open to Russian blackmail. America distrusts it and will probably include it in a new round of sanctions to punish Russia. In Germany the controversy is personal: The chairman of Nord Stream’s board is Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor and bosom buddy of Vladimir Putin. In a more symbolical sense, Nord Stream thus represents an umbilical cord that connects, … [Read more...] about Why Germans are so ambivalent about Russia
German traditions
Vice or virtue? Berlin exhibition charts Germans’ penny-pinching mania
"Merkel's bullying", "Queen of austerity", "German dogma": headlines from around the EU greet visitors to the baroque pile on the leafy Unter den Linden boulevard that houses the museum. All are relics of Berlin's insistence that eurozone members stick to strict limits on debts and deficits at the height of the currency bloc's post-2008 financial blues. Politicians and the public have been puzzled by the rage from other nations, while Spaniards, Italians and above all Greeks have cursed Berlin for soaring unemployment and slashed government services. "These attacks meet with little understanding in Germany. Why is this conflict so highly charged emotionally?" questioned museum chief professor Raphael Gross. To most Germans, saving around 10 percent of their income has long been an "unquestioned virtue" come war, inflation, famine or fortune, Gross noted. Witness to that fact are some €2.3 trillion ($2.8 trillion) socked away in savings accounts or under mattresses, according … [Read more...] about Vice or virtue? Berlin exhibition charts Germans’ penny-pinching mania
Vice or virtue? Exhibition charts Germans’ mania for saving
While the European Union gears up for another of its endless post-crisis bouts over spending, debt and deficits, Berlin's German Historical Museum has turned a microscope onto the mania for saving in Europe's largest economy. "Merkel's bullying", "Queen of austerity", "German dogma": headlines from around the EU greet visitors to the baroque pile on the leafy Unter den Linden boulevard that houses the museum. All are relics of Berlin's insistence that eurozone members stick to strict limits on debts and deficits at the height of the currency bloc's post-2008 financial blues. Politicians and the public have been puzzled by the rage from other nations, while Spaniards, Italians and above all Greeks have cursed Berlin for soaring unemployment and slashed government services. "These attacks meet with little understanding in Germany. Why is this conflict so highly charged emotionally?" questioned museum chief professor Raphael Gross. To most Germans, saving around 10 percent of their income … [Read more...] about Vice or virtue? Exhibition charts Germans’ mania for saving
Krampus: Christmas’ most terrifying tradition
A particularly horrifying Krampus mask on display at a jesters' parade in Weil am Rhein in March 2009. Photo: DPA Germany famously does Christmas extremely well, with its renowned seasonal markets conjuring images of toasty gingerbread and steaming mugs of Glühwein. But Germany's love for yuletide folklore has a dark side - and it's coming out on Thursday night. Santa Claus may already be preparing to carry presents to good children everywhere, but in southern Germany another legendary character has different ideas. The legendary Krampus, usually described as a beast-like, demonic figure with long goats' horns and straggly hair, comes to capture naughty children and carries them off in a sack to his mountain lair, according to Alpine tradition. CLICK HERE to see a gallery of Germany's scariest Christmas character Stories of the Krampus talk of him coming out to punish bad children around the eve of St. Nicholas' day. Traditionally young men across south Bavaria, as … [Read more...] about Krampus: Christmas’ most terrifying tradition
Facebook turns to traditional postcards to fight election interference
Facebook will soon rely on centuries-old technology to try to prevent foreign meddling in US elections – the post office. Following evidence of Russian attempts to sway the US presidential election in 2016, Facebook’s global politics and government outreach director Katie Harbath told a meeting of the US National Association of Secretaries of State in Washington DC that the company would send postcards to potential buyers of political ads to confirm they reside in the US. The recipient would then have to enter a code in Facebook to continue buying the ad. The method will first apply to ads that name candidates ahead of the midterm elections in November, said Facebook spokesman Andy Stone. The plan was unveiled in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into election meddling charging 13 Russians with interfering in the presidential election. Mueller’s indictment described how Russian agents stole social security numbers and other information … [Read more...] about Facebook turns to traditional postcards to fight election interference