$ 2.00 US October 2018 ISSN 1864-3965

Facing off What’s in store for the trans-Atlantic relationship? German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Munich Security Conference Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger assess the situation. pages 2 – 4

PICTURE ALLIANCE/AP PHOTO/JESCO DENZEL

IN THIS ISSUE Spurring to action Wunderbar GERMANY IN TURMOIL The Merkel center holds – but barely, America’s retreat and Donald Trump’s refusal to together says Günter Bannas. Meanwhile, violence lead are putting the trans-Atlantic alliance at risk and protests in Chemnitz are causing an uproar, observes Peter Koepf. And a new A greeting from President BY THEO SOMMER generation of politicians is gearing up to Frank-Walter Steinmeier take over, writes Lutz Lichtenberger. pages 6–8 e live in perilous times in an imperiled Pessimists in Europe assume that America’s inward ristotle once described friendship world. The most dramatic shift of power turn will continue. In 15 to 20 years, whites will be as “a single soul dwelling in two Wand wealth since the ascent of the United a minority, they point out. This will weaken ties with Abodies.” In the case of the friend- BULLS IN THE CHINA SHOP States to worldwide dominance a hundred years ago Europe and sap the trans-Atlantic commitment. ship between the US and Germany, that The trade war between the US and the puts an end to 500 years of Western (and white) European optimists assume that the US pullback from “single soul” is our shared belief in democ- Middle Kingdom is about more than just hegemony. China’s rise from international insignifi- the liberal world order won’t last long. They bank on racy, the inalienable rights of all people money. It is about world domination. cance to global clout is changing the power balance. the resilience and the ultimate rationality of American and the rule of law. These are ideals we are Hans-Jürgen Jakobs lays out the battle- The Chinese model – capitalism plus authoritarian- voters. The pendulum will swing back to normal, committed to achieving together. field.page 13 ism – poses a grave challenge to the Western system they say. “Trump’s foreign policy will not outlast his And yet, as well all know, friendship is not of free market democracy, as despots all over the whims,” argues Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times. some sort of effortless miracle. It requires world are eager to emulate it. The liberal interna- The realists are not so sure. They consider it too attentive listening and a deep understanding FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS tional order, built by America after World War II risky to rely on the hope that Trumpism will disappear of what moves and inspires us to behave the German and US companies are among and sustained by its European allies ever since, is with Trump. At any rate, for the time being they have way we do. Taking the time to approach one the most important foreign investors collapsing. Democracy is in retreat; nationalism and to reckon with a president who throws out treaties, another with thoughtfulness and respect is in each other’s markets. A trade war tribalism are gaining ground; and global instability whose allegiance to NATO is questionable and who what makes – and grows – a friendship. would be bad for everyone, says continues to grow. Even in the so-called free world, considers the European Union a “foe.” Germans and Americans have always been Stormy-Annika Mildner. page 16 democracy is again at risk. Friedrich Merz, the chairman of Atlantik-Brücke, put connected in fundamental ways. We Ger- Worse yet: Facing a China on the rise and a dis- his finger on the wound when he said: “We Europeans mans are grateful for the political agenda ruptive Russia in a world replete with threats and must define our role in the world without the US. To that enabled us to regain our place in the HIGH AND LOW disorder, what used to be known as “the West” be true: It would be better if America returned to the world community Cornelia Funke, a bestselling German is breaking down. The fold one fine day, but and made it possi- author based in the US, talks about the cause, in the eyes of most at the present moment ble for our divided high regard many Americans have for Europeans, is President we can’t count on this country to reunite. Germans and how little some of her Donald Trump’s appar- for sure.” Merz echoed But the German- countrymen know about the US. ent determination to EUROPE WON’T Chancellor Angela American friendship page 23 destroy the world order Merkel’s memorable is also founded on the US created: the web of CUT LOOSE FROM statement: “The times KUGLER BUNDESREGIERUNG/STEFFEN countless personal alliances and institutions when we could fully rely connections across that underwrote free- on one another are more the Atlantic, includ- dom, safeguarded peace AMERICA or less over, so I can only ing centuries-old

Washington, 20016 DC, 3708 35th St NW The German Times and promoted prosperity. say that we Europeans family roots as well “Today,” Robert Kagan must take our fate into as new friendships and partnerships between states in his recent article titled “The Cost of Ameri- our own hands.” French president Emmanuel Macron cities, communities, schools and universities. can Retreat,” “the US seems bent on relinquishing its weighed in: “The partner with which Europe built the All of these bonds have one thing in duties in pushing back the jungle.” Atlas, the Titan of post-war multilateral order seems to be turning its common; when we cultivate and celebrate endurance, is tired of holding up the sky. back on this shared history.” At the annual conference them, they thrive. And this is exactly what This is not a new phenomenon. Isolationism has of his ambassadors, Macron added: “Europe can no we’re seeking to do as part of our Deutsch- been the twin of imperialism throughout America’s longer entrust its security to the United States alone. landjahr in the US. With more than a thou- 242-year history. Swings from geopolitical outreach to Today, it is up to us to assume our responsibilities sand events taking place over a full year, withdrawal into its continental shell have punctuated and to guarantee security – and thereby European there will indeed be many opportunities to the country’s policy. The current retreat has been long sovereignty.” meet old friends, make new ones and explore in coming. It was George W. Bush who first pulled It seems paradoxical but it is a fact: Donald Trump’s what moves us all. back from multilateralism, making unilateralism his truculence is finally spurring the Europeans to action. My best wishes go out to those countless guiding principle. Barack Obama prioritized nation- In various fields they are stepping up to the plate. They individuals committed to cultivating this building at home and leading from behind. Under are increasing their defense spending and boosting friendship – in small towns and big cities, in Donald Trump, strategic restraint has shriveled to their military cooperation and integration. They are in the heartland and on the coasts, in compa- strategic retreat. He refuses to lead. His battle cry the process of aligning their foreign policies – vis-à-vis nies and at universities all over the country. “America first” jettisons the basic concept that deal- the Mediterranean and Africa, but also with regard Our joint efforts will no doubt allow our making means taking the interests of your partners into to China. Simultaneously, they are strengthening the friendship to shine and make us even more account instead of rudely overpowering and crushing stability of the euro and moving towards a fuller “wunderbar together.” them. Trump is the first to think that the American banking union. world order undermines American greatness – Mark In his last State-of-the-Union address to the Euro- Leonard’s sly remark is dead-on. For the time being, pean Parliament, Commission President Jean-Claude the president marks an inflection point. Juncker insisted, perhaps a bit grandiloquently, that PERMIT NO. 4848

SUBURBAN MD The question is: President Trump’s obnoxious style, Europe needed Weltpolitikfähigkeit, the capacity for U.S. POSTAGE

PRSRT STD his incalculability and his unreliability – are they a tem- world politics. He is right, of course. And while it is

PAID porary detour or, horrible thought, likely to become a undeniable that Europe won’t get there quickly, at A paper within this paper, permanent fixture of US foreign policy? While Euro- least it’s on the move. explores the past, present and peans expect his ghastly style to disappear with him, Europe won’t cut loose from America. The goal, in future of life in the German they are by no means sure that the basic thrust of his the words of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, capital. page 29–40

approach will vanish as well. is a “balanced relationship,” a relationship in which

continued on page 2 2 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 3 POLITICS POLITICS

Enthusiasm, interest, friendship

Germany and the US need to talk. Why a new trans-Atlantic exchange offers THE NEW a unique opportunity to do so. By Foreign Minister Heiko Maas GERMAN TIMES A personal greeting from publisher Detlef Prinz t first glance, everything long, hard look at German-US shaken. But what really brings a for people to meet. We want to We were having breakfast at seems pretty much the relations. Our countries need an partnership between two coun- enable people to experience that Berlin’s Hotel Adlon when I said to same. Hollywood movies honest and balanced partnership. tries to life are the people in it is worth talking and that we Richard S. Lugar, “I need your help, A Senator!” still attract huge audiences in Ger- For us Europeans, that means, for our societies who foster exchange can enrich each other through our That was back in 2003. At the time, many, even in the smallest towns. example, investing more in the through their enthusiasm, inter- different views. the friendship between Germany American tourists continue to future in our own ability to act. est and friendship. The German The Germans and Americans and the United States had chilled marvel at Heidelberg and Munich. Where the US withdraws, we in government is taking exactly the who already foster exchange considerably after the federal And Germans’ enthusiasm for US the European Union will have to same approach here, with the aim between our countries year after government had signaled its unwillingness to participate in the culture still seems to be just as step up. Our willingness to work of making trans-Atlantic links year are our greatest asset. I am war against Iraq. I had come up with strong as the pride with which with the US will not change. But stronger. not only referring to those who an idea as to how we could sustain every sixth US citizen declares if necessary, we will continue To this end, I am launching build networks in culture, busi- the dialogue across the Atlantic in they have German roots. alone on paths that we initially Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19 in ness and politics. I am thinking spite of the chill, and I presented my But if we look at the political embarked on together. Washington on October 3. Our of the tens of thousands of high idea to Lugar, who was chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee arena, we have to admit that a great However, relations between goal is to strike up a new conver - school and university students of the US Senate at the time. I deal has changed, and this is not a the US and Europe are not the sation with people in the US. And who go to the US to study and wanted to create a journalistic recent phenomenon. The Cold War only thing that is changing. The when I say “people,” I am not bring a part of the US back with bridge between Germany and the ended decades ago. Many experts speed with which conflicts on our only talking about politicians and them to Germany, in the same United States. predicted that this would lead to a planet, with its finite resources, experts on Capitol Hill. We will way that towns like Wiesbaden “Great idea,” he said. “What can I do for you?” shift in how the US sees Europe. By are escalating allows us hardly hold over 1,000 events from coast and Kaiserslautern become a “What you can do is ensure that now, this shift is apparent to all. As any time to stop and think. Those to coast and in all 50 US states. second home for countless com- our newspaper is distributed to key foreign minister of Germany, I have who look around the whole We want to listen to people – stu - panies of US soldiers every year. decision-makers and multipliers in to adapt to the idea that US priori- world, and not merely across dents, artists, academics, business Germany is far more than Hei- Washington, despite the stringent ties will converge less often with the Atlantic, realize that we will people and teachers – who shape delberg Palace and the US is far 9/11 security measures.” I had met Senator Lugar on many those of us Europeans than was the only be able to overcome today’s relations between our countries more than Hollywood movies. If occasions and I was sure that he case in the past. And there is a good threats by working together. The in their day to day work. we give Germans and Americans would support our project. chance that this will stay the same 21st century is not a time for The idea is not to celebrate the chance to really get interested And he did. On Oct. 3, 2004, I had under future US presidents, too. anyone to go it alone. trans-Atlantic relations by hark- in each other again, it can point the opportunity to present him But something else will also In order to form international ing back to the past or focusing the way to a new partnership for the first copy of our newspaper remain the same – the firmly held alliances, conferences are held, on the official level. Instead, our us politicians. We have no time – The Atlantic Times – at the PICTURE ALLIANCE/REUTERS German Embassy in Washington. conviction, and one I share with treaties are signed and hands are aim is to create new opportunities to lose. Emancipation proclamation: Angela Merkel after her landmark beer summit speech in the Bavarian town of Trudering in May 2017. From that day on, the newspaper was a link between Berlin and Washington, between Germany and the United States. It reached DPA/KAY NIETFELD DPA/KAY all the major multipliers in the US and was on the desks of US BUT WHAT REALLY Not without America senators, members of the House of Representatives, business leaders and creative minds for BRINGS A PARTNER- Europe must become more independent, yet cannot forgo its alliance with the US many years. It also contributed to the diversity of opinion and open political discourse in the context SHIP BETWEEN TWO of 127 German-American city partnerships. BY WOLFGANG ISCHINGER rence. Nevertheless, the Europe- NATO member countries began is anyone’s guess. We Europe- peril of a regional arms race, it world order will only endure if it The current edition of our COUNTRIES TO LIFE ans achieved quite a lot themselves paying 2 percent of their GDP for ans, at least during the Trump also delivers a heavy blow to is supported by both pillars of the newspaper has been given the name The German Times. Even he times when we could in terms of security. They supple- their defense, as they had pledged era, will have to get used to the trans-Atlantic relations. Angela trans-Atlantic partnership. with this unified worldwide title, ARE THE PEOPLE IN fully rely on one another mented American guarantees with to do in 2014. At the moment, idea that the White House is no Merkel did not mince words on Third, we would be ignoring the the paper remains a trans-Atlantic Tare more or less over, so I comprehensive contributions of only a few countries have met this longer interested in alliance part- the subject: The cancellation of many millions of Americans who newspaper committed to keeping OUR SOCIETIES can only say that we Europeans their own. The Bundeswehr, for commitment. Germany, which ners in any way, shape or form. the agreement injures trust in the did not vote for Donald Trump. an eye on the key issues of global must take our fate into our own example, was considered a capable currently pays at a rate of 1.2 The world, from its perspective, international order. Engagement in civil society in the politics. We very much hope that our new title contributes to hands.” It was a rather uneven and highly respected army. percent, has pledged to reach 1.5 is divided simply between fans Richard Haass, who called it US and the reactions of the US the creation of an even stronger remark, but one that nonethe- This balance changed with the percent by 2025. and foes. “the great abdication” of the US, judiciary show that the America German-American friendship and almost everyone who holds politi- less resounded like a thunderbolt end of the Cold War. Defense It is incumbent upon critics of Since 1945 we have faced US a voluntary surrender of responsi- we know and treasure is well- a deeper understanding between cal responsibility in Germany, that throughout the Western world. It expenditure was massively reduced the Americans to acknowledge a presidents with varying ideolo- bility. Or, as formulated on Twit- fortified. Rather than abandon- the two allies and friends. the trans-Atlantic partnership is the came from German Chancellor all over Europe as the Soviet Union few basic facts: For decades the gies and widely differing sets of ter by Strobe Talbott, former US ing the United States wholesale, gold standard of our foreign policy. Angela Merkel in a 20-minute no longer posed a threat to the EU countries, above all Germany, priorities, yet all were convinced deputy secretary of state: “Britain we should work together with The hand reached out by the US speech on a hot Sunday after- West. However, this led to today’s have cozied up under America’s that the liberal international order, is only exiting Europe. America is all those who are interested in after World War II; the Marshall noon over beer and pretzels in situation where many European protective umbrella. Without the as it emerged after World War II exiting the world.” preserving the trans-Atlantic com- Plan; the life-saving Berlin Air- the Munich suburb of Trudering. armed forces are operational only United States, there would have and spread wider after the col- For this reason, it is more imper- munity of shared values. These IMPRINT lift; and, finally, the support for It fell from her lips almost casu- to a limited degree. been no German reunification, lapse of the Soviet Union, was ative than ever before that Europe include many congressmen and German reunification – politicians ally, but make no mistake: it was With each passing year, leading no European Union, no peace in good for the US, good for its becomes more capable of acting. congresswomen, state governors, Publisher Detlef W. Prinz and people in Germany have not deliberate. US politicians found it more dif- Europe and certainly no peace in partners and good for the world: And I concur: It is not politically CEOs and civil society. forgotten what the US did for our In Germany, many took the ficult to explain why the US spends the Balkans. multilateralism and cooperation, sustainable in the long term that Europe must become more inde- Executive Editor Theo Sommer country. But if we want to maintain statement as a rebuke to the new immense sums for the defense of This begs the question: Is Amer- open societies and open markets, 500 million prosperous Europeans pendent yet cannot write off its Editor in Chief this special connection, we cannot US President Donald Trump and its European partners, while these ica still able and still willing to act and close ties between the Western outsource essential elements of alliance with the US. So, what Peter H. Koepf act as if nothing has changed since a reaction to his performance at partners continued to reduce their as the patron saint of Europe and democracies. their security to the Atlantic part- to do? Engage, engage, engage! Senior Editor then. We need to recalibrate our the NATO summit in Brussels a share in the collective burden of beyond, and – in the sense of its Trump sees things in a funda- ners on the other side of the ocean. Stay involved and exert influ- Lutz Lichtenberger partnership. few days earlier. But how was the defense. European partners – to continue mentally different way. No one In this respect, we must energeti- ence! There’s no other way than English Language Editor Nostalgia alone will not help us chancellor’s message received out- In June 2011 – that is, long performing its former duties as should look to him for great cally seize the topic of security to engage with the new US govern- Jonathan Lutes here. Instead, we need to take a side Germany? The world’s most before Trump – US Secretary of peacekeeper? initiatives to strengthen or stabi- with our own hands. Europe must ment as closely as possible without Art Director Heiko Maas renowned newspapers – from The Defense Robert Gates delivered a Trump’s lack of esteem among lize the international order. On become more able to act, speak whitewashing troubling develop- Paul M. Kern Washington Post and The New much-noticed speech in Brussels. alliance partners and his style of the contrary: Power politics and with its own voice and continue its ments – even if it’s hard for many Layout Johanna Trapp, Gordon Martin York Times, from The Guardian He had previously warned that diplomacy – which seems to breed national interest are the focus of development into a defense union. Europeans to stomach. This is continued from page 1: Spurring to action and The Economist in Great Brit- NATO was in jeopardy of splitting uncertainty – makes the world his intentions. His view dictates However, here comes the big precisely the necessary Realpolitik Advertising Janine Kulbrok ain, and from Spain’s El País and into two camps: one engaging in more dangerous, as trust has that America should not commit “but.” Strengthening the capacity of today. Washington Office the US can no longer push USA. Maas was deeply touched Denigrating allies, however trou- security; fighting climate change; prospect deserves sober contem- Libération in France to La Repub- low-risk peacekeeping and devel- been an early casualty, creating or adhere to institutions or norms for action is one thing, cutting the The German Times Europe around by the exterri- when during one of his recent blesome they may be at times, and solving the never-ending plation. blica in Italy – all deemed Merkel’s opment missions, and one carry- an atmosphere where crises can while pursuing a protectionist eco- umbilical cord is something else A Trans-Atlantic Newspaper 4200 Wisconsin Ave NW #106-381 torial assertion of its sanctions trips, a young GI pulled him aside is the shortest road to isolation. trade disputes in a non-antago- The late Senator John S. speech “historic.” Hers were blunt ing out high-risk combat opera- escalate faster and more sharply. nomic policy. altogether. Cutting the cord won’t Washington DC 20016 policy, by weaponizing the dollar and implored him: “Please, don’t We should all remember Winston nistic way. McCain was a stalwart advocate words marking a profound turn- tions. It was not acceptable that By openly attacking the Euro- Over the past year the US has do. Those wishing to simply write Office Manager or by its Liebesentzug – with- abandon America.” Germany is Churchill’s dictum: “The only Second: We have more in of Western unity and an unwav- ing point in the trans-Atlantic the US share of NATO defense pean NATO members, above withdrawn from UNESCO and off the US as a partner would be Alice Gallasch Kelley drawal of affection – regarding not going to abandon America. thing worse than having allies is common with each other than ering supporter of the world partnership. A new chapter in expenditure had grown from 50 all Germany, from the very first pulled out of the Paris climate wise to remember three things: Contact international institutions. Maas But it devoutly wishes that Amer- not having allies.” In the same with anyone else. If America and America has inspired, organized US-European relations had begun. percent to now 75 percent, Gates minute of the Brussels NATO agreement and the Trans-Pacific First, in the short and medium [email protected] wants Europe to act as a “coun- ica remain true to itself. vein, Donald Tusk, president of Europe are to thrive in the new and led for three-quarters of a European-American ties have warned: If this were to continue, summit in July 2018, he has dam- Partnership (TPP), a large trade term, Europeans cannot do with- Publishing House Times Media GmbH terweight” to America, capable This paper was founded in 2004 the European Council, implored era unfolding before us today, century. At last year’s Munich indeed changed. Trump’s presi- decision-makers in the US would aged the West’s most important agreement between the Asia- out the American nuclear security Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 of defending “red lines” crossed at a time when German-American Donald Trump: “Appreciate your they should beware of letting Security Conference he made an dency has dramatically acceler- soon pose the question of whether alliance. In doing so he called Pacific countries. In May 2018, guarantee. We have an abiding 10963 Berlin Tel.: +49 30 21505-400 by Washington. Like Juncker, relations were at their lowest point allies, for you don’t have many.” their partnership languish. Only appeal to the Europeans: “Make ated this process, but it did not America’s engagement in NATO into question its very foundation Trump terminated the nuclear deal interest in convincing the new Printed in Washington by who finds it ridiculous that Euro- after the end of conflict between We are firmly convinced that together can they hope to hold no mistake, my friends: These initiate it. was still worth it. “Ultimately,” – its internal cohesion. “America with Iran. government in Washington of the Comprint Printing peans pay for their Airbuses and East and West. The bone of con- we must not let our trans-Atlantic their own in a world of ever are dangerous times, but you During the Cold War, when concluded Gates, “nations must first” has indeed become American With the US retreat, the contin- importance of a unified and peace- 13501 Konterra Dr Laurel, MD 20707 80 percent of energy imports tention was George W. Bush’s partnership erode and silently fade more and ever stronger compet- should not count America out, the two nuclear powers – the US be responsible for their fair share policy. ued existence of the nuclear agree- ful Europe, as well as the value of in dollars, he wants to install Iraq war, started on the basis of away. The reasons are obvious. ing powers. and we should not count each and the Soviet Union – held one of the common defense.” In principle there is nothing ment looks more than uncertain. the US contribution to this end. The German Times is a registered WOLFGANG ISCHINGER trademark of Times Media GmbH. independent payment channels lies and self-deception. We raised First: We face a host of prob- Third: There is a very simple other out.” Heeding McCain’s another in check through a strat- It was not a threat, but rather a wrong with this tack, but Trump Although the three European part- Second, it is not as if all over the www.times-media.de was the German Ambassador outside the Swift system. Beyond our voice in order to bridge the lems that neither Europe nor the demographic reason for hang- admonition would be the noblest egy of mutual deterrence, in which cautionary observation. But even has implemented this policy as ners – Great Britain, France and world partners are queueing up to Washington, DC, and to ISSN1864-3965 that, forging an “alliance for mul- profound gap. It worked. United States can hope to master ing together. By the year 2050, way of honoring the memory of the Americans acted as patron Gates could not have foreseen how if were not “America first,” but Germany – have affirmed a will- to join Europe in defending the the Court of St. James and (formerly The Atlantic Times) since 2008 has been chairman tilateralism” is one of his princi- Today we raise our voice again. alone. The challenges of our time America and Europe will each a great American and dedicated saints for the Europeans. This quickly a US president, namely rather “America alone,” with the ingness to adhere to the agreement liberal world order. The EU may Press deadline September 21, 2018 of the Munich Security pal projects. Our purpose is the same as then: require partnership as a response: comprise a population of 500 Atlanticist. logic also laid the groundwork Donald Trump, would be elected natural corollary: “Europe alone.” and to seek dialogue with Iran, agree with China that a new era Conference. This article is a The English-language newspaper Yet the minister also says: “We to save the trans-Atlantic com- in combatting terrorism; stopping Million – between them, one bil- for NATO. It meant that a certain and actually refer to NATO as Whether Trump’s commitment to their chances of success are meager of protectionism would be harm- slightly condensed essay from The German Times – A Trans-Atlantic Newspaper is a product of Times Media are still close to each other.” To munity. It remains a vital asset the spread of weapons of mass lion people facing nine or ten amount of security in the West “obsolete”; and that he would NATO – which he half-heartedly at best. Not only is Trump’s deci- ful and that climate protection is his new book: Welt in Gefahr. GmbH, Berlin–Washington, and has THEO SOMMER Deutschland und Europa welcomed project funding from the manifest this closeness and to not only for Europe, its security destruction, especially nuclear billion in the rest of the world. is the executive editor of would essentially be trusted to the openly threaten to honor Amer- expressed in a press conference sion dire for the stability of the important, but the similarities stop in unsicheren Zeiten, Econ German Foreign Ministry for the occasion rescue it into the future is the cen- and its prosperity, but also for weapons; building peace in the One billion people in the West, The German Times. US in the form of nuclear deter- ica’s alliance obligations only if on July 12, 2018 – will have legs Middle East and in terms of the there. In the long term, the liberal Verlag, September 2018. of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 (in accordance with § 36 VwVfG). tral purpose of Deutschlandjahr America’s influence in the world. Middle East; providing energy nine or ten billion in the rest – that 4 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 5 POLITICS POLITICS

DPA/FATEMEH BAHRAMI DPA/FATEMEH John S. McCain Stitching it back together August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018 steadfast champion of trans-Atlantic cooperation With America-at-Large in retreat, look to America’s states for leadership has passed away. US Senator John McCain died Aon August 25, 2018, after a long battle with brain cancer. This is a bitter loss, especially in an age in which autocrats and self-centered democrats are driving nations BY GOVERNOR PHIL MURPHY mate Alliance, a coalition of apart and questioning established partnerships. states committed to upholding Throughout his long career, McCain was fully commit- o say we are living in uncer- the goals of the Paris Agree- ted to a world order based on cooperation among Western tain times would be a gross ment, even if our president powers while always supporting traditional notions of Tunderstatement. will not do so at the federal democracy and freedom. For these reasons, his passing The structure that had provided level. This Alliance represents touched many people in Germany. Indeed, his departure generations of global stability and more than 40 percent of the from the world stage is mourned even by those who dis- betterment are being upended by a total American population, agreed fundamentally with the views of his Republican new wave of populism, fed largely and nearly half of our nation’s party and who did not share many of the political stances by the far-right strains that some- BROCHSTEIN PICTURE ALLIANCE/ZUMAPRESS.COM/MICHAEL GDP. Our efforts in the fight McCain took over the years, including his support for the how claim “we” are being hurt by against climate change will help invasion of Iraq in 2003, the nomination of Sarah Palin as an amorphous “them.” After years lead the US government back his running mate in the 2008 presidential election and his of nation-building and economic onto the right path, whether support for President Donald Trump’s repudiation of the growth created by international the current president wants this Iran nuclear deal. cooperation, some governments or not. In her statement on his passing, German Chancellor Angela are once again embracing insular, Indeed, even individual states Merkel called McCain “one of the greatest political figures of self-centered policies and politics. can make a difference – this our time” and someone who “fought tirelessly for a strong The United States, long the is why New Jersey is actively trans-Atlantic alliance.” She also described him as a person defender of stability and order pursuing the growth of off- guided by the “firm conviction that all political activity must in the world, is proving it is not shore wind energy to drive the aim to uphold and promote freedom, democracy and the immune to this inclination. And transformation of our state’s Looming confrontation or mere posturing? Military parade held to mark Sacred Defense Week in front of rule of law.” we proved it with lightning speed. energy dependence towards the Holy Shrine of Imam Khomeini in Tehran, Iran on Sept. 22, 2018. Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung referred to him as It has only been five years since renewables. As ambassador, I “der Tapfere” – the brave one. The paper praised him for I left Berlin after a four-year saw the German Energiewende embodying not only patriotism, but also values, decency tenure as United States Ambas- firsthand. Germany’s transi- and moral courage. It also credited him with knowing sador to the Federal Republic of tion to a low-carbon, environ- “that politics in a democracy means seeking out the best Germany for President Obama. mentally friendly and reliable possible compromise.” Our embassy in Berlin was not energy supply is an example I Diplomatic maintenance For Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich an American fortress, but rather a wish to bring to New Jersey, Security Conference (MSC) at which McCain was a very gathering place for the promotion where we can also open the welcome and decades-long attendee, the senator was “the of shared democratic values and eyes of other American states Withdrawing from the nuclear deal is a major blunder – anti-Trump: an advocate of a value-based Western order, freedom. My ambassadorship was “The US is weakening its standing in the world,” said Phil Murphy during his campaign for governor in October 2017. – even those which support the E-3 must pick up the baton a defender of democracy and human rights, a supporter of steeped in this fundamental under- the president’s policies – to the civilized debate and nonpartisan cooperation and a true standing of America’s important But when policies are put in states. We are our nation’s in-hand. We believe in strong We are next door to New York, possibilities of a clean-energy hero who never put himself at the center of the debate.” role in the world, and our deep place that close the doors of fourth-smallest state but one public education, affordable and with growing cities, and home future. In McCain’s unforgettable speech at the MSC 2017, and abiding ties to countries like opportunity, economic or oth- of its largest economies – a accessible health care as well as to both one of the largest sea- The rise of nativist rhetoric Tehran, and they suspect that To start with, no one should itations on the quality and quan- shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration, he asked what Germany. erwise, for “them,” we weaken state one-twentieth the size of fairness for workers as impor- ports and one of the busiest and far-right populism is noth- BY VOLKER PERTHES beyond its rejection of the JCPOA, expect a renegotiation of the tity of enrichment – expire. And the founders of the conference would say if they were Now, we have a president who our standing in the world. And, Sweden yet with a larger GDP. tant economic underpinnings. airport hubs. Our workforce is ing new in history. We also the Trump administration actually JCPOA to address what both it would have to go beyond the to see our world today: “They would be alarmed by an speaks proudly of his desires for at a time when it appears that One of the key drivers of our While the president continues highly educated, with the larg- know from history that those he United States and the aims at destabilizing Iran and trig- American and European policy- current JCPOA both with regard increasing turn away from universal values and toward legal and physical walls that will the global order is beginning est concentration of scientists pushing this closed worldview European Union have often gering some form of violent regime makers see as shortcomings. The to time frames and substance. In old ties of blood and race and sectarianism. They would close our nation to peoples based to tear at its seams, there needs and engineers in the world. will ultimately fail. Insular, Tdiffered over Middle East change. JCPOA is essentially an arms other words, it needs to include be alarmed by the hardening resentment we see towards on religion and nationality. He to be one nation willing to step Further, when New Jersey self-centered politics may make policies. The current dispute over One shouldn’t, however, over- control agreement and, as such, a longer-term arrangements for the immigrants, refugees and minority groups, especially speaks of an “America first” forward with the needle and partners with other states, we some feel better in the face of Iran, however, which broke into look that to a large extent, Euro- compromise; it’s good enough for nuclear aspects dealt with in the Muslims. […] They would be alarmed that more and more policy that blindly ignores both thread to stitch it back together. THE US IS can grow our footprint immea- change, but it will not stop the open with US President Donald pean governments and the US both sides for its agreed duration JCPOA, but also deal with broader of our fellow citizens seem to be flirting with authoritari- history and the fundamental truth Since 1945, that tailor has surably. Take, for example, change. Trump’s May 2018 withdrawal administration actually agree in but is far from perfect for either arms control and regional security anism and romanticizing it as our moral equivalent. But that our economic and diplomatic been the United States. But, with the president’s declaration Moreover, it offers us a chance from the Joint Comprehensive Plan their assessment of Iran and its side’s taste. A renegotiation would aspects, ballistic missile production what would alarm them most, I think, is the sense that leadership has grown out of our a president unwilling to mend WEAKENING that pulled the US out of the to prove that the wisdom of of Action (JCPOA), or nuclear deal policies, particularly concerning require the will of all parties. Russia as well as – even more importantly many of our peoples, including in my own country, are great diversity. He breeds division the tearing global fabric, it will Paris Agreement on global past generations, which looked with Iran, goes deeper and could Tehran’s ballistic missile program, and China aren’t interested; and – missile proliferation to non-state giving up on the West. That they see it as a bad deal [….] in both his rhetoric and policies, turn to individual American ITS STANDING climate change. For our state outside their own borders for have more far-reaching strategic its active military support for the Iran would lose face if it suddenly actors. I know there is profound concern across Europe and the embracing “us versus them” as states to take the lead in his and others – California and partners to move forward in an implications for the trans-Atlantic Syrian government and its dismal appeared to accept – under pressure Will Tehran be prepared to world that America is laying down the mantle of global easily as he embraces authoritar- absence. There are many of us in IN THE WORLD New York among them – this ever-changing world, is still the relationship than previous dis- human rights record. The Euro- – what it consistently has declared engage in such negotiations? I don’t leadership. […] Make no mistake, my friends: These are ian regimes. positions of political leadership decision made absolutely no wisdom for us to follow today. agreements on how to deal with American dispute is centered on unacceptable. know, but I think it might. And dangerous times, but you should not count America out, This is not to say that national – governors and mayors – who sense. We know our economic New Jersey, along with many Tehran or other Middle East mat- the JCPOA and the highly demon- If only for this last reason, Europe it will most likely be prepared to and we should not count each other out.” policies – whether in the US, Ger- do not buy into the president’s and environmental future relies of our fellow states, is ready to ters. Today, Europe and the US strative act of withdrawing from should not wait for the United at least explore options for such John McCain was also a friend of this newspaper, which many or elsewhere – shouldn’t be rhetoric and thinking. And we economy has been and will con- to rail against global trade, upon moving the world away lead this effort to re-engage our are not simply taking different an agreement that EU negotiators States and its self-proclaimed a broader deal. In the past, after has for the past ten years published a special issue – The focused, first and foremost, on are willing to put the weight tinue to be foreign direct invest- New Jersey is actively pursu- from fossil fuels as our primary global partners, even if some in approaches to Iran, but are actively and their US counterparts from master of deal-making. Statements all, it was Iran which repeatedly Security Times – on the occasion of the annual MSC. the betterment of our individual of our abilities behind ensuring ment. ing global economic partner- source of energy. Washington are not. working against one another in a both Republican and Democratic by the US president – in July 2018 – demanded to widen the subject of In 2012, McCain took the stage waving a copy of The citizens. Indeed, the oaths we take continued American leadership We are committed to a prin- ships. Our unparalleled loca- New Jersey and 16 other policy field which is of significant administrations had been working that he would be prepared to meet the “nuclear” negotiations with Security Times: “You’ve probably seen this around the in our home countries often begin on the global stage. ciple that economic wellbeing tion and workforce give us states, led by both Republi- PHILIP D. MURPHY strategic interest to both sides. The on together, as well as with Russian with Iran’s President Rohani even the E-3 and later the E-3 plus conference,” McCain said. “It shows a forceful, bat- with a promise to protect our As the governor of New Jersey, and social advancement are not distinct advantages to continue cans and Democrats, are now is governor of New Jersey. dispute over the JCPOA is actually and Chinese colleagues, for close to without preconditions seemed to USA, Russia, and China to include wielding Yankee dueling with a crouched yet fearsome national interests. I happen to lead one of these mutually exclusive, but go hand- to attract foreign investment. connected through the U.S. Cli- a major driver of European debates a decade. suggest that Donald Trump may regional issues, while Washington Chinese swordsman. That obviously suggests a looming about a form of “strategic auton- The exit of the Trump adminis- want to follow his own model of and the Europeans wanted to limit Cold War in Asia. It’s a nice caricature.” The senator went omy,” including demands to set up tration from this agreement con- dealing with North Korea: Start the talks to the nuclear dimension. on to describe, “what is really going on” in his view: “On an independent European payment stitutes a triple challenge for the by applying pressure and making Explorations and negotiations recent trips to the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and system to thwart US sanctions. EU/E-3. First, they are now charged serious threats, and then reach out about regional security and arms Burma,” he had experienced “real enthusiasm for our BY JULIANE SCHÄUBLE adult sons. Hansjörg Haber him- From an EU perspective, the deci- with preserving the JCPOA, and to try to solve all disagreements control could thus provide a way growing involvement in the region.” He also said the fol- self was an ambassador until his sion by President Trump to with- they will have little help in doing so through personal diplomacy. All out of the current impasse. It goes lowing about China: “The peaceful development of China “I don’t want to lecture the US” is in the interest of the US.” John McCain, his views and he had to get accustomed retirement at the end of August. draw from – or more precisely to from the US or Iran. Iran’s politi- that Trump’s statement achieved without saying, however, that such to Twitter long before she He was most recently stationed break – the JCPOA constituted an cal elite is divided over the virtues was to trigger a debate inside Iran negotiations will never concern a his steadfastness will be dearly missed. GT Stook up her post in the The German Ambassador to Washington, Emily Haber, in Yemen, which is so dangerous outright challenge to the interna- of the agreement, and those who – allowing some people to pub- Western agenda alone. Discussing capital of Twitter king Donald that the German representatives tional community of states, and wholeheartedly defend it have been licly muse about the possibilities of regional issues with Iran means Trump’s empire. Emily Haber seeks to cultivate the collective moved to Jordan. At that time particularly to America’s European weakened by the US withdrawal. developing more normal relations accepting that Iran will also bring shakes her head. The 62-year- Emily Haber was in Berlin. Now partners. The situation differs from Europeans don’t claim (and never between Iran and the US. its interests to the table. And once old began using the online news they finally live in the same city the dispute over the US-led Iraq did claim) that the JCPOA is a At the same time, however, Iran’s regional subjects are discussed with and social networking service as is the most afraid of Trump. Four years later, she arrived again – without one of their invasion in 2003 that created harsh perfect agreement. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khame- Iran, other regional states, not least a state secretary back in Berlin. On the contrary: It irks her tre- in the US holding arguably the career’s becoming collateral divisions on the European side of But it has been a major diplo- nei has announced his rejection its Arab neighbors in the Persian But somehow in Washington she mendously that everything is most prestigious post the For- damage. the Alliance, not least between the matic success that has included of negotiations with the US, espe- Gulf, will have legitimate claims for must have caught the Twitter becoming increasingly personal. ZINKEN DPA/PAUL eign Office can award abroad. Thirty-six years ago, Emily United Kingdom on one side and the establishment of limitations on cially, as one could read from one involvement. This is a diplomatic bug: the new German ambassa- “Our countries have so much in It is her first ambassadorship. Haber entered the foreign ser- Germany and France on the other. and controls over Iran’s nuclear of his tweets, “with the current US challenge, but not an insurmount- dor in Washington, who is more common. Economic relationships Her previous posts brought her vice, which at that time was This time, the E-3 – France, Ger- activities, the removal of nuclear administration” (@khamenei.ir, 13 able one. Europeans have ample impartial to – and persistently are close, but so are people’s as far as Moscow and Ankara, still male-dominated. “Three many and the UK – has maintained material from Iran and the disman- Aug 2018). experience with multilateral arms recommends – reading literary personal relationships,” she says. which is why she appreciates women, thirty men, as a woman a common approach in confronting tling of certain elements of Iran’s Any attempt by Trump to – control and security talks. works comprising more than 140 “And if we disagree, we have to the trans-Atlantic relationship so you stood out in the crowd," what they see as the major blunder nuclear infrastructure. For these despite all odds – pull off a Sin- The United States will eventually characters, is finding growing ask ourselves why and seek solu- deeply. “We need America,” she she says, laughing. In 2009 she of the Trump presidency so far. feats alone, the agreement should gapore-type summit with Rohani have to be part of such talks and pleasure in tweeting. And the tions to remedy the cause.” is convinced, especially consider- was the first woman to become And it is not just a dispute over be kept alive. would be met with utter skepti- possibly of an agreement. Given The senator with Detlef Prinz, publisher of The German Times and number of people following the Emily Haber is well aware of ing what is happening in other political director in the For- policies. Rather, again from a Second, France, Germany and cism from Europe, America’s Arab Washington’s current absence from The Security Times, in 2007. official embassy account has sky- the many problems: the trade countries, particularly in China. eign Office, and in 2011 she European perspective, by breaking the United Kingdom cannot simply friends and Israel alike. It is indeed the diplomatic scene, Germany, rocketed since their first tweet on disputes, the wrangling over She wants to promote the impor- made history as the first female an agreement that had been nego- change course and coordinate fur- hard to imagine that any bilateral France and the United Kingdom June 22. NATO’s defense budget, differ- tance of the US, but not without state secretary, both under tiated together with the EU/E-3, ther moves with the other inter- summit declaration could produce should revert to their approach of In the White House on June ing views on Iran and the nuclear highlighting how important Ger- mentorship of Guido Wester- Russia and China, Donald Trump national parties to the agreement, more tangible achievements than 2003 to 2006, namely to begin 22nd, Emily Haber handed over deal, not to mention the peculiar- many and Europe are, in turn, welle (FDP). She herself is not a made a statement on his attitude i.e. Russia and China. This would a document as detailed as the 159- and lead this new endeavor as a her credentials, as tradition dic- ities of the incumbent president. for the US. And how similar they member of a political party, but toward international law per se likely only increase the US presi- page JCPOA. threesome until the United States tates, to US President Donald But she wants to be optimistic Building trans-Atlantic ties: Emily Haber, ambassador to Germany in the US, are. “Deutschlandjahr USA,” she is known to have close ties to and opened a rift between the US dent’s mistrust, paranoia and fury A comparably strenuous yet is eventually prepared to join. This at the press conference for the Deutschlandjahr USA in Berlin, August 25th. Trump himself, the man whom about her job. And respectful. which was planned under her the CDU and to be a confidante and its European allies that it is vis-à-vis the Europeans. more realistic approach would be will certainly have to wait until – according to a survey in the “We are not here to lecture the in 2003, when President George have to think twice: “Yes.” At predecessor Peter Wittig, should of Chancellor Angela Merkel. unlikely to close again as long as he And third, while Washington is for the Europeans, particularly the after Trump’s presidency, which summer of 2018 – Germans fear Americans,” says the daughter of W. Bush attacked Iraq and the the beginning of the last legisla- help. “It’s a great opportunity to Her strong ties to Berlin are is in office. Not only will European undermining the agreement by re- E-3, to start a new round of explor- will, in any case, end before the more than anything else, includ- a diplomat with her soft voice, Germans refused to join in. “The ture, she was already a candidate get in touch with lots of people particularly important in this companies be targeted by US sanc- imposing sanctions on Iran and atory talks, and later negotiations, expiration of the JCPOA’s “sunset ing terrorism. which betrays not an iota of poll numbers were catastrophic.” for the ambassadorship in Wash- across the country.” She will prominent position. She will be tions unless they give up business – directly or indirectly – on Euro- for what could in the medium term clauses.” But it takes more to intimidate hesitation. She draws attention She was greatly looking for- ington, they say. But in 2014 travel a lot, if not quite as much facing enough headwind from with Iran, most likely to the benefit pean companies, it now actually become a comprehensive secu- Emily Haber. And the historian, to other surveys, which are evi- ward to her new assignment in she transferred from the For- as she would like to. She will the White House. of Chinese competitors, but many expects the Europeans to make rity agreement with Iran. Such an who wrote her dissertatioin on dence for the Americans' endur- Washington, where she used to eign Office, which Frank-Walter have enough to keep her busy European policymakers also find sure that Iran doesn’t break its agreement would not replace but VOLKER PERTHES is the executive chairman and German foreign policy before ing positive view of Germany. live as a child. And now, about Steinmeier (SPD) took over for in Washington. JULIANE SCHÄUBLE Trump’s policies in the region out- commitments, notably the limita- build upon the JCPOA. It would director of the German Institute John McCain, holding up The Security Times while Henry World War I, is known to argue She also reminds us that the three months after her arrival: the second time, to the Ministry Unlike the past 12 years, she is US correspondent for the right dangerous. They are wary of tions on Iran’s nuclear program. have to come into effect by 2025 for International and Security Kissinger looks on at the Munich Security Conference, in 2012. calmly and analytically, has trans-Atlantic relationship has “It’s great.” When asked if this of the Interior, as a state secretary will have her husband by her Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel. Trump’s encouragement of Saudi So what do we have to expect? at the latest, when the first sunset Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. no desire to compete for who already survived other crises, as was her dream job, she doesn’t for Thomas de Maizière (CDU). side, with whom she has two Arabia’s aggressive posture toward And what should the Europeans do? clauses in the current JCPOA – lim- 6 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 7 POLITICS POLITICS Touch of grey Leading a government she did not want and unable to silence her critics, Angela Merkel finds herself in a tough spot

THE CROWN PRINCE

Merkel was stunned. Her face DPA SPD’s Olaf Scholz, who just last The chancellery was outraged BY GÜNTER BANNAS DPA/MONIKA SKOLIMOWSKA expressed astonishment, and fall was still gleefully ridiculing at Seehofer, not least for his e is already well along the path that both points of criticism against Merkel that prevailed seemed to question whether the chancellor. “Her political repeated bullying. The consti- friend and foe agree may one day land before her admission of war refugees three years he final years are always saying such a thing was even style has apparently reached its tution grants Merkel the right Hhim in the German chancellery. Angela ago. In interviews, Spahn has continued to cling to the hardest. For nearly proper. A number of her close limit,” Scholz said. “The time of to fire him. But in reality, she THE WHIPPERSNAPPER Merkel appointed the 38-year-old Jens Spahn to catchy and, some feel, provocative assertions: the T13 years, Angela Merkel associates who had expressed just muddling through is over.” cannot. In dividing the govern- her cabinet this year, if only to the often rather current level of social assistance is enough to live off, has been chancellor of the Fed- their intention to leave politics Now he is vice-chancellor, and ment portfolios among the three DPA/GREGOR FISCHER thankless post of health minister. The Christian he says; he called demonstrators at the G20 summit eral Republic of Germany. No after years of service would many in the SPD believe he is parties, the current coalition t should have been a crushing defeat, for the interviews, traveled across all of Germany and spoke Democrat has been a member of the Bundestag in Hamburg “left-wing fascists”; and he considers current head of government in later describe a different Angela readying to vie for the top job agreement lets the CSU decide cause and for him personally. Kevin Kühnert at dozens of regional conferences. His style was since 2002, when he became the youngest directly it vital to impose a strict ban on Muslim women the Western democratic world Merkel. She seemed reflective, in the next federal election. In who will be interior minister. Iwanted to prevent the center-left Social Demo- calm and matter-of-fact, without the revolutionary elected representative in the history of the Fed- wearing a full-face veil. has held power longer than this they said, as if it might be liberat- the details of government work Third, with astonishing fre- crats (SPD), the party whose youth organization he pathos for which many of the former chairs of the eral Republic. Spahn has been an inconspicuous Spahn had probably taken into account the woman from the former East ing for her, too, to pass the onus – which are closely watched in quency and bluntness, as if it leads, from voting to reboot their current coalition Jusos were known. “We’ve found almost 1,000 uses politician over the years, a proficient healthcare appalled reactions of the left, which played right into Germany. of responsibility on to others. Berlin’s political circles – Scholz were a foregone conclusion, with Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Demo- of the words ‘want’ and ‘would like’ in the coalition policymaker and pension expert who sat on all the his hand, giving him more publicity and making him Merkel has led her party, the Following much introspection, is walking away from previous even leading CDU figures pre- crats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian agreement,” was one of the most repeated quotes relevant technical panels, commissions and party even more beloved by the party’s right flank. This center-right Christian Demo- she decided otherwise. Now, agreements. Pension payments dict that Merkel will not run for Social Union (CSU). from Kühnert’s roadshow. This was “the utmost committees. But all that changed in 2015 – with allowed the budding star of the Christian Democrats, cratic Union (CDU), for 18 however, Merkel finds herself after the year 2040 are just one another term as chancellor in In September 2017, the SPD had suffered its worst vague formulation” of a political project. The SPD the refugee crisis and Merkel’s response to it. raised in Ahaus but a stone’s throw from the Dutch years. Only Helmut Kohl, the in a position that could not be example. Statements by Scholz three years. All Berlin talks this showing in a Bundestag election since the found- can no longer trust the CDU, Kühnert preached to When German politics descended into confusion, border, to avoid being seen as a throwback to the chancellor of Reunification, politically more difficult. Public have led to counterattacks from way. Sooner or later, Merkel ing of the Federal Republic in 1949: 20.5 percent. his comrades. Spahn set out on a course opposite that of the gnarled, conservative CDU politicians of the 1960s. served longer in that office. Ger- opinion is beginning to turn Merkel’s CDU. As a result, will announce her intention to After Merkel’s negotiations with the Greens and Ultimately, at the end of March, two-thirds of chancellor. “If within a year far more than a mil- Just as Kühnert in the SPD, Spahn is readily sought many’s sole female chancellor, against Merkel. The chancellor Merkel came under pressure stand down, they say, although the free-market Free Democrats (FDP) faltered, the party members voted for continuing the coalition lion refugees and emigrants enter Germany, this as a speaker by local CDU groups all across Ger- Merkel has also led a variety barely reaches anyone with her within her own party and felt this would break with tradition. SPD was left alone as the only potential partner for with Merkel; only one-third voted Nay with Küh- will radically call into question many of the things many. He never forgets to mention that he is gay. of different cabinets, at times talking points anymore. She is constrained to contradict him. For the moment she says noth- the Union. The sole conceivable alternative would nert. And yet the Juso chief emerged from the debate we currently hold to be certain,” he wrote. “We Gay and conservative – sometimes still considered a in coalition with the center-left grappling with – and suffering Relations with the Bavarian ing on the matter. have been new elections, which all center parties in an even stronger position than before. Kühnert are experiencing a disruption of our state.” contradiction, even in 2018. The admission indeed Social Democrats (SPD), and at from – three main problems. CSU, the CDU’s so-called sister None of Merkel’s predeces- were against – not least out of concern that the far- had, as they say in politics, enhanced his profile. Although that was aimed at Merkel, it fell short of helps Spahn levy his criticisms of political Islam and other times with the free-market First, Merkel leads a coali- party, are even worse. Virtu- sors have left office of their own right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would most He has become a national celebrity and is now the an open declaration of war; Spahn senses that, even his warnings against the immigration of too many Free Democrats (FDP). tion government that none of ally no politician in Germany accord. All were sent packing likely prove the beneficiary. The SPD thus entered friendly face of the future. This is more than a ques- if the chancellor were to resign tomorrow morning, Muslims by equating them with often openly aggres- Unlike the United States, the other parties involved really has rejected Merkel’s refugee against their will. There’s rum- into negotiations. Yet before a coalition could tion of content, it’s about self-confidence in a party it’s still too early for him to take over. But, in terms sive homophobic attitudes. Spahn’s bold confession Germany does not limit the wanted. Following the federal policy as stridently as Horst bling within Merkel’s conserva- officially be formed, there would have to be a vote at odds with itself, from which voters are fleeing, of his critics, Spahn has positioned himself to the shields him in bourgeois circles from being registered duration for which one person election last year, Merkel and Real life hashtag: Angela Merkel’s signature hand gesture. Seehofer, the CSU chairman. tive parliamentary group. This among party members. 463,722 eligible voters were although the party believes it has crafted consistently right of Merkel, and has thus become the new hope as too far to the political right. can hold the country’s most her inner circle tried to forge a “The rule of injustice” is what loose talk further undermines summoned by the party in spring of this year for a successful policy as part of the Grand Coalition since of conservatives within the CDU, who won’t (or In 2021, Merkel will have been in office for 16 powerful political office. In coalition the likes of which had The SPD, for its part, had little It was President Frank-Wal- Seehofer called Merkel’s deci- her authority. Governing is get- binding vote: Yea or Nay. Kühnert’s moment had 2013. In recent polls it garnered barely 18 percent. can’t) topple the chancellor, but are ever less shy years, equaling Helmut Kohl’s run in the 1980s April 2016, on his last visit to never existed before in Germany: interest in joining yet another ter Steinmeier who put an end sion in 2015 to permit hun- ting harder. arrived. The 29-year-old mobilized the Jusos (short Incidentally, Gerhard Schröder – later German about openly longing for the end of her era. The and 1990s. It remains highly probable that she will Berlin as US president, Barack her Christian Democrats join- grand coalition with Merkel. Its to such plans. He ruled out dreds of thousands of migrants for Jungsozialisten, or Young Socialists, the youth chancellor – and Andrea Nahles – the current head abolition of mandatory military service, the phase- decline to run for a fifth term. Spahn will then be Obama remarked “I do not ing forces with the pro-business leadership – under then-chair- another vote. Only after a long to come to Germany. Now GÜNTER BANNAS division of the SPD since 1904) in opposition. Küh- of the SPD – both began their paths to party chief out from nuclear power and the euro-bailout scheme 41 years old, older than Emmanuel Macron when envy Angela Merkel for not FDP and the environmentalist man Martin Schulz – understand- period of inner conflict did the Seehofer is interior minister, was parliamentary nert appeared on all the talk shows, gave newspaper as Juso chair. considered too generous – these were the intra-party he was elected president of France. having term limits.” Obama Greens. Following weeks of ably pointed out that it had just SPD signal its readiness to coop- making him responsible for correspondent and Berlin praised the wisdom of the US negotiations, the FDP walked polled the worst election result in erate. In return, the CDU had refugee policy. In his current bureau chief for the Frankfurter Constitution’s framers. “I think out. FDP policymakers and even its history. Voters had assigned to forfeit the hugely important office he has repeatedly ques- Allgemeine Zeitung until March it’s healthy for a big, diverse leading Social Democrats blamed the SPD the role of an opposition finance portfolio to the smaller tioned Merkel’s authority on 2018. In June he was awarded country like ours to have some Merkel, adding that the coali- party, Schulz said, pledging that SPD. this issue, although Germany’s the prestigious Theodor Wolff Prize by the Association of turnover. To use a phrase from tion talks’ failure indicated that he would never take part in a Second, Merkel’s situation constitution assigns the task of German Newspaper Publishers basketball, to have some fresh Merkel’s days as chancellor were Merkel cabinet. Merkel herself has not improved since. The setting “policy guidelines” to for his life’s work. legs come in.” numbered. favored new elections. finance minister is now the the chancellor. New kids on the bloc Four upstarts are upending German politics. The German Times’ editor Lutz Lichtenberger takes stock of their prospects

THE FIREBRAND DPA/BERND VON JUTRCZENKA

he time horizon of Sahra Wagenknecht’s her in terms of how she was perceived by outsiders; political career is wide open. Wagenknecht, before long, she became the face of her party. Tco-chairman of the Left Party’s parliamentary In 2010 Wagenknecht finally managed to climb into group, began a project this summer whose goals the party leadership and reached the pinnacle of the DPA/ PAUL ZINKEN and potential effect on the landscape of German caucus in 2015. That period also featured a liaison and political parties has Berlin’s political class scratch- then marriage with former SPD chief and Minister of ing its collective head. The 49-year-old hopes her Finance Oskar Lafontaine, 26 years her senior and for movement, #Aufstehen, or #Rise Up, will foment years one of the most dazzling figures in left-leaning a coalition movement that – for now – claims to German politics. stand for election not as a party, but rather some- #Aufstehen does not see itself as a party, but rather THE GREEN HOPE thing like a movement. The movement is directed a movement intent on influencing the public debate at all three parties that are left of center, including while aligning the SPD, Greens and the Left Party her own Left Party, which was cobbled together on a common, bolder course oriented more to the hile Sahra Wagenknecht may be the their two chairs, Habeck lost by a hair. Two year from the remains of the SED – the state party of left. However, her rhetorical ventures of recent years most familiar face of the new Left, later he was elevated to lead the party without a vote the former GDR – and a West German spin-off indicate that Wagenknecht is seeking even more. Her Wher contemporary, Robert Habeck, among members. from the SPD called Labor and Social Justice – The cautious yet targeted statements have distanced herself the newly elected co-chairman of the Greens, is Together with Annalena Baerbock (the Greens Electoral Alternative. In 2017 the Left captured from her party’s line and the dominant attitude on getting ever more popular. He is targeting the traditionally elect one woman and one man to the 9.2 percent of the vote, good for 69 seats in the the left in all matters related to immigration. As far political center. Above all, it is Habeck’s style, party leadership), Habeck toured the country this Bundestag. Wagenknecht would like to win over back as 2016 she said: “That there are limits to the often considered nonchalant, that is now shak- summer. His central message was such: “The center SPD followers for whom the Social Democrats population’s receptiveness is a simple fact, and that ing up his party from within while delivering is where the majority forms.” It’s about shifting the have become too neoliberal and all too content our capacity for absorption is not unlimited is another. the Greens some excellent poll results. At 15 center back towards liberal democracy, progressive to be bedfellows with Merkel’s CDU as well as Coming to these conclusions is neither left nor right, percent, the party currently enjoys third place, and ecological policy. “We want to make the Greens’ Greens supporters who suspect that their party is but rather a banality.” ahead of the AfD and only 3 percentage points positions capable of winning a majority. This is a on a steep decline towards becoming a free-market Wagenknecht has never lost sight of the “little behind the SPD. rebuke of the scaremongers and an invitation to the FDP with an ecological appendage. people” that constitute the voter potential of the left- In a political environment shaped by failures on dispirited to gather courage. We can change politics.” Wagenknecht is a figure as flamboyant as she is of-center parties, from which many Germans have the left and on the right, how did Habeck succeed In recent years, the Greens have been stuck right in controversial. After finishing high school in 1988, since strayed sharply to the right, embracing the AfD in bringing consensus to a party with a strikingly the center of the party spectrum; they were potential Communist Germany deemed her “not fit for the and their rhetoric of resentment. It is a similar issue anti-populist, rather exhausting and above all partners of the SPD and the Left Party on one side of collective” and denied her permission to study at as in the US: Have the progressive parties – the SPD ecologically demanding platform? the aisle, and no longer just the secret dream part- university. In early summer 1989, when the GDR in Germany, the Democrats in the US – been focus- The 49-year-old, who until September was ners of Angela Merkel and the CDU on the other. Delivering solutions. was in its final death throes, Wagenknecht joined ing on the “wrong” themes, on identity politics, and environment minister in Schleswig-Holstein, In 2013, the party rejected the chancellor’s offer the SED anyway, just when all who could were neglecting the real economic concerns of the lower Germany’s northern-most state, has managed to join in forming a government. In 2017, during fleeing the party as quickly as possible and wanted middle class? the same feat as his three contenders: They are negotiations with Merkel’s Union parties and the nothing more to do with socialist ideals. Over the The calculus behind #Aufstehen, however, may all new faces with fresh ideas expressed in their FDP, the Greens were lauded for their creative ideas next two decades, Wagenknecht became one of extend beyond political sentiment. In the Bundestag very own voices. Even if it’s sometimes just a and pragmatism. But at the last minute the Free the best-known figures in the party without ever elections in 2013, the SPD, Greens and the Left Party repackaging of old concepts, the charm of the Democrats pulled out of the talks. The Green dream making inroads into the Left’s power centers. She constituted a majority and would have been able to new is working its magic. of reclaiming government responsibility after nearly Your top priority is that your cargo reaches its destination – not how it gets there. knew how to rhetorically shine in talk shows while build a coalition (in 2017 the three combined for a Unlike in the US, political careers in Germany 20 years was shattered. distinguishing herself as the author of numerous mere 38.6 percent.) But the SPD could never bring are determined by party structures. It is difficult Habeck is now the star attraction of a party that With our global network, we perfectly combine rail, road, ocean, and air freight to ensure that your goods make it anywhere books on economic policy, whose intellectual con- itself to entertain an alliance with the SED heirs in for outsiders to break in; the path to the top winds functions in programmatic harmony like no other, in the world. Safely, reliably, and right on schedule. And we do it quickly, effi ciently, and aff ordably. From simple transport tent puts them leagues above other such works pub- the Left Party, whose opposition to NATO was one through many intermediate stages and, as a rule, yet sees no clear path back to power. Or conversely: services to complex logistics processes, we have tailormade solutions to fulfi ll your needs. lished by politicians. Wagenknecht was criticized of the chief arguments against a partnership with the is quite a long one – extraordinary personalities it’s the party that tomorrow could be courted by Let us serve you: www.dbschenker.com. within the party as aloof and all too concerned with SPD. The new movement is sure to lower the threshold seldom endure. When in 2016 the Greens first potential partners from across the full spectrum of her own interests. But no one could keep pace with now separating one party from the next. held a primary on the American model to select German politics. 8 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 9 POLITICS EUlogy of Defense No longer able to rely on America’s military leadership, the EU is harmonizing its military capabilities and facilities

Going buckwild own foreign missions. Then there a European defense union capable The new momentum in EU mili- up. In addition to PESCO and the that they can no longer rely on BY JOHANNES LEITHÄUSER is the new military training certifi- of determined and powerful mili- tary cooperation boils down to EU Defense Fund, EU states also US military leadership to resolve Why Germany’s populist AfD attracts so many followers cation center, to ensure that in the tary action. two factors. The most important agreed to set up a joint military conflicts in their neighborhood, ine months ago, most future, all armies have congruent The driving force alongside is Britain’s decision to leave the headquarters. such as the Balkans, the Middle European Union training standards – so that, for PESCO is the European Defense EU. Prior to the Brexit referen- The election of Donald Trump East or Africa. They must them- Nmember states took instance, Estonian tank grena- Fund, which aims to accelerate the dum, the UK always exercised gave the Europeans another selves become capable of action. in a statement. And: “When the the party times The sympathies that the dis- change,” Gauland said in a their biggest step yet toward a diers receive gunnery training on All EU cooperation decisions BY PETER H. KOEPF state can no longer protect its citi- of the past satisfied, the shortchanged and recent TV interview. common European army. It was a par with that of their German made in the past two years have zens, the people take to the streets with unemploy- the disrespected feel for the The actual glue that holds the not, however, a moment that lent and Spanish counterparts. served this objective. his time it was Chemnitz. and protect themselves,” Bund- ment and sink- nationalist AfD are irrational. AfD together is hatred of other- itself to easy symbolism: No Twenty-five of the 27 EU Paradoxically, NATO has News reports around estag parliamentarian Markus ing real wages. The Analysis of the party’s platform ness. Since 2014, the party has common European uniform nor member states (the United King- SEEGER DPA/PATRICK provided the biggest boost to Tthe world showed beefy, Frohnmaier (AfD) tweeted. A call SHUTTERSTOCK euro crisis, they felt, reveals that it serves the inter- steadily radicalized. Most party common weapons and equip- dom, which is scheduled to exit the day-to-day military coop- baldheaded men in black raising to vigilantism? revealed their elected ests of businesses rather than positions are held by far-right ment, nor even a joint high com- the EU in March next year, has eration of European armies. The placards and their right arms, To be sure, there were also representatives – who had “the little guy.” It calls for a loudmouths, and the numbers of mand. Militarily, what the EU already been factored out) have new NATO strategy to deter chanting xenophobic slogans. spontaneous counter-demonstra- long become stooges of uncon- scaled-back state that only the voters and supporters are rising. now has is rules. They allow for expressed their willingness, in Russian aggression has spawned Right-wing extremists, soccer tions, and music bands orga- trollable, too-big-to-fail corpora- wealthy can afford. But the plat- It is disturbing to learn from cooperation between individual principle, to join the new secu- several new military units, such hooligans and angry citizens nized a big pro-tolerance solidar- strongest party tions – to have lost all control form does support a minimum Franziska Schreiber, a women European states to jointly shape rity project, called PESCO. The as the fast-moving “spearhead gathered – of all places – around ity concert attracting as many as of all. of the situation. Many western wage and, broadly, Germany’s who left the AfD, how many military facilities and capabili- acronym stands for PErmanent force,” available within days a big statue of Karl Marx after a 50,000 attendees. Slogans and Why do so many Germans shared this view. long-enshrined system of collec- members in 2016 actually desired ties. Structured COoperation and has anywhere in the Alliance, or man had been stabbed to death insults flew back and forth. Those people in eastern Ger- It was at this time, in 2013, tive bargaining. It also includes a terrorist attack. “Things really At the suggestion of the Ital- been codified and agreed upon the forward-stationed units in in this Saxon city of 250,000 res- wanting to mourn the victim had many sympathize with the far that the AfD was born as the vague references to tax breaks need to hit the fan,” the author ian military, for example, experts in the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. The Poland and the Baltic States, idents, apparently by two men no appropriate place to do so. right? The answer has two com- party criticizing the euro bail- for low and median incomes. (of Inside AfD) heard again and from several European armed novelty of this cooperation – by which have a permanent pres- Germany had taken in after they Not suprisingly, politicians and ponents: a sense of helplessness outs and the EU. When this For the upper crust, how- again. “Then people will see we forces are developing a new EU standards – is that it does not ence using rotating units. no longer could or would stay in their parties seized the oppor- as well as fears of the future cause lost its momentum, ever, the AfD promises capping were right all along.” When Anis armored infantry vehicle. On involve the entire community, i.e. All these new units are mul- their own countries: Syria and tunity for some grandstanding. and of gradual decline. It began the Islam-haters gained trac- employer contributions, taxes Amri drove a stolen truck into German initiative, six other EU all EU members. So, instead of tinational. In them, Germans, Iraq. The angry crowd blamed “The clashes have their roots right after the fall of the Berlin tion. Then, the refugees came, and welfare contributions at a Berlin Christmas market kill- countries are involved in setting always having to win over 27 French, Norwegians, Dutch, the crime on Germany’s chancel- in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Wall. To this day, western Ger- more than a million of them. 40 percent of income. It seeks ing a dozen people, Schreiber up a European Medical Com- political and military decision- Spaniards, Czechs and soldiers lor, shouting the now-familiar statement ‘We can do this,’” said mans regard the incorporation Many eastern Germans sud- to abolish inheritance tax and often saw high-fives in place of mand to guide and ensure medical makers for a specific military of all other NATO countries “Merkel must go!” Then the FDP Vice President Wolfgang of the five eastern states as an denly feared for their jobs, their rejects a wealth tax that could condolences for the victims. It care during EU military opera- community project, such as the must constantly work together mob turned their ire on people Kubicki, referring to Merkel’s act of generosity – which did homes and social welfare. The actually help repair the cohe- was all repeated in Chemnitz: tions, such as in Africa. Until development of new underwa- at company level. This is where they considered foreigners. The open-door policy during the 2015 not stop legions of West German government, they believed, sion of a society afflicted by the a dead person at the hands of now, all member states participat- ter surveillance equipment, only A model for PESCO? The European Corps (Eurocorps), is an EU intergovernmental corps of 1,000 mostly German European military cooperation police, vastly outnumbered, refugee crisis. carpetbaggers from taking their had a soft spot for any and all widening gulf in private owner- asylum seekers. It’s fertilizer for ing in such operations have had to those EU countries interested in and French soldiers stationed in Strasbourg, France. becomes a reality on a daily seemed powerless against this The reason for such statements inexperienced new compatriots minorities, but not for us. ship – the gap between rich and the AfD’s blossoming dreams of renegotiate the terms for each and the new technology need convene. basis – when Polish mechanics brand of collective punishment. can easily be traced to upcom- to the cleaners with insurance This seemingly permanent poor. The AfD also wants more taking power. every new mission. In addition to the flexible PESCO research and development of new its influence at EU headquarters reason to accelerate their mili- repair a Dutch Leopard tank, Just as shameful and shocking ing regional elections in Bavaria schemes and used car sales, all message of arrogance and indif- freedom for the private sector, Nine months ago, EU defense framework, the EU member states weapons and equipment. Starting to block progress in the common tary cooperation. This was not or when a German battalion is the fact that federal lawmakers on October 14 and in Hessen of which deeply embarrassed the ference that easterners receive less regulations and is encourag- PETER H. KOEPF ministers first agreed on 17 such have passed resolutions to further in 2020, this fund is expected to European security and defense so much due to Trump’s com- commander sets the operational in Germany defended and even two weeks later, followed by the easterners once they realized their from western elites is now being ing privatization, including that is editor in chief of The German cooperation projects, and the harmonize the 27 member states’ have an annual budget of more policy. The British feared restric- plaints that almost all European plan for a Norwegian parachute justified this episode of “going European Parliamentary elections mistakes. Later, with growing answered, as growing numbers of highways and health care. Times. Together with Franziska numbers continue to rise. Initial military capabilities and equip- than €1.5 billion to finance proj- tions on their military sover- NATO countries have inad- company. buckwild” (Steve Bannon). It was in the spring of 2019 and then, resentment, they watched banks of eastern Germans vent their The AfD also denies a link Schreiber he wrote the best- projects include the establish- ment. When these efforts come ects co-planned and registered by eignty; they also worried that equate military budgets, but selling book Inside AfD. A “normal that people explode” that autumn, elections in three get rescued with tax money and anger and frustration at demon- between CO2 emissions and ment of a network of logistics to full fruition, there may not be EU member states. One of its first joint European forces might even- rather, Trump’s announcements JOHANNES LEITHÄUSER after this “kind of killing,” the eastern German states – Saxony, then return to their old business strations and at the ballot box. global warming. “I don’t Report by One Who Left, which centers in Europe, so that each any single EU army, despite the projects is the development of a tually weaken NATO. After the of no longer wanting to play the was published in German in is a Berlin correspondent for the parliamentary leader of the popu- Brandenburg and Thuringia, models, raking in cash once more, Only there do they regain their believe there’s anything that August. individual army, large or small, recurring political demands for it. new, lighter, more comfortable referendum, European military world’s policeman. Europeans Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. list AfD, Alexander Gauland, said where the AfD could become the while the “little guy” paid for self-esteem. people can do against climate needn’t continue organizing its What should emerge, however, is protective vest for soldiers. cooperation immediately picked have become even more aware

HAMBURG AUSSENALSTER The whites of their eyes: far-right demonstrators in Chemnitz in late August.Harvestehuder Weg

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BY DMITRI TRENIN Germany still engages in dialogue with its Russian peers. Amid the hybrid war between Russia and WHERE THE REFUGEES ARE COMING FROM AND HOW THEY REACH EUROPE ike Moscow’s relations with the United States, Germany has the West more broadly, HOSBAS DPA/ABDULHAMID taken the peculiar position of a LRussia’s ties with Germany loyal US ally that is permitted to – its most important European maintain constant contact with partner – have grown increasingly Russia. At an official level, the TOTAL ARRIVALS IN 2018 strained over the past few years. trans-Atlantic allies have the same Previous hopes of Russia’s integra- view on Russia. But unlike the ITALY tion into a Greater Europe, from US foreign policy establishment, 20,210 82,201 Lisbon in the west to Vladivo- which views Russia as toxic and stok in the east, have evaporated. treats it as it would Iran or North SPAIN The formerly cordial relationship Korea, Germany sees Russia as an 38,911 SEA ARRIVALS TURKEY between Moscow and Berlin has important neighbor it must deal GREECE Includes refugees and migrants arriving by sea to Italy, cooled off, as estrangement and with. Dealing with Russia now, 22,348 Greece, Spain and Cyprus. even mutual alienation have set however, is much different from in. Yet, while past illusions of what it was even a half-dozen 77,422 integration cannot and should not years ago. be revived, Russian-German rela- Today, Moscow no longer has tions can be made more produc- the strategic goal of creating a TUNISIA CYPRUS 145 LAND ARRIVALS tive. In a nutshell, Moscow needs common Greater European space MOROCCO to work with the EU’s premier from Lisbon to Vladivostok. ALGERIA Includes refugees and migrants arriving by land to Spain. economy to improve relations Instead, Russia should focus on with Europe and partially offset building neighborly relations with LIBYA EGYPT 4,779 the continued deterioration of Europe as it actually exists, from relations with Washington, which Lisbon to Helsinki – a Europe that, have little prospect for stabiliza- in the Kremlin calculus, will remain DEAD OR MISSING (ESTIMATE) tion in the next few years. Berlin a junior partner of the United has to engage Moscow to preserve States for quite some time. By the MOST COMMON NATIONALITIES OF MEDITERRANEAN SEA AND LAND ARRIVALS FROM JANUARY 2018 a degree of geopolitical stability same token, Germany should not 1,719 on the continent of Europe and to treat Russia as an economically address security issues in the EU’s and socially backward part of COUNTRY OF ORIGIN NUMBER OF REFUGEES neighborhood. Europe that must be civilized and Previous years Sea arrivals Dead or missing Berlin summit: The foreign ministers Pavlo Klimkin (Ukraine), Jean-Yves Le Drian (France), Heiko Maas (Germany) and Sergei Lavrov (Russia) Russia could take steps to dem- in the German capital in June (left to right). integrated with the rest of the SYRIA 13.4 % 7,567 2017 172,301 3,139 onstrate its willingness to de- continent by bringing Moscow IRAQ 9.1 % 5,125 2016 362,753 5,096 escalate or defuse conflict situa- closer to EU standards. Thus, tions in Eastern Europe, which Russia should not be conceived 2015 1,015,078 3,771 GUINEA 6.9 % 3,890 would improve the climate for of as the biggest part of some 2014 216,054 3,538 Moscow’s relations with Berlin. imagined “other Europe” that TUNISIA 6.6 % 3,729 Such steps would include easing Can’t we talk? should be brought to the level AFGHANISTAN 6,5 % 3,665 tensions in Eastern Ukraine and of so-called advanced Europe. DEMOGRAPHY OF MEDITERRANEAN SEA ARRIVALS soothing a series of frozen con- Rather, Russia is Europe’s largest FROM JANUARY 2018 Despite the recent cooling-off, Russia and Germany can MALI 5.5 % 3,116 flicts involving Moldova and immediate neighbor, alongside Georgia. Together with Germany still work together – if they see each other for what they really are other neighbors such as the Arab ERITREA 5.4 % 3,027 Men Women Children and the EU, Moscow could also world, Iran and Turkey. Berlin help stabilize parts of the Western should certainly take Moscow MOROCCO 5.2 % 2,916 Balkans, particularly with regard Russia and Germany progressed seeing Germany as one of Rus- It is important to remember that in convincing the segment of the into account, but more impor- OTHER (SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA) 4.5 % 2,569 to Kosovo and Bosnia. Germany steadily. Berlin tried to serve as sia’s closest, most loyal partners. further escalation in the conflict German business community most tantly, Germany should accept would do well by not yielding Moscow’s guide in its efforts to In his September 2001 speech at with the rest of Europe was avoided closely involved in economic coop- the way Russia is now to avoid OTHERS 10.9 % 6,145 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% to outside pressure against build- integrate with the West, with the German Bundestag, Russian in 2014–2015. Speculation about eration with Russia to reluctantly new disappointments. ing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline hopes of creating a Greater Europe President Vladimir Putin declared so-called Russian revanchism acquiesce to the need to pressure The focus of Germany-Rus- SOURCE: HTTPS://DATA2.UNHCR.ORG, STATUS AS OF SEPTEMBER 2018 and by staying even more closely spanning from the Atlantic to the that Russia had committed itself to and the invasion threat Moscow Moscow to change its foreign sia interaction now should engaged with Russia and Ukraine Pacific. Over time, Germany would the “European choice.” might pose to the Baltic countries policy. Most of the German busi- be placed on avoiding escala- on the Minsk process, while reach- become Russia’s most important The 2014 Ukraine crisis, by and Poland, which had been far- ness community not involved in tion in Donbass ahead of and ing out to Russia on other security trading and economic partner. contrast, put an end to the era fetched from the start, subsided. such cooperation readily accepted during Ukrainian elections next issues, from Moldova to Syria to Many German companies estab- of friendly cooperation between Germany and France played an the sanctions and supported the year; preventing a humanitar- Iran to the Balkans. Of course, lished themselves in the Russian Russia and Germany, as cool important role in reaching the government’s position. Many ian catastrophe in Syrian Idlib; there should be no illusions. Berlin market. At the same time, cultural diplomatic relations gradually Minsk agreements on ceasefire and Russians initially thought that keeping Iran within the limits BY MARKUS BICKEL dized the federal government’s devolved into outright alienation. conflict resolution measures for Germany’s position was mostly a of the JCPOA agreement, while very existence in a dispute over Even back in 2012 and 2013, Eastern Ukraine. Minsk II, which product of the extremely close ties dissuading the Trump adminis- arl Hilsenbek is worried. A culture of welcome deporting rejected asylum seek- before the onset of the Ukraine Merkel and Putin were personally between German political, busi- tration from further provoking “No one knows what ers. Fearing an AfD surge in GERMANY HAS TO crisis, Berlin had been irked by involved in shaping, theoretically ness and media elites and their US Tehran into a breakout; working Kwill happen tomorrow, October’s Bavarian election, Moscow’s efforts to keep Ukraine remains the pathway to a resolu- counterparts. Moscow often tends together with the EU countries or where migrant numbers go Seehofer has lashed out repeat- within its orbit and integrate it into tion of the Donbass conflict. At the to overestimate Washington’s role to stabilize the politico-military from here,” says the mayor of vanishing into thin air edly at Merkel: “The migration ENGAGE RUSSIA TO the Eurasian Economic Union, a same time, it is obvious that this in various international situations, situation in Libya; and explor- Ellwangen, a flourishing town issue is the mother of all political Putin-created customs union of agreement was more amenable to and the opposite is also true. ing ways for solving the conflict in Germany’s prosperous south- problems in this country!” PRESERVE A DEGREE several former Soviet states. For Moscow’s interests, and it became In reality, solidarity with Wash- over Transnistria and improv- western state of Baden-Würt- Three years after Germany took in nearly a million refugees, To resolve this “mother of all its part, Moscow blamed Berlin clear that the government in Kiev ington was not the only reason ing humanitarian and economic temberg. Unemployment there is migration has polarized the country problems,” Seehofer demands for Brussels’ refusal to discuss with never intended nor had the ability Berlin acted the way it did. The ties across the lines between under 2 percent. Large billboards fast deportations. “Anyone OF GEOPOLITICAL Russia the terms of the EU’s pro- to implement it. Besides, Ukraine’s categorical rejection of military Georgia and Abkhazia, with its advertise companies searching who has applied for asylum and posed Association Agreement with leaders were mostly relying on US intervention in Europe, especially large Georgian minority. Such for new trainees. Little cause for received a rejection is compelled STABILITY Ukraine. The Kremlin also accused assistance and were not inclined territorial annexation, is at the core an agenda, if implemented, worry, one would think. to leave this country,” he says. Germany and other EU members to respond to rather restrained of post-war German identity. Ger- would not restore post-Cold But on the outskirts of town, lese man from police detention, Köthen in Saxony-Anhalt in the mood among his constituents to organize at the moment,” Yet experts on asylum have grave – specifically France and Poland German and French attempts to many has made some exceptions to War hopes; it might, however, on the grounds of an old army thereby preventing his deporta- September, after a 22-year-old that, he warns, politicians disre- Hilsenbek says. reservations with this approach: should not expect Russia to change and humanitarian ties between – of not insisting on honoring steer Kiev toward complying with that principle, but only as it relates lead to practical results and barracks, lies a large refugee tion. A storm of protest erupted man died there from a heart gard at their own peril. “We’ve Following the events of New Numerical evidence does not its general foreign policy course. Russia and Germany reached new the compromise that then Ukrai- the conditions of Minsk II. to the United States and NATO re-instate if not trust between camp known to locals as the and spread far beyond Ellwan- attack following a street fight. had moments in Ellwangen when Year’s Eve 2015–16, when suggest that deportations will Moscow needs to remember that heights. Between 2.5 and 3 mil- nian President Viktor Yanukovych This ongoing wider confronta- (in places like Kosovo and Serbia). Germany and Russia, which will Landeserstaufnahmeeinrichtung gen. Across Germany, people Two Afghans were arrested. parents said they will no longer numerous women in Cologne lead to more refugees integrat- Germany is not a stand-alone lion ethnic Germans from Russia had reached with the opposition tion between Russia and the United Evidently, Berlin tends to trust the take decades to build, then a (LEA, or Initial Reception Facil- wondered whether to expect The AfD is also polling about send their kids to the bus stop reported incidents of sexual ing successfully. In 2015, when power but an integral part of the and other former Soviet republics, in February 2014, which these States has placed Moscow and good intentions of its senior ally degree of predictability and a ity). At times, conditions there more cases of resistance in refu- 14 percent in Bavaria, where and instead drive them to and harassment by northern Afri- a record 890,000 people sought EU and NATO. such as Kazakhstan, moved to Ger- three countries helped bring about. Berlin at odds with one another. and other members of the military habit of cooperation. have seriously affected the “sub- gee centers. “A slap in the face voters elect a new state legisla- from school.” cans, conditions in and around asylum in Germany, 20,000 were For that, both sides must capital- many, creating a sizable Russian- Consequently, Moscow believed Germany has not just taken part and political bloc it belongs to, but jective sense of security” among of the law-abiding populace” is ture in October. After a decades- The worries of Ellwangen’s places like the LEA have become sent back. In 2017, according to ize on the positives and negatives speaking diaspora in the center these countries to be complicit in in the collective Western sanctions Russia cannot count on that same DMITRI TRENIN Ellwangen residents, Hilsenbek how German Interior Minister long monopoly in government, mayor reflect the dilemmas many a second yardstick for everything the government, the latter figure of recent history. For a quarter of of Europe. Subsequently, many what it saw as a coup d’état that regime targeting Russia, but also courtesy. is director of the Carnegie says. “At the moment every- Horst Seehofer characterized the the conservative Christian Social municipal leaders throughout that has allegedly gone wrong was nearly 24,000. a century after the fall of the Berlin Germans stopped seeing Russia as toppled Yanukovych’s govern- leads and coordinates this policy Nevertheless, while Berlin has Moscow Center. thing’s quiet,” says the 60-year- incident, which even made it to Union (CSU) now faces the pros- Germany are facing. From in Germany’s experience as a “Are we too dumb to deport?” Wall in 1989, relations between a threat, and most Russians started ment in Kiev. within the EU. Merkel succeeded been a consistent critic of Moscow, old marathon runner, “but that the pages of The Washington pect of needing to form a coali- the Baltic coast in the north country of asylum – irrespective the tabloid newspaper Bild asked could all change tomorrow.” Post. tion. In Saxony, the AfD already to the Alps in the south, from of the fact that the volunteer in a headline this summer. It is Hilsenbek speaks from experi- Regional lawmakers of the far- received the highest number of the western Rhineland to the spirit of helping refugees after a question that, following inci- ence. By September 2015, within right Alternative for Germany votes in the 2017 federal elec- banks of the Oder River border- their arrival in Germany remains dents such as those in Ellwangen, months of the LEA’s establish- (AfD) party, which took 15 per- tion. It cannot be ruled out that ing Poland, mayors and council prodigious. repeatedly enflames public senti- ment, 4,500 people were living cent of the vote in Baden-Würt- the far right will share state members across Germany report Still, one thousand days after ment. It also cannot be answered there. The facility was designed temberg in 2016, also lamented power in Dresden, the capital a sense among their constituents Merkel’s iconic utterance – “we as simply as the far-right populists to accommodate 1,000 at most. a loss of state control. Incidents of Saxony, after state elections that Chancellor Angela Merkel can do it” – hopes of a lasting and would have voters believe, says The pedestrian shopping area like the ones in Ellwangen are next year. and her refugee policy have left pervasive Willkommenskultur in mayor Hilsenbek. He vehemently in Ellwangen’s old quarter was grist to the mill for the party, While criticizing the far right’s the country’s towns and cities Germany have been dashed. All rejects the so-called “anchor cen- Energy is life soon full of migrants. To keep a which, ever since hundreds of populist agitation, Ellwangen’s to fend for themselves. “Shel- her attempts to respond with ters” that, following Bavaria’s lid on the public’s growing anger, thousands of Iraqis and Syrians Mayor Hilsenbek also points out ters, especially, are very hard factual arguments merely draw example, Seehofer would set up authorities decided to switch off fled to Germany fresh criticism. around the country to facilitate the town’s free public WiFi ser- in 2015, has tire- Despite all the deportations of unwanted refu- vice. lessly warned of 800,000 success stories, gees. “If we in Ellwangen had to More that 745,000 people applied for asylum in Germany in 2016; Energy is progress That quieted the situation until the erosion of Merkel’s Cul- shelter people with no prospect 222,000 the next year. early 2016, when the alleged law and order. 700,000 ture of Welcome of work, that is, people who are rape of a German-Russian girl When a Cuban- Of the 110,000 applicants in the first half of this year, almost three has vanished into simply waiting to be deported, in faraway Berlin caused tem- German died fol- 600,000 quarters were younger than 30, while 57 percent were male. thin air. social peace here would be seri- Our 40,000 people are committed to make pers to flare again. In protests lowing a dispute First and fore- ously threatened.” E.ON the European energy company that: against the supposed assault by with a Syrian and 500,000 most, it has been Alternatively, he believes citizen “southern-looking migrants,” an Iraqi in Chem- Interior Minister activism is the way forward. “I hundreds of ethnic German- nitz in August, 400,000 Seehofer fan- think that in all of Germany, Ell- • Creates a sustainable energy future Russians assembled at the gates thousands of AfD ning the flames. wangen is unparalleled. A town • Empowers customers to create their of the LEA, among them opera- supporters joined 300,000 The Bavarian of 24,000 inhabitants sheltering individual energy tives of the extreme right-wing members of the CSU chairman 4,500 refugees. That is truly a National Democratic Party of far-right Pegida 200,000 first attacked brilliant achievement.” • Connects people and companies to energize Germany (NPD). Demonstrators movement in the chancellor the digital era chanted “Protect our children!” weeks of protests 100,000 and her refugee MARKUS BICKEL • Provides energy freedom and choice for and “Merkel must go!” in the Saxon city. policy in the fall is editor in chief of each and everyone There would be more. In April Thousands also 0 of 2015. This the German-language eon.com 2018, dozens of inhabitants of marched through 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 JAN – JUL 2018 summer, See- Amnesty Journal. the LEA freed a young Togo- the streets of hofer jeopar-

180918_RZ_Ad_corp-communications_290x127mm.indd 1 18.09.18 15:49 12 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 13 POLITICS BUSINESS

PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1950

For more than 68 years Americans drive Volkswagen. And Volkswagen drives America. Today we have a total employment impact of over 120,000 jobs. We will invest more than $1 billion in our U.S. operations over the next three years. But most importantly, we do our very best to drive America’s future mobility.

With Electrify America Volkswagen invests more than $2 billion in a Zero Emission Vehicle infrastructure and IMAGO-STOCK education programs in the United States. For an electrifying and better future for everyone. The China question Behind the trade wars prompted by the US president looms nothing less than a fight over the new economic world order

omy” has lost its monopoly on Donald Trump’s “America internet in their strong domes- being accused of engaging in, Europe finds itself caught in BY HANS-JÜRGEN JAKOBS efficiency. We are now being forced first” is simultaneously a “Beat tic market, their global expan- namely a zero-sum game. This limbo between the two power to pose the “system question.” China” approach. In the same sion plans are now rivaling the implies a world economy in which blocs of West and Far East. And, overty and hunger are In this context, the huge US vein, his “Make America great corporate world’s beloved “Big the gains of one side are the losses as a confederation of states, perennial threats to any trade deficit, in particular with again” is just as much a “Make Five” on the American stock of the other, and in which the it continues to struggle with Ppolitical system. They are regard to China, foreshadows a China weak again.” For the market, Apple, Amazon, Google, old aphorism of globalization as common policy agreements con- also the factors that in the 1970s much greater power shift. The Trump administration, this “stra- Facebook and Microsoft, whose a “rising tide that lifts all boats” cerning important issues. What’s prompted China’s Deng Xiaop- fact that a nation like the United tegic competitor” with its “preda- success is reflected not in the no longer applies. This was the missing in Europe is a forward- ing to seek a simple and effective States continually imports many tory economics” – as US Secretary trade balance but in the services motto that successfully shep- thinking structural policy; there way to restore his underdevel- more goods than it exports under- of Defense James Mattis referred account. herded countless US companies are also no large internet com- oped country. “It doesn’t matter mines its economic strength as to China this year – fulfills a In the financial sector as well, and investors through the wild panies that could carry such a whether the cat is black or a country, even though it can similar “favorite enemy” role that China’s four major banks (the years of globalization and helped policy into the new era. Europe white,” the former leader noted, “easily” afford such deficits them ride out the largest eco- can’t figure out which is worse, “as long as it catches mice.” thanks to lines of credit from all nomic crisis in history. American private-equity capital- In other words, Deng had over the world. Nevertheless, a further esca- ists (“locusts”) or Chinese inves- declared that communism would As Trump noted, two-way lation of the trade war would tors. In thinking that both sides henceforth be permitted to engage trade has “been too one-sided be tantamount to self-harm. are taking aim at its crown jewel in capitalist maneuvers, but only if for too many years, for too many Today, the economies of the US – its social market economy – they served to foster the growth of decades.” The last time the overall and China are simply too inter- Europe is jeopardizing German the nation. China thus became the US trade balance with all coun- AMERICA’S twined. Global value creation and medium-size companies that first “workbench of the world,” tries was almost equalized was as supply chains are just too closely already suffer enough from their a highly sought-after production recently as 20 years ago. In terms PROTECTIONIST linked. For example, without the own succession problems. This site for products and goods of of trade in goods with the US, cheap mass labor of the supplier then becomes an open window all kinds. the EU has about a €175 billion Foxconn, the tremendous profits for investors. Today, Deng’s cat and the spoils surplus. The trade deficit with POLICIES GIVE RISE made by Apple with their best- There is a great danger that of its decades-long mouse hunt China amounted to $375 billion selling iPhone would have been Europeans will be forced to con- have become so large that they are in 2017. TO THE VERY THING unthinkable. In turn, the rela- tinue watching the political ping prompting entirely different and Raw financial figures are one tively comfortable US debt would pong match between Trump and much more fundamental ques- thing; political aspirations are be inconceivable without their Xi Jinping in their usual mix- tions on the world stage. Indeed, another. Whenever speculations THE CHINESE ARE faithful creditor, China, which ture of amusement and fear, although the Middle Kingdom about a trade war make their now holds $1.2 trillion in US only to end up realizing that is still officially seen by many way into the public discourse, BEING ACCUSED OF government bonds, thus making the two sides are actually doing as a “developing country,” it is the real issue at hand is much it America’s largest lender. China, business at Europe’s expense. nevertheless well on its way to more than just the amount of ENGAGING IN too, is heavily in debt and has a The “American challenge” challenging America’s role as money involved. Indeed, what dangerously extensive system of described 50 years ago by Jean- the sole global economic super- is being discussed is nothing less shadow banks. Jacques Servan-Schreiber has power. This attack is paradoxi- than who is going to dominate In a set-up like this, one can now morphed into the “China cally aimed at the very country the world. We are being pre- afford to gamble a bit, but one question.” that for decades cast itself as the sented with a possible new world should be wary of overdoing it. The efforts of Deng Xiaoping “super power” of all continents, a order as well as a number of For this precise reason, Trump’s – that great Chinese reformer – role that included playing the part new geostrategic relations. In Senator Joseph McCarthy once largest in the world and also con- hope of being able to extort con- continue to echo in our current of the “world’s police” and ensur- circumstances such as these, the assigned to Soviet communism trolled by the state), which oper- cessions in the chaos he creates troubled era, much to the dismay ing its version of peace, order and economy becomes the arena of in the 1950s. ate in conjunction with two large may quickly vanish. His goals of Trump and other defenders of democracy. a spectacular battle between an What most alarms US strategists state wealth funds (CIC, Safe), are free market access, better pro- the old world order. In response The People’s Republic of China, old world power and an up-and- is “Made in China 2025,” the are coming up against a pha- tection of intellectual property, to the question of what a govern- however, is to Pax Americana coming contender: the former short-term objective formulated lanx consisting of Wall Street and containment of state influence ment should do for its citizens, what a slide is to a negative. In continues its full commitment by the Beijing leadership more asset management giants such as and less bureaucracy in China. the “grand old man” of China other words, Beijing is the alterna- to its “pursuit of happiness,” than three years ago to become BlackRock and Vanguard, whose These concerns happen to be answered rather succinctly: “Let tive that Washington has lacked whereas its challenger operates the world leader in ten future voluminous capital holdings have shared by all Western companies them get rich!” And then: “Edu- since the fall of the Iron Curtain somewhere between verve and sectors of the economy. These positioned themselves over the that do business in the People’s cate them!” From this, we can at the end of the 1980s. It all caution, boasting the largest sectors include electromobility, world economy like a net. Republic and who generally make surmise that Deng’s cat is not makes things rather sensitive, and domestic market in the world aerospace, high-speed trains and In today’s era of ubiquitous big profits. To these businesses, going to stop chasing mice any complicated. – 1.4 billion people – and thus mobile communications, areas Trumpism, such market-share President Xi Jinxing’s comment time soon. The ruling Communist Party facing the rather large problem where Shenzhen-based Huawei issues between competitors inevi- about China “keeping its doors blends a planned economy with a of facilitating the wealth of its is already a global player. While tably turn into questions of eco- wide open” represents an effort to HANS-JÜRGEN JAKOBS market economy in a thoroughly citizens while simultaneously Chinese corporations like Alib- nomic warfare. In fact, America’s achieve harmony via PR. From a is senior editor of the business profitable way. The Western model maintaining the invulnerability aba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com protectionist policies give rise to Western perspective, these doors newspaper Handelsblatt. of an “individualistic market econ- of its own system. have long since dominated the the very thing the Chinese are are anything but “wide open.”

VW_German_Times_290x508_16136_.indd 1 19.09.18 14:48 14 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 15 BUSINESS BUSINESS

The future of fahrvergnügen Hoping for a “together first” The automotive industry is facing major challenges around the world. German carmakers have Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier speaks to The German Times more to lose than most and are thus investing a great deal in securing its future on trade, Trump and taxing US companies in Europe

currently the largest car market total of 2.15 million “car-depen- emissions. German car manufac- of the leading manufacturers And it’s true, a lot of money Minister Altmaier, economically speaking, Ger- ity has not gone up further. Wages and The EU has just extended its sanctions against BY MARTIN GROPP in the world. dent” jobs in Germany. That turers are feverishly working on operates without the keywords is flowing into the automotive many is on pretty firm footing. Economists employment have also grown very well Russia. They will remain in place because, regret- Automakers also have to deal accounts for roughly 5 percent new electric models. Indeed, it’s no “car sharing” and “mobility industry of the future at this very call this the “strongest boom in two decades.” by international comparison. We must tably, there has been no progress in the peace t first glance, it would with the new emissions measure- of all individuals employed in coincidence that Mercedes, BMW services,” which can be accred- moment. According to figures Growth is exceeding 2 percent; per-capita GDP ensure that this trend continues and that process for Ukraine. appear that the German ment system being enforced in the country. According to Ger- and Audi presented new electric ited to the success of companies provided by the VDA, manufac- is rising; unemployment is low; average wages Germany remains competitive. Full Aautomotive industry the European Union since Sep- many’s Federal Office of Sta- automobiles – or at least “future such as the American rideshar- turers and suppliers are going and consumer spending are both growing. And employment is possible and remains German entrepreneurs in Russia want relations has little reason to complain. tember. The procedure, which tistics, cars and trucks are also studies” – one after the other; ing service Uber. to invest €40 billion in alterna- yet, millions of people feel left behind. How can our goal. We will continue easing the to return to normal soon, without sanctions. Can Records are being broken left bears the rather bulky name the country’s most important these products are set to appear on The foreseeable magnitude of tive drives, in particular in elec- you help them? burden on workers, such as through you raise their hopes? and right. In early July, the “Worldwide Harmonized Light the impact of these changes was tric motors over the next three We’re now in the ninth year of a period of strong unemployment insurance and eliminat- Eastern Europe and Russia will remain very Stuttgart-based Daimler group Vehicles Test Procedure,” has confirmed by a recent study years. Another €18 billion will be economic growth. Despite many international ing the solidarity surcharge for most important economic areas for us. Many German announced it had sold more led to additional costs as many conducted by the strategy con- spent on network expansion and risk factors, Germany’s economy will continue taxpayers. companies, especially in the country’s east, have than 1.18 million Mercedes older models must be recertified. sulting firm Oliver Wyman on digitization. According to Stefan to grow into next year. That would then be the good business ties with Russia. I want to keep vehicles in the first six months Volkswagen suffered most at the behalf of the German Associa- Bratzel, professor at the Center of longest period of uninterrupted expansion since expanding economic ties in areas free of sanc- of the year, breaking their half- Group level due to the fact that IF GERMAN AUTO tion of the Automotive Indus- Automotive Management in Ber- 1966 – more than half a century ago. Wages and tions. Our dialogue and exchange with one year record. many of its corporate brands – try (VDA), an interest group gisch Gladbach, this is an absolute pensions are rising, and next year we’ll probably another must continue, and business relations Their competitors in Munich such as Porsche and Audi – took representing German manufac- necessity. Bratzel points out that cross the “sound barrier” of 45 million employed are a good foundation for that. are also having a great run; longer to pass certification tests. MANUFACTURERS turers and roughly 600 parts generating new functions, services people. This is the highest number of working between January and June One reason for this was that suppliers. The study’s strategic and products is more important people our country has ever seen. But there The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through the 2018, BMW delivered more engineers were still busy dealing AND SUPPLIERS LOSE advisors had both good and than ever for a manufacturer’s are also people whom the upswing has not yet Baltic is being built, and criticism is non- than 1.24 million vehicles – its with the diesel scandal, meaning disturbing news for the automo- reputation: “Innovation is now reached, who feel left behind or forgotten by our stop, from both the US and other Euro- BMW, Mini and Rolls Royce that VW had to slow down its tive industry. On the positive a matter of survival,” notes the elected officials. We take that very seriously. For pean states. Are we making ourselves brands combined – while cel- manufacturing. IMPORTANCE IN THE side, growing demand is esti- automobile expert. that reason, in my office, as head of the Federal dependent on Russian gas? ebrating its highest six-month But current developments aside, mated to prompt a 30 percent Bratzel also recently calculated Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, I Germany has a diversified supply grid, revenues of all time. the German automotive industry FUTURE, IT COULD HAVE rise in global car production, just how innovative the different work to bring to life the central pledge of the in terms of gas as well. Additional Even the Volkswagen Group has taken a step back to reflect to around 123 million vehicles auto manufacturers around the social market economy, namely, prosperity lines also deliver energy to other is on top. Despite the emissions on its own future. For example, by 2030. Value creation is set world actually are. The bench- for all. That’s why we’re raising spending on places in Europe. Nord Stream 2 is, scandal that started in Septem- Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess A DEEP IMPACT ON THE to grow at a slower pace, by mark for Bratzel’s ranking is investments and innovation, so that in the above all, a corporate project. Yet ber 2015 and marked the most recently estimated that German roughly 27 percent to reach an index that involves giving future “Made in Germany” will remain an we must also consider the rightful

serious crisis in the company’s carmakers have but a 50:50 €1.31 billion in the same time product developments different assurance of the most advanced technol- interests of Ukraine. I have had GERMAN ECONOMY PRESS ALLIANCE/ZUMA PICTURE history, VW’s core brands sold chance of pioneering the mobil- frame. There is no doubt that weightings depending on how ogy and jobs anywhere in the world. We talks in Moscow and Kiev on the roughly 3.12 million vehicles ity of the future. The reason, he there will be opportunities for new and innovative the inven- are strengthening our industries with an matter. This summer in Berlin, at in the first half of 2018, also told the German business news- growth. tion actually is. Among the industrial strategy, investing in social housing, Another critic of Germany’s economic data is private investment, which, at more than 90 per- my invitation, a meeting between Russia, Ukraine a record. It would appear that paper Handelsblatt in late August Here’s an eye opener: by the manufacturers of premium cars, improving pension payments and lightening the the US president, specifically Germany’s trade cent of the total, provides the lion’s share of total and European Commission Vice-President Maroš the scandal has not prevented was that the industry is currently export, ahead of engine building the market gradually, starting next end of the coming decade, 25 BMW, Mercedes and Audi come burden on families. surplus and its “unfair” practices. Is he right? investment. There we want to keep promoting the Šefčovič was convened to address the issue. customers from buying Volk- facing an immense structural and chemical products. The auto year. Volkswagen has designated percent of cars sold will have an in at the top three spots in the This surplus reflects first and foremost the com- investment climate and providing targeted incen- swagens. change. Diess argued that his industry’s share of total gross the start of the coming decade as electric engine; today, depend- ranking. Volkswagen leads the Companies are urgently seeking skilled labor. petitiveness of our private sector and its products tives, i.e. tax breaks for research and development Brexit and “America first,” Russian muscle flex- In other words, things are pointing out this uncomfortable value added in Germany is 4.5 the beginning of its electric offen- ing on the country, that share pack among mass car producers, Soon the baby boomers will start retiring. Migra- and services, which we have restored with great and energy-saving building modernization. And ing and China’s economic expansionism are all going very well, at least in terms fact was based on realism, not percent. In other words, there’s sive. Today, German carmakers is between zero and a maximum ahead of its Japanese competitor tion could help. How should it be regulated? effort over the past 15 years. We have to take a we must discuss unburdening companies so they symptoms of resurgent nationalism and a retreat of sales. Still, the harbingers pessimism – and he is not alone in a lot to lose. offer 30 different electric models; of two percent. In addition, Honda and Ford in the US. Specialized workers are in urgent demand in more nuanced look at the “surplus issue.” The can stay competitive internationally in the future. toward spheres of influence. Is there any hope of a potential downturn have this assessment of the situation in All this piles on in a moment in 2021, the plan is to raise that value creation will shift further And yet, this leading role comes many firms. That’s why we must raise our poten- public debate often ignores the fact that, in bal- left for “together first”? increased in recent years. the home of the Autobahn. of automotive history: the number to more than 100. towards Asia, because markets with a deep obligation to not let tial both at home and abroad. For the latter, we ance of payments, the US has a surplus against Germans lament what they see as the ignorance I am firmly convinced we can solve global prob- up. As we all know, the com- agreed in the coalition agreement on an immigra- the EU. That’s because of the many successful of the current US administration and the Rus- lems only through international cooperation. petition is always ready to take tion act for specialized labor. We must pass it US-based digital companies operating in Europe. sian president toward climate change. How can Just think of conflicts like that in Syria, climate

over in a heartbeat. The biggest into law soon. But we must also look to our own we convince the big CO2 emitters to do more to change, the growing global population, rising innovator on the index is Tesla, country for nurturing and keeping these work- In return, Germans complain that US corpora- save the planet? protectionism – we need global responses to followed by the Chinese electric ers. We cannot accept having 800,000 long-term tions pay no taxes in Germany. How can the Climate change is a global phenomenon that these challenges. And we need to work together car brand Nio. This is remark- unemployed in this country. Education – specifi- German government stop US tech companies requires joint international action. Hence, we more, not less. Right now we can see what able, seeing as Nio is only four cally our proven model of dual-track professional from shifting their revenue and profits to low-tax deeply regret the US withdrawal from the Paris happens to trade when protectionist tendencies years old. In other words, when it training and qualification – is the key there. Yet EU states such as Ireland and the Netherlands? Agreement. On the other hand, it’s been heart- gain ground. comes to capacity for innovation, we must also ensure that skilled people who want Fairer taxation of big corporations is an explicit ening to watch US states such as California and At the end of these spirals, everybody loses. a little guppy is already to work, can work. For this we must push faster goal of this government, and that goes especially New York commit themselves to protecting the There can be no winner. That’s why it’s all DAIMLER AG DAIMLER hot on the heels of for expanding childcare. for IT companies. We must stop companies that climate nonetheless. Germany has not only set the more important to talk to one another and the industry’s big- avoid their tax duties through profit transfers or ambitious climate goals nationally; we also con- advocate continued international cooperation gest fish. The economic upswing, as not only employees tax optimization. Germany’s finance minister is tribute disproportionately to efforts at attaining and rules-based trade within the framework of Whether the point out, benefits the affluent first and foremost. holding talks at a European level to find good EU climate objectives. Once we demonstrate that the WTO. With the agreement between President subject is trade Your predecessor’s annual report calls “exces- solutions. He has my support for his efforts. an economically vibrant industrialized country Trump and Commission President Juncker we policy, electromo- sive income inequality” an “obstacle to inclusive like Germany can meet this challenge, the transi- now have a chance to negotiate with the US over bility, autonomous growth.” What would you do to improve every- Why doesn’t Germany invest far more in infra- tion to green energy will finally become a model dismantling tariffs instead of issuing new ones. driving or mobil- one’s share of the economic boom? structure, digitization, education and security? for economic success. Other countries should do I think that has opened up the opportunity to ity services, the First of all, we should not play down the good Public investment was raised massively during their share. Only then does our planet have a defuse the looming trade conflict between the German auto- news we have seen on the labor market. Employ- Chancellor Merkel’s previous term. And we will chance in the not too distant future. US and the EU in the coming months. motive indus- ment in Germany has risen to a record high continue to raise spending on investment and try is keenly while unemployment has fallen to a historic low. innovation, especially in digitization, education The EU and US have imposed sanctions against Peter Altmaier’s answers were provided in writing. aware of the Wages have climbed steadily in recent years, and security. Expanding digital infrastructure, individuals and individual assets because of challenges it is and so have pension payments. Wage inequal- in particular, must move faster. We need more Ukraine. Do you see any success there? facing, says Peter Fuss, partner at the consult- ing firm EY, which has been studying the subject for decades. “I don’t know of any company pursuing a head-in-the-sand policy,” says Fuss. And the auto industry is resilient: “It has taken a number of blows over the years and has always had to fight,” he notes. Sweet ride: Mercedes 190 SL ad from 1952. Just as in the past, the challenge today’s automobile manufactur- ers face is to optimize the quality For example, in the course of If German auto manufacturers German industry is only one of The second set of challenges there are not as saturated and of their products while simultane- this year, Daimler scaled back and suppliers lose importance in many facing deep, fundamen- involves the increased network- customer demand is still high. ously reducing costs. This is, as its earnings forecasts, mostly the future, it could have a deep tal changes. A number of auto ing of vehicles via the internet “The transformation under- Fuss points out, their daily task: because the principles of free impact on the German economy. executives are reiterating the for- as well as autonomous driving, way in the automotive industry “Precisely for this reason, the international trade seem to be The auto industry is a key eco- mula predicting that the change where the car itself takes the is more drastic than ever before, industry is well-prepared to cope attracting fewer adherents. In nomic factor; some would even in the industry over the next five wheel. Another goal is to build and it is taking place on all three with changing conditions.” And, fact, BMW is similarly affected. say the most important one. to ten years will be more drastic cars that will be able to find levels – among customers, in the ultimately, there is one key point As the largest auto exporter Taken as a whole, auto manufac- than in the last 50. This is due, open spots in parking lots, even production process and in the we shouldn’t forget: “People need from the States – ahead of Ford turers and suppliers in Germany, in large part, to three parallel park themselves and take over products themselves, all at the cars because cars enable them NAVAL SOLUTIONS and General Motors – Daimler as of recently, employ more than developments putting automak- tasks like driving on the Auto- same time,” notes Jörn Buss, to be individually mobile. And, exports vehicles to China from its 820,000 people, not to mention ers and suppliers, in particular, bahn, so drivers can concentrate a partner at Oliver Wyman. at the moment, there’s noth- MEETING YOUR CHALLENGES. plants in the US. The company is the thousands of jobs that are in a vice grip. on other things. “The automotive industry is ing better than a car for getting hit by the tariff raises on cars it directly dependent on cars, such On the one hand, there is the The third major challenge is facing some stormy weather.” around independently.” From frigates and corvettes to our support services – Lürssen has more than 140 years of experience in building naval vessels of all types produces in Spartanburg, South as auto-repair shops, car dealer- transformative shift towards elec- found in the changing needs of And yet, Buss also states that and sizes. We develop tailor-made maritime solutions to answer any of your requirements, whatever your international focus! Whenever the Carolina being shipped to China. ships and the roughly 15,000 gas tromobility, which is spurred on consumers. At least in industri- German manufacturers and need arises, our logistic support services and spare parts supply are always there to help you. Daimler has been forced to raise stations across Germany. by challengers like the US-based alized countries, there are more suppliers are well-prepared for MARTIN GROPP is the automobile correspondent Anywhere in the world. All across the seven seas. its prices in the People’s Repub- At the beginning of last year, electric carmaker Tesla, but also people interested in driving cars the challenges ahead and that for the Frankfurter Allgemeine lic. This could have a negative the research service of the by increasingly rigid European than people interested in actu- they are working intently on Zeitung. More information:    or www.luerssen-defence.com impact on sales figures in what is German Bundestag calculated a regulations on carbon dioxide ally owning one. Today, none innovations. 16 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 17 BUSINESS BUSINESS Navigating With friends like these … PEDERSEN/ZB PICTURE ALLIANCE/BRITTA the storm German and US companies are among the most important foreign investors in each other’s markets. A trade war is bad for everyone German-American economic relations in troubled waters

very enthusiastic consumer base, whereas Germans In keeping with the trend, Deutschlandjahr USA is a While trans-Atlantic business breakthrough between the US German companies, in 2017, education has its advantages. inson University, BASF hosts spend less and save much more than Americans. A bilateral event. But aren’t bilateral talks the wrong BY STORMY-ANNIKA MILDNER relations are still strong, the and the EU. more than 800,000 German Instead of having to take on a two-week science academy purely national approach is also flawed due to the fact way to approach trade agreements? German business community is German business is not a cars were produced in the debt to finance their education, that offers students from across that the economies of EU member states are closely Only the EU can conclude trade agreements, not ighs of relief resonated deeply worried about the future threat to US national security; United States. The US imported as is common for college stu- North America the opportu- intertwined with one another. Overall, the current Germany alone. And this is exactly the way it should throughout the German of EU-US relations. Accord- and Germany does not trade 493,000 cars from Germany dents and their parents, appren- nity to increase their knowledge EU-US trade balance – which includes not only trade be. It’s only possible for us to be truly strong if we Sbusiness community when ing to the German American unfairly. Quite to the contrary in the same year. Since 2009, tices already receive pay, as of chemistry. And the BASF in goods but also services and primary income – is work in conjunction with our European partners. US President Donald Trump Business Outlook 2018 – an of President Trump’s criticism, German production in the they are being trained and work Kids’ Lab introduces children almost equally balanced. The EU is much more than just the sum of its and EU Commission President annual survey conducted by the German business contributes US has increased fourfold. 60 simultaneously. Many success- to chemistry through hands-on Dieter Kempf More importantly, however, the focus on trade alone member states. However, the focus of President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed on German American Chambers of to economic growth, well-paid percent of American-made ful apprentices even have a job learning experience. is misleading. When we look at capital flows, we see Trump’s criticism is chiefly on Germany. And negotiating a EU-US trade deal Commerce in the United States, jobs as well as education and German cars are exported. Two guaranteed to them after they Besides running an appren- conversation with Dieter Kempf, President programs will also serve to strengthen trans-Atlantic the huge contribution German industry makes to the indeed, the German and American economies are in late July. In a joint statement, the Representative of German training in the US. of America’s biggest car export- finish their program. ticeship program, the German of the Federation of German Industries dialogue. The participation of German industry in US. For example, the stock of German investments closely intertwined with one another. For example, the two leaders decided to work Industry and Trade and KPMG German and US companies ers are German companies – Larger German companies company Siemens established A(BDI), on tariffs, trade balances, the image Deutschlandjahr USA is a key requirement for the in the US at the end of 2016 amounted to $373 bil- US tariffs on automobiles would hit us harder than together towards zero tariffs, – all of the surveyed German are among the most important BMW and Mercedes. The US often develop in-house training the Siemens Foundation in of German companies in the US and German indus- success of the initiative. lion. This puts Germany in fourth place among the many other EU members. For that reason, we have zero non-tariff barriers and zero companies were expecting foreign investors in each other’s is the premier destination for programs, usually using their 1998. The company has try’s contribution to the US economy. Deutschlandjahr offers a unique opportunity to most important foreign investors in the US. Also, a special responsibility to invest in trans-Atlantic subsidies on non-auto indus- growth for their businesses in markets. German investors have foreign direct investment by the own training centers for class- invested heavily to advance showcase the extent to which German industry is German companies employ roughly 674,000 work- relations. But we must always coordinate closely trial goods. They also agreed the US for 2018. At the same purchased assets worth $310 German car industry. room teaching. Smaller compa- STEM-based workforce devel- The Federation of German Industries (BDI) is sup- a strong partner for research, investment and jobs ers in the US. This is exactly how Deutschlandjahr with our partners, for example in BusinessEurope, to launch a close dialogue on time, 76 percent of German billion in the US (FDI stocks The skill gap is a major nies pool resources by jointly opment and education. The porting Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019. What in the US. German companies will participate by can highlight the importance of German companies our European umbrella organization. standards in order to ease trade. companies operating in the US 2017). That is 7.7 percent of obstacle when it comes to training apprentices with other list could go on. With their expectations do you have of the campaign? means of exciting exhibitions and projects. Using and make their contribution to American society An executive working group found that open markets are all foreign investments in the future investment in the local companies and commu- engagement on a variety of Dieter Kempf: The goal of Deutschlandjahr is to interactive, surprising and instructive elements, these even more visible. Might the failed TTIP Agreement receive a renewed was tasked with scoping out the crucial to their supply chain. US. Within the last decade United States. According to nity colleges in consortia. issues, German companies not render Germany and German industry more promi- companies will be able to convey their innovative boost in the context of the Deutschlandjahr events? content of the trade deal. For nent in the US by means of political events, science strength. Some of the most important elements will Might Deutschlandjahr also contribute to rebuild- Either way, a relaunch of free trade talks would be a the time being, the understand- conferences and cultural experiences that will take be education, advanced training and the future of ing the image of German carmakers, for example? win for both sides. I would recommend that Europe ing puts the escalating trade place both locally and on tour, especially in heartland labor. The focus will also be on themes such as digi- And if so, how? and the US start at a point where they can quickly conflict between the two eco- states. These efforts have become even more important tization, mobility and energy efficiency. Throughout The image of German industry in the US remains agree, for example by completely eliminating indus- nomic superpowers on hold, but SHUTTERSTOCK.COM in the past two years, given that the trans-Atlantic the campaign, we will be constantly underlining those exceptional. In fact, people still see German prod- trial tariffs on both sides. In the end, it’s crucial that the outcome of the negotiations partnership has found itself in increasingly troubled components that involve a productive partnership ucts as bearing a seal of quality. However, I am all sides find themselves reflected in an agreement. is anything but certain. waters. Our “Wunderbar together” initiative seeks with the US. convinced that German companies participating In addition to tariffs, talks would also have to focus Since Donald Trump took to give new impetus to the trans-Atlantic friendship in the Deutschlandjahr campaign will be able to on other trade barriers as well. In that case, everything office in early 2017, US-EU and to make it possible to comprehend the enormous The campaign comprises more than 300 projects, effectively show the US government that they are will depend on what kind of offers the US makes relations have met turbulent mutual importance of trans-Atlantic economic rela- but do you honestly believe it will change Donald an even stronger partner to US industry and Ameri- to the EU, one of the strongest and most confident waters. Relations between the tions. This is particularly vital to us at the BDI. Trump’s view of Germany’s allegedly unfair trade can citizens than currently perceived. For decades, economic blocs in the world. It is also important that United States and Germany are practices? German companies have contributed significantly to all trade partners work on a constructive agenda to particularly strained. Steel and From the perspective of the BDI and German indus- President Donald Trump is outright obsessed with US economic growth and exports, while simultane- reform the World Trade Organization (WTO). There aluminum tariffs, the threat of try, which Deutschlandjahr projects promise to have bilateral trade balances as an indicator of fairness. ously acting as engines for job growth and as sites is one definite advantage, namely that neither side has tariffs on cars, the escalating the greatest impact? And while it’s true that Germany has a large trade of professional training. We can’t stress this enough, to start the discussion from scratch. US-China trade conflict, rene- The campaign involves an abundance of concerts, surplus, we shouldn’t forget that trade balances are and we’re going to continue to emphasize it. Many gotiations of NAFTA and the readings, exhibitions, sporting events and culinary not indicators of fairness. Indeed, several factors influ- senators and governors are well aware of the posi- Questions posed by attacks against the World Trade treats designed to make it possible for people to ence how much a country exports and imports. For tive contributions made by German companies to PETER H. KOEPF and LUTZ LICHTENBERGER Organization – US trade policy experience modern Germany first-hand. Exchange example, the US has a huge domestic market with a the US economy. has been fundamentally trans- formed. President Trump wants to bring jobs and manufactur- ing back to the United States. In 1990, manufacturing still accounted for about a quar- ter of US GDP – in 2017, the share had dropped to about 12 percent. US manufacturing is struggling to keep up with world markets. But tariffs are not the right way to create jobs and to revive industries. Indeed, such mea- sures could cause more harm than good to global trade and the American economy. A recent analysis from the consulting firm Trade Partner- ship projects a net loss of over 400,000 American jobs through tariffs on steel and aluminum. Moreover, the study concludes Fancy ride: BMWs like this i8 roadster could soon become more expensive in the US. that the tariffs could likely lead to lower consumer spending A recent survey conducted (since 2008), German invest- the German American Busi- There are two main appren- only contribute to long-term power in the United States as by the American Chamber of ment stocks in the US have thus ness Outlook 2018, 87 per- ticeship programs being run economic growth but are also well as higher production costs. Commerce among its member increased by 78.4 percent, while cent of companies report that by the chambers of commerce strongly committed to fostering There is some truth to the companies also underlined 38 percent of the German FDI they “always,” “very often” – one in the Midwest and one in social prosperity and demon- narrative that competition on the strong economic ties with stocks in the US are invested in or “sometimes” have difficul- the South. The Trump admin- strating social responsibility in world markets is not always the US, with 82 percent of the sectors that can be attributed ties finding skilled employees istration has expressed great the US. fair. But an escalation of protec- companies surveyed consider- to industry, most notably the in the US. German companies, interest in learning more about Germany and the United tionist measures will not change ing the daily economic rela- transport sector (15.2 percent), together with chambers of com- the German system and apply- States are indispensable politi- this. Rather, tariffs pose a seri- tions between the EU and the the chemical industry (8.5 per- merce in numerous states in ing it in the US. With all the cal partners. The EU must ous threat to welfare and jobs US to be at least as strong. At cent) and the machinery indus- the US, have thus started to conflicts burdening the bilat- counter trade measures that – worldwide but also in the US. the same time, 42 percent of try (4.9 percent). establish apprenticeship pro- eral relationship, education and do not conform with the rules According to the International German companies said that the German companies employ grams in various professions, training is a prime area for of the WTO. At the same time, Monetary Fund, world trade is US had become less attractive some 674,000 people in the though mostly in the techni- cooperation. the trans-Atlantic relationship expected to grow by a further as a business location, mainly US. That makes Germany the cal area – e.g. for mechatron- The contribution of German needs a positive agenda. One 3.9 percent in 2018. However, because of the current trade fourth most important foreign ics technicians and industrial companies does not stop key aspect is the negotiation a further escalation of trade dispute between both countries. employer in the US, after the maintenance technicians. there, however. Many com- of an EU-US trade agreement. Our initiative to help your business think German: disputes could seriously impede There is also an indication United Kingdom, Japan and Applying the dual education panies heavily invest in their A new agreement must meet the business climate, trade and that investment activity is France. system in the US is no small local communities. Take BASF the requirements of a modern Consultancy on-site. Expertise worldwide. investment as well as damage declining. Eighteen percent of President Trump has repeat- task, as apprenticeships are Corporation, which employs trading partnership and abide global value chains, the IMF German companies said that edly criticized Germany’s trade often considered a dead-end around 15,500 people in the US by the rules of the World Trade As one of the market leaders in Germany, DZ BANK stands for stability and reliability. We are warns. According to the World they scaled back their respec- surplus, in particular in trade career path mainly for crafts and, for example, offers differ- Organization. Bank, if WTO members raised tive investments plans due to with automobiles. This does not and trades. Many Americans ent science education programs represented in major financial and commercial centres, and together with our nearly 900 cooperative their tariffs to just around the the emerging trade conflict. pay due respect to the German believe there is no alternative designed to awaken the inter- banks (Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken) we offer comprehensive financial services and combine regional WTO-bound limits, world trade The Trump-Juncker plan has car industry’s contribution to a four-year college education est in children and prospective proximity with global financial market expertise. Find out more about us at www.dzbank.com STORMY-ANNIKA MILDNER would decline in line with the not yet spread optimism. In to the US economy. While in if they want to find a decent, students to pursue careers in is head of the External Economic 2008–09 global financial crisis. total, 71 percent of the sur- 2009, Germany exported more well-paid job. science, technology, engineer- Policy Department for the Federa- In 2009, global merchandise veyed companies do not believe cars to the United States than However, choosing an ing or mathematics (STEM). In tion of German Industries (BDI). trade dropped by 22 percent. that there will be a substantial were locally manufactured by apprenticeship over a college partnership with Farleigh Dick-

US–GERMAN BUSINESS RELATIONS 674,000 373 111.5 646,000 61.1 JOBS CREATED BY GERMAN BILLION USD BILLION EUROS GERMAN EMPLOYEES IN US BILLION EUROS COMPANIES IN THE US DIRECT INVESTMENT BY GERMAN EXPORTS ENTERPRISES IN GERMANY GERMAN IMPORTS GERMAN BUSINESSES TO THE US FROM THE US

20180912_DZ_BANK_AZ_TheGermanTimes-1018_LG_290x254_ISOnewspaper26v4.indd 1 12.09.18 12:31 18 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 19 BUSINESS BUSINESS

DPA/FRANZISKA KRAUFMANN DPA/FRANZISKA Taxation for chickens

The president of the United States is squawking about Germany’s trade surplus – and not without reason, yet he fails to grasp reality in Germany and the United States

what this is – blows up the global trade order originally established by the Americans. If everyone simply the model types produced by Amer- does what they want, then reliabil- ican companies – large cars that ity, an imperative for companies, consume considerable amounts is lost. This is true for American For this reason, Donald Trump of fuel – simply don’t appeal to companies too, by the way. indeed has a point when he deems German buyers. Chevrolet would Trump would be more credible Germany’s trade surplus problem- be unlikely to significantly improve if he himself were to make a con- not generated domestically – and atic. However, he draws all the its sales figures in Germany even if tribution to reducing US economic has, for some time, been criticized wrong conclusions. For example, it the EU were to reduce its tariffs. imbalances. As we recall, a current for doing so. The International makes little sense to threaten indi- In any case, the US government account deficit emerges if savings pening in Germany than in many Monetary Fund, for example, has vidual companies or sectors with also protects its market from exter- within a country are insufficient to other countries. According to cal- repeatedly called on the German punitive tariffs. To be sure, there nal competition. For the light trucks finance investments. This is exactly culations by the Munich-based Ifo federal government to increase are a large number of BMWs on so popular in America, there is a the case in the US – which is why Institute for Economic Research, public investment as a means of American streets, but these vehicles customs duty of 25 percent. Presi- from a macroeconomic perspective, BY MARK SCHIERITZ Germany has the world’s largest diminishing the high trade surplus. often originate in American pro- dent Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the Americans should be saving current account surplus, totaling Moreover, the scope for engaging duction facilities such as the Spar- this retaliatory measure in 1963 fol- more, especially as the economy or Donald Trump, Germa- €264 billion this year alone. This in a more expansive fiscal policy tanburg plant in South Carolina. lowing German and French import is already doing well. Trump is ny’s trade surplus is some- amounts to 7.8 percent of annual does exist: In the first half of the This factory also produces vehicles limits on American chicken meat. doing the opposite. His tax reform Fthing of a permanent provo- economic output – according to year, Germany’s federal govern- for export to China. Overall, BMW This tariff is still called the “chicken is inflating the state’s budget defi- cation. The American president all established economic criteria, ment, federal states and munici- exports more automobiles from tax” today. It has meant that the cit. According to calculations by appears convinced that Germany this is too much for a country like palities took in €48.1 billion more the US than it imports to it. So, light trucks made by European pro- his own White House Office of isn’t playing fair, but rather pro- Germany. than they spent. The budget surplus if Trump were to increase tariffs ducers are extremely expensive and Management and Budget, the state viding its own industry with com- From a macroeconomic perspec- therefore amounted to 2.9 percent on the import of automobiles and practically impossible to sell in the deficit will increase to 5.1 percent petitive advantages. Or, as Trump tive, the current account balance is of economic output. That’s a very auto parts from Europe, it would United States. of GDP by 2022. himself put it in an interview with the difference between investment large amount of money. also increase production costs in Now, Trump would probably The solution is thus relatively the German tabloid newspaper and savings. If a country invests It would also be in Germany’s the American BMW plants that argue that his threats are only a clear: Germany must invest more, Bild: “When you walk down Fifth more than it saves, it has a cur- interest if this money were to be rely on deliveries from abroad. The form of negotiation, serving the while the US must gain control of its Avenue, everybody has a Mer- rent account deficit. When it saves expended domestically. Due to victims would be the workers in goal of squeezing concessions from budget deficit and save more. How- cedes-Benz parked in front of his more than it invests, it has a current years of investment reticence, South Carolina. the Europeans. He also has no ever, this is a debate that Donald house. How many Chevrolets do account surplus. Because domestic public infrastructure is crumbling In addition, it is true that the EU problem justifying the duties on Trump very clearly does not want you see in Germany? Not many, demand is too low, German com- and requires urgent renovation. demands higher tariffs (10 percent) steel and aluminum on the basis of to have. maybe none.” panies have to find markets beyond According to calculations by the on the import of motor vehicles national-security interests, although “We need to promote it!” But it’s What’s the point of this accusa- the country’s borders in order to state-owned development bank than does the US (2.5 percent). But this can hardly be reconciled with at CLAUS HULVERSCHEIDT MARK SCHIERITZ not just companies who need to tion? keep the economy going. KfW, an additional €159 billion this is not the leading reason why least the spirit of international trade is business editor at the weekly be convinced of the advantages First of all, it is correct that some- Thus, Germany relies on other must be invested to bring streets, so few American cars can be found law. The problem here is that this Die Zeit. hen William Bates of the program; it’s also young thing different seems to be hap- countries to create demand that is bridges and schools up to date. driving on German streets. Rather, type of negotiation – if that is in fact first set foot in the fac- people themselves and especially Wtory belonging to the their parents. Many mothers and German auto supplier Bosch in fathers continue to do everything northern Charleston, he could in their power to get their children not have known that his life into good colleges. Indeed, some of would soon change radically. He them continue to think of facto- assumed it was going to be just ries as grubby places where poor one more in a series of joyless people work. No doubt, these are temporary jobs he’d been doing the people who would be most No matter where you are, for years to keep himself afloat. surprised to find out that factories He and his colleagues had been today are more akin to spotless you will always be at the centre of the action. hired to paint the Bosch factory operating rooms. hall on behalf of a contractor, Many young adults are won over and Bates probably would have right away just by the thought of Welcome on board a cruise ship fleet without compare – quickly forgotten the name of the Learning from each other: Bosch is carrying over its apprenticeship program to its US plants. being hired immediately and earn- with small, individual ships and a high degree of personal freedom. company, had it not been for his ing around $800 per month. “Earn mother. She showed him a Face- while you learn” is the catchy Find out more about our luxury and expedition cruises at book post saying that Bosch was slogan that companies participat- www.the-world-ahead-of-us.com looking for young people inter- ing in the apprenticeship program ested in training to become indus- came up with. This seems daring, trial mechanics and mechatronic Earn while you learn considering that most Americans engineers. The apprenticeship believe that post-secondary edu- program included a job guaran- cation always involves five or six- tee for the duration of training The US Department of Labor has designated Charleston a national figure student loans, followed by as well as a proper wage. Bates years of job uncertainty, and a realized this was an opportunity model region for the advancement of vocational training based on lifetime of paying off their debts. to pursue a completely different the German apprenticeship system In contrast, as Marc Fetten, head career trajectory and contacted of the Charleston International Bosch immediately. Today, with Manufacturing Center, notes, the the bulk of his two-year appren- best apprentices bring home higher ticeship behind him, Bates says: railway companies BNSF Rail- room instruction at a vocational Individuals who want to work for companies, but of schools and salaries than many university grad- “Being part of this program gave way and Union Pacific are paying school. Usually, the young stu- a different firm, however, can also each individual family. To this uates with similar training and my life a brand new direction, bonuses of up to $25,000 to entice dents work at their on-site appren- do so; their training is recognized day, this is the preferred approach work experience: “They earn six one that I really like.” people to start their professional ticeship three days per week; they by all companies in the industry. of many US managers. Undeterred, figures and even repair their own At the moment, the path taken careers with them. These days, enter into a training contract with The effectiveness of the German Bosch launched its own initiative, homes,” says Fetten. “That’s not by Bates, a South Carolina native, when it comes to choosing a new the company and are paid an aver- apprenticeship model is so attrac- a vocational program modeled on something many college graduates is still far from the norm in the US. manufacturing site, companies are age monthly salary of just under tive to Americans that even Barack its parent company in Stuttgart. can do.” Teenagers usually go to high school often less interested in local tax $1,000. Initially, they are men- Obama and Donald Trump – two They were able to attract nearby For his part, William Bates is until they’re 18 and then go on to rates and more concerned with tored on-site by experienced work- people who could not be more dif- Trident Technical College to take sure that he’s on the right track, university. People who don’t make the availability of skilled workers. ers, learning their future trade ferent – have shown a deep interest up the role of vocational school. much like his colleague Stepha- it to university usually take a train- Bonuses alone are not going to step-by-step until they are able in and enthusiasm for it. However, Trident soon started offering its nie Walters, who just turned 18 ing course somewhere for a couple be enough to fill all the jobs of the to work independently. They are as a shift to the German model first courses specifically tailored and has already completed her of months and then start working: future – this is what politicians, also taught so-called “secondary” will take some time, the Depart- to Bosch trainees. Today, more youth training at Bosch. She is as a shop assistant, a hairdresser, companies and parents alike are values, such as punctuality, inde- ment of Labor in Washington has than 40 years later, all 16 techni- about to begin a two-year adult at a hamburger joint or – like anticipating. This is where German pendent thinking and awareness now chosen Bates’ hometown of cal colleges in the state are taking apprenticeship that will open up Bates – in construction. The idea companies come in; they’re help- of rules regarding such things as Charleston – a town that just so part in the Apprenticeship Caro- even more career opportunities. of completing an apprenticeship ing to rethink the system. When workplace security and accident happens to be the US base for lina program. More than 28,000 She plans to follow that up with based on the German model – setting up their subsidiaries in the prevention. German companies such as Bosch, employees have completed appren- an engineering degree, which will which includes on-the-job training, US, these companies are bring- The apprentices spend the Daimler, BMW, IFA and Evonik ticeships since then, whereby most take another two years and be classroom instruction and payment ing not only German engineering, remaining two days of the week at – as a national model region for of the roughly 1,000 participating financed by Bosch. Throughout of a living wage – continues to be thoroughness and traditions to a local vocational school together the advancement of vocational companies draw a clear distinction those four years, Walters will con- the exception. the table; they also have the so- with trainees from other compa- training. between first-time apprenticeship tinue to work at the company and However, over the past several called “dual education system” in nies. In addition to gaining special When Bosch set up shop in training and further education for bring home a salary. “I plan to be years, it has become increasingly tow. This apprenticeship model knowledge about each individual South Carolina almost 50 years existing employees. The majority finished when I’m 22 and have all clear how ill-equipped the tradi- is considered a masterstroke in profession, the students usually ago, the idea of generating skilled of the “apprentices” are in fact the opportunities I need,” she says. tional US education system is to terms of next-generation work- take weekly courses designed to workers via German-style youth employees who have been working “At that point, most of my friends THE WORLD AHEAD OF US deal with an ever more demanding force training in Germany. Indeed, deepen their overall education, apprenticeship programs was at the company for a longer period entering college now will be just job market. The unemployment it is most likely one of the key including subjects like politics, unthinkable. Back then, most of time. starting to think about how to pay rate is at barely 4 percent, and the factors determining the success communication and PE. The US companies would have seen Among the most enthusiastic off their student debt.” lack of skilled workers is palpable of so many German industrial entire program usually lasts three paid on-site workforce training supporters of the apprenticeship throughout the country. In Iowa, companies throughout the world. years and ends with a theoretical as incongruous and outlandish, offensive is Bryan Derreberry, CLAUS HULVERSCHEIDT for example, companies are lining The dual education system has and practical examination. Many especially because the responsibil- president of the Charleston Cham- is a US correspondent for the up at technical colleges to snatch two components: on-site training graduates are then taken on as ity for training young workers for ber of Commerce. “Talent is the Süddeutsche Zeitung. up the best young graduates. The at the company itself and class- employees by their companies. skilled jobs was not that of the oil of the 21st century,” he says. 20 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 21 POLITICS ARTS & LIFE

Let’s get physikalisch

How I learned to love the Staatsangehörigkeitsbehörde – and to pronounce it properly

name clearly and without mess- tion area, everything still looked on German citizenship and also up and the next future German Who wrote the text of Ger- BY GAYLE TUFTS ing up, you should automatically as if Willy Brandt himself would make an appointment to take was already waiting. many’s national anthem? How get German citizenship. I was a be there to personally greet me. the citizenship test, which com- Being the nerd I am, I went many years are members of the n 2017, I became a German bit nervous. Rathaus Schöneberg Fortunately, the civil servant prises 33 questions on deutsche online right away. The previ- Bundesrat elected to serve? Are citizen. The decision to is quite an imposing and impor- at the Einbürgerungsbüro, the history and laws, the deutsche ous year, I had won €50,000 judges in Germany members of Ibecome deutsch was not tant building. It’s not actually a naturalization office, was a government as well as deutsche on behalf of a good cause on a the executive branch, the judi- made lightly and was surpris- house full of rats, as the name friendly, easy-going, handsome customs and practices. He sug- TV quiz show called “Gefragt – ciary, the planning authority or ingly emotional. The American would suggest, but a local city man in his mid-40s with a thick gested I visit an online portal Gejagt.” I knew that if I showed legislative authority? presidential election and my hall brimming with German- turtleneck, jeans and what I sus- that contained test questions some chutzpah and prepared At this point, what I really personal abhorrence of Donald want to do is create a game show Trump played a major role, – “Let’s get deutsch!” We could but my choice was actually a do the naturalization test live

natural outcome of my personal RECKER ROBERT with a glamorous jury of prom- reality. Both of my parents had inent German personalities: died, there was no house in the Motsi Mabuse, Jorge Gonzalez, US to keep up and no legacy to Franck Ribéry and me. Günther pass on, plus I have no children Jauch could be the host. We who will someday need to get wouldn’t just have exciting ques- in touch with their roots. As tions, we could also have activi- a freelance artist with unpaid ties like cutting garden hedges, vacation, my visits to the stuffing Maultaschen (Swabian Homeland are infrequent and ravioli), deciding which bottles never last longer than a week go into the recycling box versus or two (it’s easier to get to the which ones have a Flaschen- beach in Greece or the Baltic). pfand, complaining in every Most importantly, after 26 situation and – of course! – years of living, working and singing Helene Fischer’s song paying taxes in Berlin, I was “Atemlos” by heart. In the end, unable to vote in the upcom- the winner would get a German ing German elections, a crucial passport and the runner-up can necessity in our ever-more cha- use the audience joker to come otic and turbulent democracy. back one more time. In my book American Woman: I organized all my citizenship How I Lost My Heimat and paperwork on my desk, includ- Found My Zuhause (Aufbau ing all the necessary documents Verlag, 2017), I describe my in the original form and as pho- love for both sides of the Atlan- tocopies. I put them in trans- F LY tic and the complicated, bewil- parent sheaths and sorted them dering and ultimately satisfying chronologically and in alpha- process of becoming a German. betical order. As soon as I got home from I placed them in a new Leitz the airport, I was greeted with folder and put a sign with the flowers, hot Frisian tea and an word EINBÜRGERUNG (natu- Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space Elstar apple. “Stay awake!” he ralization) on the side. I felt very said. “Fight the jetlag!” And deutsch. and related services with a workforce of around when he gave me a big hug, I I had picked up my certified thought, not for the first time: birth certificate at Brockton 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive well, that’s true Bremen-style City Hall. Until that moment, romance for you. I hadn’t really looked at it too range of passenger airliners from 100 to more I had missed his sort of prag- closely. But now I took it into matism and down-to-earth-ness. my hand and had black-and- than 600 seats. Airbus is also a global leader And by the following morning, white proof that I existed: Gayle in spite of my jetlag and some- Kathleen Tufts, born on June in providing tanker, combat, transport and what foggy mental state, some- 17, 1960 in Brockton, Massa- thing else had become clearer chusetts. It had the names of mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number to me than ever before. “I want my parents and an address that to do it,” I said. – “Do was?” – I hadn’t lived at for 40 years. one space enterprise and the world’s second “Get deutsch! I want the deutsch These were my origins on an passport. I want to really be hier. official DIN-A4-sized sheet of largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus I want to be able to vote. I want paper. Next to it lay my Ameri- to have a say in what happens can passport with its signature provides the most ef cient civil and military to all the Geld I pay in taxes. I dark blue leather cover. That want to do more than just meet little booklet will always mean rotorcraft solutions worldwide. all these politicians when I do a lot to me, but does it really TV talk shows. I want to be able make a difference whether my Together. We make it  y. to wähl them into office. I want passport is blue or red? Does it to stop the f*** Populismus.” make me someone different than “Shall we do it, then?” I am today? A piece of paper I’ve been together with my doesn’t define who I am. And man – let’s call him my “Bremen let’s be honest, all I have to do guy” – for the past 22 years, but is open my mouth for everyone we’re not officially married. My to know that I’m an American Bremen guy is not a big fan of woman. weddings. He thinks the whole thing is too conservative and GAYLE TUFTS bourgeois. He says: “Our love is a critically acclaimed doesn’t need any acknowledg- Mastering the “Einbürgerungstest”: Super Gayle. entertainer, author and ment from the state.” “But,” intercultural contributor, often I say, “think of the presents.” American history. From my pected was a Northern German – www.deutsch-werden.de – to properly, I would be able to cited as “Germany’s best-known American” (Stern Magazine). Maybe one day down the road balcony at home, I can see the background. I handed him my prepare for it. Everything went pull off a total citizenship-test She has written and produced my Bremen guy and I will get Berlin coat of arms on the flag Einwohnermeldeschein, my resi- very quickly! And there was still coup. I even had fun answering her own hit shows in theaters, married, but it won’t be because of the bell tower – the Berlin dent registration form, along so much I had to say! For exam- the questions. They reminded festivals and opera houses as well as appearing frequently I want to get deutsch. I can bear blowing in the wind. Every with my citizenship application ple, that the decision wasn’t me of the theory part of my on television and radio. Tufts take care of that myself. Besides, 15 minutes I hear the Freiheits- form and a passport photo. He easy for me, that my American deutsch driver’s license exam breaks the language barrier “shall we do it” is a bit sparse glocke, the liberty bell that was a then explained that there were citizenship would always remain and the subsequent seemingly by presenting her work in as far as marriage proposals gift from the American people to a couple of other things I would a part of my identity, that I useless queries about braking “Dinglish,” an insightful mix of German and English. Her go. So I called my tax lady and West Berlin. And every Friday, have to bring in: a certified birth value my life in Deutschland distances and trailer hitches. It shows are based on her own asked if she could recommend when I cycle past the Rathaus on certificate, my apartment lease, very highly and see it as a privi- was information I would prob- experiences and observations of a lawyer specializing in natural- my way to pick up fresh produce my tax return from the previous lege to become a citizen of this ably never need, but maybe it everyday life as an Ausländerin (foreigner) in Berlin and are a ization law. She did, and I made at the Wochenmarkt, I think of year and proof of my knowledge country. I wanted to assure him was still a good idea to know it. celebration of German-American an appointment. Kennedy and the half-million of the German language. For that I do really deutsch things I posed some of the questions to friendship in all its complexity. airbus.com We met at the Staatsangehörig- Berliners who gathered in the that final reason alone, it’s good all the time: I wear slippers, I’m my Bremen guy, Marian and my Her most recent book American keitsbehörde Schöneberg, one of streets of Schöneberg to catch a that I waited 25 years to do this. a member of a Verein, I’ve been technician Max from Köpenick Woman: How I lost my Heimat and found my Zuhause was Berlin’s citizenship application glimpse of the young president I also had some homework to Mallorca and when I travel – all of them highly educated published in 2017 by Aufbau processing offices. In my opin- and cheer on his message of to do. I had to write a letter abroad, I miss that delicious Germans! None of them was Verlag. ion, if you can pronounce that freedom. In the Rathaus recep- explaining my decision to take deutsches Brot. But my time was able to answer the questions.

14043_AIR_Corporate_508x290_TheGermanTimes_1.0.indd 1 20/09/2018 16:14 22 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 23 ARTS & LIFE ARTS & LIFE

Bernstein in the Baltic America is different. Germany is, too Bestselling children’s author Cornelia Funke talks about the high regard many Americans have for Germans, Justus Frantz reflects on the American conductor and composer, who would have turned 100 this year but also about German anti-Americanism and how the world can overcome nationalism

he music that led us to (2) DPA He was always an ambassa- The German Times: The German- terms of environmental protection, Germans are critical of the US This multiculturalism is precisely streets. I find it equally unaccept- ied those virtues. Today, we’re one another was Dvořák’s dor for peace. He used music to American relationship has reached solar technology, alternative ener- and yet our lives are immersed what scares far-right thinkers. How able to ask fellow Jewish citizens seeing new and enriching aspects TPiano Concerto in G overcome borders and focus on a new low point. Do you notice this gies, environmental legislation and in American culture. We watch can we communicate to children to tolerate neo-Nazis marching past coming into Germany from other minor. One night, after listen- that which unites us and binds in your private life? organic agriculture. They see us American films and listen to Ameri- and adolescents that racism is the them shouting anti-Semitic slogans. cultures. ing to the radio and hearing a us together. The night the Berlin Cornelia Funke: I live in Califor- as very disciplined, hard-working can music. How do you reconcile wrong path to take? As a Western democracy, shouldn’t If we take America as an example, recording I had made with the Wall came down, I called him on nia, the “out-of-control” state. and efficient. Everywhere I go, I these two forces? Storytellers like myself have been we respond to this by saying that it’s easy to see what kind of cultural Northwest German Philhar- the phone, as it was immediately No one in my circle of friends or hear people saying that Germans It’s hard to understand. On the one doing exactly that for ages. My one of our most important values richness results from these new monic Orchestra, Leonard Ber- clear to me that he was the only acquaintances voted for Trump. should be proud of what they’ve hand, European culture embraces books promote friendship, coop- involves respecting the rights of impulses. The country has always nstein, who would have turned one who could conduct “Ode This is not surprising, especially accomplished. Sometimes this American culture, and many Ger- eration and admiration for others. others? For me, freedom of expres- defined itself by way of immigra- 100 this summer, invited me to to Joy” in Berlin: “Lenny, the seeing as all of them are active worship goes a bit too far for my mans identify with the US. On I write fantasy books. They teach sion ends when people start incit- tion – even if Trump doesn’t want play the piece with him and the Wall has come down!” He didn’t in social initiatives and work on taste. I feel it necessary to tell my the other hand, those same people kids how to deal with things that ing hatred and intolerance. But to recognize this fact. New York Philharmonic. We understand me at first, thinking behalf of immigrants and envi- intellectual friends that, no, not often argue that the US is populated are different. In general, stories perhaps it’s better not to ban these I’m a big fan of the multiplicity became close friends, and soon only that something had hap- ronmental protection. As soon as all Europeans sit around in cafés by hillbillies alone. It’s a schizo- make it possible for us to slip into right-wing parades and instead just of voices, tastes and colors. I miss he and his family were regular pened to my house. Then came I moved to the US twelve years reading Proust. phrenic posture, it’s pharisaical, or other people’s skin and see the laugh at them! that when I’m in Germany. When guests at my finca, or farmhouse, the idea to present Beethoven’s ago, I started noticing a palpable And when I say that we Germans doctrinaire. I’ve notice on several world from their eyes. Every book I look around here, I think, every- on the Spanish island of Gran 9th Symphony at Christmas 1989 hostility to America in Germany. are still very much obliged to carry occasions that people in Germany – is capable of that. When I read, I Would you say there is too much thing is so white. I wish we could Canaria. in Berlin with the Bavarian Radio This hostility has become even a large degree of guilt because in contrast to other European coun- enter into someone else’s mind. tolerance in these cases? get everybody in Europe to get The finca was also the place Symphony Orchestra, with musi- stronger due to Trump. But even of our history, they look at me tries – simply have no idea of the If we insist on limiting freedom of their DNA tested. Then we would Lenny was looking to visit in cians from the four Allied powers before his election, I encountered a with big eyes and say “that was richness of American culture. Many That would imply that right-wing expression where we disagree with recognize where we all come from. 1985 after completing his Peace and with other musicians from high degree of anti-Americanism in a long time ago.” Nonetheless, world-famous artists, such as Guill- thinkers either don’t read books or people, it might backfire on us. Nobody would be able to insist that Tour, which had taken him and Israel and the GDR. Bernstein talk shows and interviews. It was I think it’s incredibly important ermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman don’t understand what they’re reading. Right-wingers will just turn around they’re “from here” and others are an international youth orches- was deeply moved. quite obvious that many of these that Germany display the ability – neither of whom is American but There are plenty of very bad books and say, good, well then, no one is “from somewhere else.” We’re all tra halfway around the world An American Jew conducting negative opinions were based on and the willingness to continue to both of whom are very famous in on sale these days. There are also allowed to wear a veil in school. I mixed-race. to Hiroshima, 40 years after the the 9th Symphony and the finale a frighteningly high level of igno- examine our past. I consider it a the US – are hardly even known in evil books out there. It’s strange would say that as long as no one’s dropping of the atomic bomb. He “Freude schöner Götterfunken” rance and narrow-mindedness. virtue to never forget Germany’s Germany. This betrays a strange how easily we forget this. human rights are being violated, But it’s not about blood, it’s about had arrived exhausted in Vienna (Joy, beautiful spark of Divinity) There are so many clichés out terrible legacy. degree of provinciality. Indeed, we every individual should be able to cultural background. This is what and was yearning for peace and or, as he had them sing, “Freiheit, there, so many catchphrases that only feel like Europeans when we’re So you would say they haven’t read live the way he or she wants and so many people in Europe are quiet and seclusion. He was very schöner Götterfunken” (Free- perhaps touch on the truth but Unfortunately, nationalism is in America. the right books. believe in the God he or she wants afraid of, not just the right-wingers. much looking forward to stay- dom, beautiful spark of Divin- otherwise completely ignore the making a comeback. Are these fears justified? ing at the finca, where he had ity). This was the symbol of peace fact that America is a country that Yes. In Europe, the radical right As a woman, I cannot condone already spent a great deal of time and human unity emanating from is both diverse and contradictory. is emerging again. It’s a focus on girls being prohibited from going to and where he had written many Leonard Bernstein (right) and our author, the pianist Justus Frantz (left). They founded the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, one of the most prestigious Berlin to the rest of the world. We My uncle always used to say: “The national self-interest that goes back school or women prohibited from of his later works, including his in Germany. Frantz reflects on his friendship with Bernstein on the occasion of the conductor’s 100th birthday. Germans will always be grate- best and the worst come from to the 19th century. marrying whomever they choose. only opera, A Quiet Place, and his ful to Leonard Bernstein for this America.” It is important that every nation last musical, 1600 Pennsylvania of Mahler’s 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 9th had traveled to the finca with two the most beautiful Rosenkavaliers to dining at a Michelin-starred tremendous gift. Nationalist tendencies are also speaks out against such things. We Avenue. symphonies. Lenny also worked oversized library suitcases filled I’ve ever experienced. restaurant. He was a person who Many musicians, including What kind of clichés have you enjoying a resurgence in the US. have an obligation to criticize and, Unfortunately for Lenny, I had to popularize the music of com- with scientific literature. Leonard Bernstein could wax wore jeans during the day and Isaac Stern, Vladimir Horowitz noticed? How can we move away from in part, to fight against them. We something completely different in posers we hardly knew at the I remember one night on Gran poetic about the history of polit- could sit together that evening and Arthur Rubinstein, under- For example, I’ve noticed that them? have to support everything that mind for him! I wanted to raise his time, such as Carl Nielsen, Aaron Canaria, as we were talking ical songwriting just as much with leading world figures and standably did not want to per- many people think Europeans We have to reinvent what it means VERLAG SCHWALFENBERG GMBH/JÖRG PA/OBS/DRESSLER feeds our values. We have to edu- enthusiasm for the idea of launch- Copland and William Schuman. about Viennese waltzes, Lenny as about the emergence of the express himself in six different form in Germany after World are more social and humane than to be human. And we have to cate immigrants and provide them ing a music festival in the northern He brought music closer to chil- suddenly jumped up, went over to blues. He was as well-versed languages. He was also always War II and the atrocities of Americans. But my experience has understand that we’re not just with professional training. It will German state of Schleswig-Hol- dren of all ages with his TV series the piano and proceeded to give in German poetry as he was in “boyish.” For example, towards National Socialism. Bernstein, shown me that the exact opposite linked to the rest of the world cost a lot of money, but it’s the stein – and I wanted to do so on- Young People’s Concerts. Thanks an hours-long presentation on English and American poetry. the end of the Kiel Regatta, we on the other hand, came to Ger- is true. I would say Americans are in terms of industry, that is, due only way we will be able to get site, as it were. But Lenny wasn’t to him, it became popular to the Viennese waltz. He covered He was one of the most educated went sailing with friends on the many as early as 1948, albeit with friendlier, more polite and more to the outsourcing of manufactur- something back. We cannot allow convinced: “Schleswig what?” he foster young musicians across the everything from the minuet to people I’ve ever known. Talking Baltic Sea, which was still quite some trepidation. In Landsberg willing to help. And I would argue ing plants to low-wage countries. immigrants and refugees to be ghet- asked. He had been looking for- world. In this context, his coop- all the latest creations in a per- to him about art, history and cold at the time. At one point, am Lech, at a concert with Holo- that we Europeans are often very We can no longer be surprised toized from the very beginning and ward to the warm and welcoming eration with the Orchestra of the formance that was in equal parts philosophy was never superfi- Lenny suddenly got up and took caust survivors, he cried tears unfriendly to one another, that when social problems arise in those prevented from working. If we do climate of the Canary Islands. In Schleswig-Holstein Music Festi- musicologically serious and brim- cial, and that light Anglo-Saxon a headfirst dive into the water. of sorrow and tears of relief for we’re very ill-tempered in our deal- countries and bring refugees to it right, this wave of refugees can contrast, the summer in northern val was something of a highpoint. ming with vitality. Another time, touch of his was always a true We were all horrified. Nobody liberation and new life. ings with one another. In contrast, our shores. We are a global soci- enrich our culture. Incidentally, Germany that year had truly lived He also gave the Norton Lectures he performed a one-man version pleasure. had warned him that the Baltic The thing that had given him I have the sense that the US still ety, which means that we have to this is a wave of migration we are up to Heinrich Heine’s famous at Harvard University, where he of Strauss’ Rosenkavalier by play- As he would have said himself, was not nearly as warm as the the strength to come to Germany has a very high level of social cohe- bear social responsibility globally. deeply implicated in, that is, one description; it had been “but a transferred to music Chomsky’s ing the orchestral accompaniment he was an “all-American boy.” South Pacific. When it looked was what he called “holy German sion. Perhaps it’s the legacy of the We have to focus on our common that we triggered due to our own winter painted green.” Indeed, linguistic theory of a universal on the piano and singing all vocal He was a person who could eat like he wouldn’t resurface any art” – he was the only person pioneering era – an age in which values, the ones we stand for and economic and political policies. it had been raining constantly grammar. I recall that in order parts himself. He hardly got one a hot dog or a hamburger with time soon, we looked for him who could have formulated it one needed to work together with defend. In the US, we now sud- And now we’re all sitting on our and the temperatures had barely to prepare for these lectures, he note right, but it was still one of the same enjoyment he brought frantically, tore off our clothes this way. This art is what brought others in order to survive – that’s denly find ourselves faced with a yachts complaining about the rafts reached 60. Nevertheless, I raved and prepared to jump in. But him here to talk to Germans and still very present in people’s minds. president who is reversing many filled with poor people who want to Lenny about the Schleswig- then he appeared, where we had introduce them to his ideals. He In the US, people deal with each hard-won gains just to increase to come to our shores. Our first Holstein sun. It was a pure lie. least expected to find him, smil- was convinced that democracy other at eye level. Social differences profit. These include human rights, impulse is to build walls and fences. And it didn’t help. ing from ear to ear. Lenny had can only be achieved when every are considerably less noticeable and environmental protection, sexual So I asked my friend Helmut swum underneath the hull – and individual has access to culture, often simply ignored. I still find equality, etc. I can only hope that In this sense, Europe and the US Schmidt, former chancellor of resurfaced on the other side of that is, when art has made its way it very moving to see how deeply we’re going to see a new level of have something in common. But Germany and then co-publisher the yacht, laughing! into the lives of each one of us, Americans believe in humankind awareness of the fact that democ- what exactly was the trigger? The of the German weekly Die Zeit, Lenny loved the world, he loved rather than being the play thing and the future. racy is not going to just fall into Cornelia Funke Iraq War in 2003, which politically for advice. He came up with the people. And he let them know of privileged individuals only. our laps. We all have to become destabilized the region? idea of doing a big interview with how much he loved them. When With his music and his art, Leon- Is it possible that the image of more political. But that’s changing. The number of We all seek out books that portray to. But it’s not a human right to That was certainly a major trig- Bernstein and flying him in a Helmut Schmidt, still German ard Bernstein made his way into the Europeans as being more socially German high school students going the world the way we want to see be allowed to insult someone or ger. Unfortunately, however, the private jet from Vienna to Ham- chancellor at the time, invited lives of each and every one us. His oriented comes from the fact that In Germany, criticism of Donald to the US for a year is rising. Young it. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a to call for violence; that’s where seeds of violence have always been burg. Lenny agreed – and after Bernstein to Bonn, he came to songs are understood by all, per- citizens in “old” Europe pay higher Trump is widespread and the two people are watching American TV wonderful essay in which he sug- freedom ends for me. At that point, there in multiple ways, whether as that, luck was absolutely on our me first to ask if there was some- haps for the first time since Mozart social security contributions and countries increasingly seem to be series on Netflix... gests that readers don’t read books we have to have the courage to say: a result of colonialism or fascism. side. We started having the most thing he could do that would and Beethoven. Shepherds in the the state takes on a number of more strangers than friends. What I hope so. Nothing – no political for the plot threads we authors that is illegal. If I had been born Jewish, I would beautiful weather possible in the make Lenny particularly happy. mountains whistle his melodies social-welfare obligations that are your thoughts on this trend? program or official government spin; what they really want to do no longer believe that my neighbor north. Lenny was able to swim, I made a suggestion and Schmidt just as much as software engineers would be unthinkable in the US? Since I moved to the US, I’ve statement – can compete with is to see and understand the world Is it possible that people’s fear of had peaceful intentions. The seeds sail and play tennis. The govern- followed my advice, which was in Silicon Valley. It doesn’t matter That may be the case. And it’s true noticed that German media often human contact. We need more through our eyes. This means they new and strange things is justified of past violence will continue to ment of Schleswig-Holstein even to give him a proper send-off whether it’s “Maria,” “America” that parts of the social welfare portray the US as anything but a exchange programs that allow both seek out the eyes they like best. If now and then? For example, job sprout. Some refugee movements provided us with a helicopter to in the form of a small mili - or “The Age of Anxiety,” his sym- system in the US are appalling. friend. And for the past twelve sides to learn first-hand what is someone wants to see the world losses and globalization without are even the result of our aggres- explore the beautiful landscape tary honor guard. The soldiers phony for piano that belongs in the However, I’m always impressed years I’ve been consistently asked valuable in the other. Only people through racist eyes, they’re not state regulation? Is this what makes sive colonialism. These days, many between the North Sea and the couldn’t believe their eyes when repertoire of all large orchestras by how much personal initiative the question: How can you live who’ve never ventured beyond their going to choose to read my books. us want to huddle together in small Europeans are self-righteous and Baltic. Schlosshotel Tremsbüttel Bernstein kissed the chancellor today; his music is a gift to the people show in the US. Of course, in the US? I’ve had to listen to own borders are able to maintain People like that will reject Harry groups? unwilling to face their colonial past. went so far as to adapt itself to several times on the mouth and whole world. It connects people this is due in part to the fact that a number of very unenlightened a stubborn national approach. But Potter books, too, because there Yes, it’s scary how fast the world Most importantly, in the din of Lenny’s “daily rhythm,” which simply wouldn’t let him go! Later as friends. America can justifiably everyone knows the state is not opinions on America. It’s hard to culture has always been multina- are witches in them. People like that is changing. And we simply cannot all the chaos we cause each other meant breakfast between 2 and on, while he was still at the finca be very proud of one of its great- going to take care of certain things. make out any form of friendship tional. For example, for a classi- will want to ban Huckleberry Finn. allow right-wing groups to be the every day, we never get to the point 3pm, lunch at around 9pm and just prior to his departure for est sons. This puts all the more responsibil- in such approaches. cal musician, it’s perfectly normal only ones addressing these fears, where we recognize the key theme dinner at 2:30 in the morning. an audience with Pope Paul VI, ity on rich people to contribute, Things look different from the US to work with musicians from all It’s become trendy to ban books especially the fears relating to refu- we should be facing as humanity, We had a wonderful time. When Lenny received a warning from JUSTUS FRANTZ and this pressure is handled in a perspective, however. Americans over the world. In fact, it’s almost because they might hurt readers’ gees. After World War II, Germany namely climatic disaster. Instead of he flew back, he said to me at Vladimir Nabokov that turned is the key co-initiator of the much more aggressive way than see European countries as their impossible to sell artists any form feelings, even among the left. What welcomed millions of refugees from focusing on our dying planet, we the airport: “I fell in love with out to be completely justified. It Schleswig-Holstein Music in Germany. For example, I very natural friends and allies, even if of nationalism as a fixed identity. do you think about that? the east. If it was possible back are entirely obsessed with our own Schleswig-Holstein.” read: “Remember – the ring, not Festival (SHMF). He was also quickly got used to being asked Trump is currently trying to undo Furthermore, when I attend, say, a Populist thinking fed by fear cannot then, why is it a problem today? daily affairs and power struggles. Bernstein was always a teacher; the lips.” its artistic director until 1994. to make donations, even on my these bonds. We shouldn’t forget literary festival in Sydney, I don’t lead to anything good. But I’m torn. Later generations will scold us for Starting in 1986, leading he even sometimes called himself Although he never took sides international musicians have private phone. he’s doing the same thing with the limit myself to the German stands. On the one hand, I don’t want to Those individuals were predomi- being so preoccupied with nation- a rabbi. He was always a com- in party politics, he was nev- gathered every year in this rest of the world as well. Every Instead, I venture out and speak to ban books. Freedom of expression nantly German-speaking people, alist ideas while our climate col- poser and a musician. He loved ertheless very politically active. northern German state to Do you see anything positive in once in a while, I have guests who other authors as peers, no matter is a basic human right. What do displaced persons and refugees. lapses around us. And, of course, new things and the unknown. He invited the Black Panthers to perform in palaces, stately the German social welfare state? have very anti-American attitudes, where they come from. Plus, my we do, however, when members of This is true, but today’s immigra- we continue to believe today that homes, barns, stables, churches, His thinking never followed a engage in discussion and debate, shipyards and old industrial halls Absolutely! Germany also has an which is difficult for me, because readers come from all over the the Ku Klux Klan and right-wing tion is giving Germany a major it’s up to us to decide whether our set trajectory; his was a liberal but also to show the world how in an attempt to bring classical unbelievably positive image among I live here and love the country. world. Business is also fully interna- radicals want to take to the streets opportunity to get something planet continues to exist or not. But spirit. It is hard to fathom the important it is to find social con- music to the widest audience Americans. There’s no need for me Inevitably, after about two weeks, tional these days, and nationalism to express their views? Presumably, back that we had before WWII. it won’t be us destroying the planet. sheer volume of his contribution sensus. On the eve of the second possible. Leonard Bernstein was to do any publicity for Germany in these people start asking how they simply no longer plays the role we have to allow that. But there As a country, our culture was more It will be the planet destroying us. to this world – and what he gave inauguration of President Rich- also one of the festival’s founding America. On the contrary, I don’t can get a green card. Fortunately, right-wing forces would like it to. have been deaths at demonstrations diverse back then than it is today, members. In 1987, he initiated an me personally! In the 1950s and ard Nixon, he played Haydn’s think I’ve ever been so appreci- one learns quite quickly that We’re seeing the reemergence of an recently, even in the US. And we plus we were funnier, we had a orchestra academy that brings Peter H. Koepf spoke with 1960s, he helped us recognize the Messe in tempore belli (Mass in together 100 young and talented ated by others simply because of America is multifaceted and that old order, like a monster out of the cannot expect people whose grand- greater sense of humor and we Cornelia Funke at the launch of greatness of Mahler. Spellbound, Time of War) with the New York musicians each year. where I come from. Americans see stereotypes simply don’t do justice sea. But we all know the future will parents were victims of lynchings were more educated. But then we Deutschlandjahr USA on Aug. 25, we listened to his interpretations Philharmonic. Germany as being exemplary in to the country. be multinational and multicultural. to tolerate the KKK roaming the destroyed everything that embod- 2018, in Berlin. 24 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 25 ARTS & LIFE ARTS & LIFE

future form of government was Weimar Republic post-1945. lution of the West (the French portrayed by the far-left as a Weimar was portrayed as a Revolution of 1789) and the fundamental “betrayal,” for negative template against which great European revolution of

it prevented the realization of PICTURE ALLIANCE/AKG the Federal Republic compared the East (the Russian Revolu- their own, more radical ambi- favorably as a much more tion of 1917) quickly led to civil tions for the re-organization of stable, more Westernized and wars and dictatorships without German society and its political more economically success- anyone denying their historical systems. ful democracy. However, such significance. Even compared to Germany’s greatest revolution The “betrayal” of 1918–19 a perspective ignores that – at other European revolutions – escalated tensions between differ- least until the beginning of the those in Finland and Hungary One hundred years ago, the monarchy was toppled and democracy installed, writes the historian Robert Gerwarth ent factions of the German labor Great Depression in 1929 – the in 1918 and 1919 – the revo- movement, as the far left felt Weimar Republic was relatively lutionary events in Germany that the majority Social Demo- stable. Extremists on the far left were not only relatively blood- crats under Ebert had prevented and right had been marginalized, less but also remarkably suc- n Nov. 10, 1918, the fully transformed itself from a The year 1918 also brought Not everyone, of course, simply unable to cope with the as an “incomplete“ revolution a “real” revolution at a time Germany’s international isola- cessful when measured against prominent editor-in- constitutional monarchy with the Germans additional free- shared Wolff’s or Hirschfeld’s perceived bleakness of the present of secondary importance. Some when it was allegedly feasible – tion was overcome and the SPD their objectives: the restoration Ochief of the liberal limited political participation doms that no one would have enthusiasm. Contemporary reac- and future. have even doubted whether the an accusation that can still be had won a landslide victory in of peace and the replacement of daily Berliner Tageblatt, The- rights to what was probably thought possible before 1914. tions to the events of November Irrespective of whether one con- events of November 1918 qualify heard today. As late as 2008, 1928. From the perspective of the monarchy with a democratic odor Wolff, published a remark- the most progressive republic Alongside the political reforms 1918 in Germany were, as one sidered the events of November as a revolution at all. the then chairman of the far-left 1928, the Republic’s survival regime. The Ebert government able commentary on the events of the period. Germany became that guaranteed equal participa- would expect, extremely varied. 1918 as a threat or an oppor- How did this remarkable Die Linke openly declared that would have seemed a great deal succeeded in channeling revo- that had unfolded in Germany a democracy that, despite mas- tion rights for all adult Germans, The conservative Heidelberg- tunity, there was one thing on re-definition of the events that Ebert’s “betrayal” of the work- more likely than its failure. lutionary energies, maintaining over the previous days: “Like a sive domestic and foreign policy there were now greater sexual based medievalist Karl Hampe which all contemporary observ- occurred in Germany in late 1918 ers’ movement in 1918 had “set Our perspective on 1918 has public order in the face of a sudden windstorm, the greatest challenges – most of them the freedoms, both for women and described the revolution from ers agreed: that the events of come to be? The changing per- the course for the disastrous his- also for too long been dominated historically unprecedented defeat of all revolutions has toppled consequences of a lost war – for homosexuals of both genders. the perspective of a middle-class November 1918 constituted a ception of the revolution began tory of the Weimar Republic.” by a national tunnel vision that and peacefully demobilizing sev- the imperial regime together lasted for 14 years, thus surviv- Gay rights’ activists immediately conservative when he wrote that proper revolution, or, in the in 1919 when the overwhelming The Social Democrat leadership Founding father: Friedrich Ebert speaks at the Weimar National Assembly, the constitutional convention in 1919. largely views events in Germany eral million soldiers. with all it comprised, from top ing longer than nearly all of responded to the November revo- to him, Nov. 9, 1918, marked words of the monarchist news- initial support for the democratic under Ebert also had high expec- in isolation from what was going In view of the enormous chal- to bottom. One can call it the the other European democracies lution with considerable enthusi- the “most wretched day of my paper Kreuzzeitung, a “cataclysm revolution of 1918 was weakened tations in the autumn of 1918: if ties had already disappeared many contemporaries to be an the German Republic, on Nov. on elsewhere in Europe. The lenges that the emerging Weimar greatest of all revolutions since founded in 1918. asm, viewing it as the dawn of a life!” Others went even further such as history has never seen.” for a number of reasons, not demobilization and democratiza- by Nov. 10: “Not a man died unwelcome echo of the Russian 9, 1923, he first attempted his year 1918 was part of a much Republic faced, Theodor Wolff’s never before was such a solidly It should also be acknowledged new era of sexual liberation that in their despair. Distraught at the From the extreme right to the least because many Germans had tion could be achieved without for Kaiser and Reich! All civil Civil War. Similarly disappoint- “national revolution” in Munich. larger European moment of comment that the German Revo- built and walled Bastille taken that November 1918 not only heralded the decriminalization collapse of Imperial Germany and communist left, no one in autumn harbored unrealistic expectations resistance from the old elites, servants are now working for ing for many was that the expec- He had consciously chosen this political change. Between 1917 lution of 1918 was the “greatest” at one go…. Yesterday morning, marked a political revolution, but 1918 seriously questioned that a about what a revolution could Germany would be offered mod- the new government! All duties tations for a negotiated peace date for his futile bid to revise and 1920 alone, Europe expe- of all revolutions may appear at least in Berlin, everything was also a major social revolution that major revolution had occurred achieve and how the democra- erate peace conditions that would of the state will be carried out clashed brutally with the actual the result of “November 1918” rienced some 27 violent trans- daringly optimistic, perhaps even still there. Yesterday afternoon, afforded full citizenship rights to in Germany – a judgment that tization would affect the peace allow the country to emerge from and there has been no run on conditions of the Versailles Peace and to instigate a “re-birth” of fers of political power. Russia naïve. Nevertheless, one hundred all of it had vanished.” women, who had previously been ALL OBSERVERS differs significantly from that of treaty drawn up by the victori- the war as a strong democracy the banks!” Thomas Mann had Treaty. The nationalist right in the German people. During his in particular experienced two years after the Revolution, it Wolff’s enthusiastic appraisal excluded from the most basic right subsequent generations of politi- ous Allies from January 1919 and an equal partner in the post- similar thoughts when, on Nov. particular was quick to portray subsequent imprisonment, Hitler revolutions within less than 12 might be time to do more jus- of the November Revolution of citizenship: the vote. Germany cal commentators and historians. onwards. war international order. 10, he reflected on the events of this as proof of the Republic’s penned Mein Kampf, in which months, eventually resulting in tice to an event that led to the may appear surprising, consid- was the first highly industrialized AGREED: THE EVENTS The latter two groups have been While those on the far left This hope was shared by many the previous day: “The German inability to negotiate a better Nov. 9, 1918, featured promi- a civil war that cost the lives of creation of the most progressive ering that in standard history country in the world to introduce far more hostile in their assess- had been longing for a revolu- bourgeois liberals, even if they Revolution is a very German one, future for Germany. In the col- nently as his alleged moment well over three million people. It republic of its time and that was books, it is generally portrayed universal suffrage for women and OF NOVEMBER 1918 ment of the events of November tion, it was not this revolu- had not initially been supportive even if it is a proper revolution. lective memory, the revolution, of political awakening. For the is also worth noting that of all – at least initially – accompanied as an “incomplete” revolution women actually constituted a sig- 1918 than contemporaries, label- tion to which they had aspired. of a political revolution. Many of No French savagery, no Russian military defeat and its princi- Nazis, the day became a date of the parliamentary democracies by great hopes and expectations that failed to create a democracy nificant majority of the overall ing it a “failed,” “incomplete” Like their leaders in 1918, Karl them were positively surprised Communist excesses,” he noted pal consequence – the Versailles annual mobilization, a date on created in East-Central Europe for a yet unknown future. strong enough to withstand the electorate. Although the political CONSTITUTED A or even “betrayed” revolution Liebknecht and Rosa Luxem- by the lack of radicalism and with relief. Peace Treaty – gradually merged which Hitler’s followers were after 1918 (with the exceptions onslaught of Nazism in the early history of the Weimar Republic – a judgment primarily informed burg, they perceived the military the relative absence of violence What changed this perception, into one narrative in which the called upon to “honor the fallen” of Finland and Czechoslovakia), ROBERT GERWARTH 1930s. Yet such a verdict only has often been written from a very by their retrospective knowledge collapse of Imperial Germany in November 1918, noting with and contemporaries’ retrospec- revolution, an act of betrayal of of the failed putsch by working the Weimar Republic was one PROPER REVOLUTION is Professor of Modern History makes sense in retrospect, from male perspective, women played a about how Weimar ended. in November 1918 as a his- relief that neither chaos nor civil tive assessment of the November the fighting men on the front, had towards the replacement of the of the last democratic states at University College Dublin and the perspective of 1933. prominent role in the revolution- Because the new political lead- torically unique opportunity to war spread immediately after the Revolution more generally, was caused an unnecessary military hated system established in 1918 founded in 1918 to give way to director of the Centre for War It could be argued that the ary events that led to the creation of homosexuality. “The great faced with an uncertain financial ers in 1918 left pre-existing create a socialist state run by the takeover that day. the revolution’s radicalization defeat. with a mythical Third Reich. an autocratic regime. Studies. His book Die größte achievements of the November of a democracy and then exer- revolution of the past weeks must future, Albert Ballin, the Jewish economic and social relations, workers’ and soldiers’ councils. For the prominent theologian and its violent escalation in early No one exploited this soon- The fact that a mere 15 years A broader perspective is aller Revolutionen: November Revolution – the only successful cised their democratic rights: in be welcomed with joy from our shipping magnate and personal state bureaucracies and the judi- Friedrich Ebert’s unshakable and philosopher Ernst Troeltsch, 1919. The Spartacist Uprising of to-be widely shared narrative separated the revolution of also important when it comes 1918 und der Aufbruch in eine revolution in a highly industri- the January 1919 elections for point of view,” wrote Magnus friend of Wilhelm II, committed ciary relatively untouched, and determination to hold a gen- whose “Spectator Letters” are January 1919, the Munich Soviet of betrayal and failure more 1918 from the advent of the to determining the place the neue Zeit (The greatest of all revolutions: November 1918 and alized country before 1989 – the National Assembly, female Hirschfeld, leader of the world’s suicide that very day. Ballin, the because of Weimar’s eventual eral election for a constituent among the most widely known Republic later that spring and the persistently and successfully Third Reich in 1933 reinforced German Revolution should hold the beginning of a new era) was were quite remarkable indeed: voters exceeded male voters by first LGBT rights’ organization, head of Hapag – once the world’s demise in 1933, the November National Assembly to answer contemporary documents of the brutal backlash by right-wing than Adolf Hitler. Exactly five the tempting (but misleading) in modern European history. published in September. within days, Germany peace- 2.8 million. in November 1918. largest shipping company – was Revolution is frequently seen the question of Germany’s period, the greatest uncertain- Freikorps volunteers seemed to years after the proclamation of interpretation of the “doomed“ Both the great European revo- 18-09-05_003_ID18068_eAz_Gotthard_GermanTimes_290x254_RZgp

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AMAXX_Worldwide_GermanTimes_290x254mm_D_0918.indd 1 20.09.2018 15:03:05 18-09-05_003_ID18068_eAz_Gotthard_GermanTimes_290x254_RZgp.indd 1 05.09.18 17:58 26 The German Times October 2018 October 2018 The German Times 27 ARTS & LIFE ARTS & LIFE

From Weimar 2016. BONN BILD-KUNST, VG Lost in back-translation to Midtown The rediscovered original manuscript of Arthur Koestler’s novel Darkness at Noon allows for a new interpretation of a literary and political classic Manhattan lai Rubashov, who is arrested between the Soviet and Nazi mid-year, the novel had sold lectuals fixated on anti-commu- ership [is] more grotesque than BY LUTZ LICHTENBERGER and soon thereafter imprisoned. regimes. Koestler’s message, in 300,000 copies, and after two nist interpretations of literature. that jumping jack’s with the little How the Bauhaus began a century ago in sleepy Weimar In captivity he is interrogated general, can be read less as anti- years, two million. Darkness at Noon was broadly mustache” – a direct reference to and a decade later was shaping architecture in the US t’s the political novel of the to excruciating effect by two Soviet than anti-totalitarian. With the escalation of the Cold perceived as a document of the Hitler. However, the phrase in day, a warning signal, a examining magistrates, Ivanov, The book became a bestseller. War, however, Koestler’s anti- Cold War. Daphne Hardy’s original transla- Ireckoning with all forms of an erstwhile friend and fellow In France alone, 70,000 copies totalitarian – indeed universal The first German translation tion reads: “our leader-worship totalitarianism, a riveting lit- traveler, and Gletkin, a hostile were sold in its first month of – message passed nearly unno- appeared in 1948. Within Ger- [is] more Byzantine than that of informally about the town and with different materials, forms, the new director of the architecture erary dystopia. As a matter of and ruthless inquisitor. The two publication in 1946. Parisians ticed. As in the time of Franz many, Koestler was understood the reactionary dictatorships.” BY KLAUS GRIMBERG even sometimes bathed naked in colors and indeed a whole range department at the Armour Institute fact, Darkness at Noon, Arthur officials use all means of manipu- queued up before the publishing Kafka, whose works were pub- to be an English author. His In this more abstract formula- the River Ilm. of playful ideas. in Chicago. He then hired two of Koestler’s international classic, lation to bring Rubashov to con- house to secure a copy, which lished between 1908 and 1924, works were all translated from tion, the commonality Koestler he townspeople of Weimar This appalled the stuffy Weimar But as one would expect, the his former Bauhaus colleagues to is undergoing its third finest hour fess to crimes he did not commit. could then be resold for up to segments of the literary world the English. Scammell notes that so deftly recognized between the had never come across the townspeople, who still clung to the teaching staff at the Bauhaus was its faculty: Walter Peterhans from in Germany, that is, in German. The book, as Scammell calls eight times the retail price. By and wide circles of political intel- German-speaking readers would Soviet Union and Nazi Germany Tlikes of a Johannes Itten. etiquette of the empire. Children also a breeding ground for very New York, who established the Born in Budapest, raised in it, is an “intellectual political have regarded the novel as “testi- remains more-or-less unpro- The bald instructor at the Sta- from these circles – it has often peculiar characters and somewhat seminars for visual training, and Vienna and an artisan of German thriller,” which simultaneously mony of a foreign culture.” This, nounced. atliches Bauhaus, or simply Bau- been reported – were thus sternly contradictory theories. Over time, Ludwig Hilberseimer, who took prose, Koestler toiled on his book became a political statement, a perhaps, encouraged many of Matthias Weßel, who found haus, often wore a monk’s habit chided for misconduct: “If you Walter Gropius was increasingly over the field of urban development. while exiled in Paris between commercial success and a novel them to overlook the passages the manuscript and was able to of the Mazdaznan movement don’t behave, it’s off to the Bau- required to act less like the direc- More than anyone else, Mies van summer 1938 and spring 1940, celebrated by critics. In 1998, on totalitarian Germany and to research Koestler in the German while exuding esoteric world- haus for you!” A worse threat was tor of a university and more like a der Rohe succeeded in implement- before being forced to flee the the Modern Library selected the exclusively interpret the novel as Historical Institute Moscow views from literally his every evidently unthinkable. tamer in a circus of artistic conceits ing the International Style in the US, PICTURE ALLIANCE / FRED STEIN French capital ahead of the Nazi book as the eighth most impor- criticism of the Soviet state. as well as in the Russian State pore – his philosophy included “This contrast between a popu- and personal vanities. Bauhaus lamp by Wilhelm Wagenfeld from 1924. including his designs for the world- occupation. The only German tant work of the twentieth cen- The rediscovery of the original Military Archive, has vowed to strict vegetarianism and, by all lace still predominantly stuck in Josef Albers, who held vari- renowned Farnsworth House in copy was lost as he fled. 75 years tury. manuscript can thus also be cel- deliver a complete and system- accounts, bounteous amounts an older time and the wild, wacky ous positions over a many-year This process culminated in the in his essay “Wechselnde Zusch- a suburb of Chicago. Three years later, however, the German liter- Up until his arrest and impris- ebrated as an occasion to better atic evaluation of the two ver- of garlic. His unusual teaching Bauhaus community hungry for life stint at the Bauhaus, would later 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition, the reibungen. Moderne Architektur later, Mies won the commission to ary scholar Matthias Weßel dis- onment in the Spanish Civil War understand the book’s political sions. methods quickly made the rounds is a reflection of the questions sur- report with some pride that people school’s first large-scale self-pre- zwischen Amerika und Deutsch- design his first office skyscraper, the covered the manuscript in the in 1937, Koestler himself was dimension. Daphne Hardy, the In the afterword to the new in this once serene former ducal rounding the design of the future, “never agreed on anything. If Was- sentation, where several of its early land” (Alternating attributions. 1958 Seagram Building in Midtown archive of a publishing house in a communist. He often asked translator of the Urtext, had revised German edition pub- residence – they included breath- questions that in many respects sily Kandinsky said yes, I said no. design classics could be appreci- Modern architecture between Manhattan, considered by many to Zurich. himself how the NKVD was suc- never before translated a book lished in 1960, Koestler wrote: ing exercises, relaxation sessions remained fully unresolved in the And if he said no, I said yes.” But ated, such as the now famous Bau- America and Germany). Under the be his finest work. Daphne Hardy, Koestler’s lover cessful in persuading such prom- into English. She was just 21 “I translated Darkness at Noon and gymnastics as well as periodic young Weimar Republic,” says above all it was the increasingly haus Lamp by Jucker and Wagen- title “Modern Architecture – Inter- With help from Walter Gropius, at the time, penned the English inent party leaders like Nikolai years old and was forced to work back into German myself, and bowel cleansing. His entire bear- Steffen de Rudder, a professor at combative relationship between feld. Although public reaction was national Exhibition,” the curators, in 1937 László Moholy-Nagy was translation of Darkness at Noon Bukharin, Grigory Zinoviev and under tremendous time pressure. this distressing feeling lingers ing seemed to convey a disdain for the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Gropius and his deputy, Itten, that generally enthusiastic, the exhibi- Philip Johnson and Henry Russell appointed director of the new Chi- and sent it off to London. In the Karl Radek to confess to crimes She was familiar with neither within me that the spontaneity convention. whose work deals extensively with would prove most consequential. tion also bred some skepticism. In Hitchcock, showed a selection of cago design school called New absence of the original manu- they never committed, thus sign- the practices of the Soviet and of the original has been lost.” When the Bauhaus was founded the history of the Bauhaus. Many The latter’s aggressive advocacy of the sardonic words of writer and realized designs predominantly Bauhaus – American School of script, Hardy’s translation was ing their own death sentences. National Socialist secret police Germans readers are now in Weimar in April 1919, the end currents of the age, from natur- his own religious and philosophical critic Paul Westheim: “Three days by European modern architects, Design, which was forced to close considered the Urtext and served The book does not reveal the nor the mechanisms of totalitar- the first to savor this spontane- of World War I and the abdica- ism to nudism, from progressive convictions resulted in his leav- in Weimar and you've seen enough including highly prominent mas- a year later for financial reasons. as the source for translations into country in which it is set. At ian states, thus she replaced Bol- ity in full splendor and to draw tion of the last Grand Duke of education to psychoanalysis, found ing the Bauhaus in 1923 and his squares for a lifetime.” ters from the Bauhaus. In 1939, Moholy-Nagy founded 30 languages, and even back into several points in the novel there shevik terminology with British whatever political or historical Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Wilhelm expression in the Bauhaus cur- replacement by the constructivist In retrospect, this exhibition The exhibition began in New its successor institution, the Chi- German. As Koestler’s biogra- are indications it may be Nazi legal concepts and terms, which conclusions they may. In fact, Ernst were but a few months past. ricula. A preliminary course con- László Moholy-Nagy. marked the starting point of an York and toured the US with huge cago School of Design, which was pher Michael Scammell would Germany, or perhaps communist lent the system a milder and it would be rewarding, and not On paper, the Staatliches Bauhaus, ceived chiefly by Johannes Itten This phase also saw the Bau- epic journey through the leg- success for over two years; it also restructured in 1944 as the Insti- note, such a case stands alone in Soviet Union. Scammel writes more civilized manifestation. just from a literary standpoint, under the direction of Walter Gro- was developed to constitute an haus face intense pressure from endary and influential Bauhaus coined the term “International tute of Design. the history of modern literature. that early on, more astute crit- Several critical “mistakes” can to contemplate new translations pius, combined the former Grand elemental component of the train- the Dutch de Stijl artist and propa- years in Dessau (1925–1931), the Style” (Hitchcock). “It denoted Joseph Albers, one of the last Darkness at Noon uses pow- ics called attention to the gener- now be accounted for. In the first into other languages based on Ducal School of Arts and Crafts ing. Itten was intent on testing the gandist Theo van Doesburg, who short yet dramatic phase in Berlin an architecture that the US sought masters of the Bauhaus, was ulti- erful and disturbing imagery ally overlooked fact that Koestler back-translation, for example, in the rediscovered manuscript – with the Weimar Saxon Grand individual aptitudes of each stu- had in mind something of a hostile (1932–1933) and culminating with to make its own, in an attempt to mately hired at Black Mountain to recount the life and death of was one of the first authors to one of the interrogation scenes, ideally into all 30 employed pre- Ducal Art School, which had been dent and conveying to him or her takeover of the Bauhaus. His influ- another groundbreaking spectacle: – somewhat simplistically – lend College in Ashville, North Caro- the revolutionary leader Nico- notice the growing similarities Arthur Koestler Rubashov scoffs that “our lead- viously. founded by the Belgian designer, the appropriate fundamentals of ence and the school’s attempts at the legendary 1932 architecture expression to the great-power lina, where he taught art until Henry van de Velde. artisanal craftsmanship and design. grappling with the demands of exhibition at New York’s Museum status of the US in the realm of 1949 to, among others, Willem de It quickly became clear that the “More than anything, it was a technology-oriented world led of Modern Art. “It was of cen- culture as well,” claims de Rudder. Kooning, Robert Motherwell and new academy would embody an about showing the students a the Bauhaus to take on a more tral importance for the adoption “Here it was, this auspicious, new Robert Rauschenberg. entirely new spirit. In the Bau- very specific approach: perceiv- pragmatic, functional approach, of European modernity and the form that would become filled with The seeds of the Bauhaus unde- haus Manifesto, Gropius made an ing assigned tasks in light of the which itself was the cause of much American realignment of modern American content and transformed niably bore ample fruit in the US, emphatic call to reunite art and means of the time,” explains de controversy. architecture,” writes de Rudder into a new and, for the first time, yet they did so in their own specific craftsmanship and together create Rudder. To fathom the nature of originally American architecture.” way. Particularly in terms of the “the new building of the future,” the materials and their usability Seen in this light, it is easy to further development of the Inter- which will “unite every discipline, for a particular task – this would ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM understand why the defining per- national Style, the social, artistic architecture and sculpture and become the essence of Bauhaus sonalities of the Bauhaus were and political factors present at the This year, the international exhibition and event series “bauhaus painting, and which will one day thought. imaginista” is tracing the global intertwinements and current given the red-carpet treatment in emergence of the Bauhaus were rise heavenwards from the mil- The courses in the individual relevance of Bauhaus ideas across five different continents. For its the US after the Nazis gained power consciously neglected; moreover, lion hands of craftsmen as a clear workshops built on this idea. In the grand finale in 2019, “bauhaus imaginista” will return to Germany in Germany; many were promptly issues relating to formal instruc- symbol of a new belief to come.” early years, Walter Gropius took it with the results of its investigations. appointed to leading positions at tion no longer played a role. While by today’s standards that upon himself to attract renowned The actual Bauhaus centennial in 2019 will begin with a renowned educational institutions. “As a matter of fact,” claims de may sound like excessive pathos, artists to Weimar to work as large opening festival in Berlin from Jan. 16–24 and feature In 1937, Walter Gropius came, Rudder, “severing ties with the contemporary international performances, music by instructors back then such appeals were deliv- instructors. Among others, Lyonel and students of the Bauhaus and its successor institutions, via England, to the US, where he connotations associated with the ered very much in earnest. They Feininger, Josef Albers, Paul Klee Bauhaus films and plenty more. was immediately installed as an Bauhaus was also understood as embody the optimistic spirit of a and Oskar Schlemmer answered All Bauhaus sites in Germany have combined to form the Bauhaus architecture professor at the Har- a liberation, as the purging of a WHITHER WEST? MIDDLE-POWER POLITICS THE GREAT UNRAVELING young generation that – after the the call. As a result, the Bauhaus Association 2019, which is planning a multitude of peripheral vard Graduate School of Design. superstructure that had become convulsions of the war and the end faculty represented a coming exhibitions, art projects, events and actions. In its totality, it will He would become director of the obsolete, and as a prerequisite for oschka Fischer is afraid. As Fischer turns 70 this year, erfried Münkler is the preeminent political scientist erman journalist Bernd Ulrich is unrivalled in terms of the ruling nobility – strove to together of the important minds show where and how Bauhaus architecture, urban planning, architecture department in 1938, the advancement and transforma- this one-time rebel who crusaded against capitalism in Germany. The prolific Berlin professor has written of provoking highly passionate disputes, both in lead a different, a freer, a boister- of the European avant-garde, who design, photography and dance have left their mark. the same year he organized the tion of modern architecture.” J H G Large centennial exhibitions will be held at all three Bauhaus and the state back in the late 1960s only to join the thick and learned books on Machiavelli, World War I and Berlin and between intellectuals across the country. The ous life. And so it all began: the sought to realize their visions of locations – Weimar, Dessau and Berlin – where in each case a “Bauhaus 1919–1928” exhibition establishment as German Foreign Minister from 1998 the rise and fall of the great powers. But he also understands chief political editor at the liberal weekly Die Zeit pens 150 young women and men who cosmopolitanism and international at the MoMA in New York. new museum building will be inaugurated. KLAUS GRIMBERG until 2005 for the Green Party, now dons the mantle of how to mix in current political debate – not so much through elegant big-picture essays nearly every week. With his had registered in roughly equal diversity. In this first phase, the A good overview of the entire program, in both English and In 1938, Mies van der Rohe, is a freelance journalist Elder Statesman. It’s a role he assumes with such gravity standard op-ed pieces, but rather through sound scientific well-reasoned yet distinct moral bent, Ulrich epitomizes numbers for that first semester Bauhaus resembled a large creative German, can be found at www.bauhaus100.de. the last director of the Bauhaus, based in Berlin. that it borders on caricature. analysis that finds purchase in foreign policy circles here the smart, non-ideological center-left view of politics. It is celebrated spectacularly, moved laboratory for experimentation resumed his teaching activities as His latest work, a geopolitical analysis titled Der on the Spree. In his most recent essay Eine neue Sicherhe- the former that has made him so beloved and so despised. Abstieg des Westens. Europa in der neuen Weltordnung itsarchitektur für Europa? (A new security architecture for In his book on the “West at the dawn of a new era,” des 21. Jahrhunderts (The abdication of the West. Europe?), featured in the July issue of the highbrow Merkur Ulrich proceeds from the observation that the stability Europe in the new world order of the 21st century), is – the German journal for European thought – Münkler of states and religions relies not on institutions, “nor more like an encyclopedic collection of all the themes, delivers several strategic policy reflections while pulling no even on power and might, but on something altogether venues and catchwords currently in circulation: the rise punches with regard to Europe’s foreign policy elite. different: the humility of the humiliated.” He argues that of China, the fall of the US under Trump, the necessity of The narrative of the West as an alliance based exclusively old formulae for the legitimation of sovereignty and sup- www.thats-thuringia.com reform in the EU – and, of course, the crisis of Western on shared values is a sustainable – if abbreviated – construc- pression no longer function in the new one-to-one society liberal democracy. tion, he argues; it is a narrative for those seeking warmth and of the internet age, in which everyone is in a position Fischer writes: “We contemporaries of the early 21st comfort, a “politics of memory for simple minds.” Münkler to express their demands and advocate for their rights. century are witness to the dawning of a new world subsequently indicates what it means for the EU to be “no In the chapter on trans-Atlantic relations, Ulrich treads order;” “The century of China, and of Asia, is upon longer the security policy lackey of the US;” it means a break these premises to further analyze the reasons for Donald us;” and “The world stands on the brink of a transition with the “rehearsed routines of bureaucratic projects” to Trump’s aversion to Europe. If the US president possesses process harboring risks we cannot afford to overlook.” bring together state funds; it means corporate engagement any strategic ideas whatsoever, he argues, they have Designed in Thuringia. At home worldwide. Fischer’s observations on the overall geopolitical situ- and civil society actors in the Middle East; it means a phase- something to do with a desire to pass on the rising costs ation are hard to controvert, as he presents them via out of the “inflexible and ineffective sanctions policy vis-à- of hegemony and the diminishing returns amid the waning With classics like Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s lamp, the Bauhaus movement continues to shape countless “open questions.” vis Russia” combined with the “determination – by both effects of order: “In the future, every positive achievement More of a primer than a tome, his book reads as if sides – of the respected spheres of influence between the EU for the greater good must be compensated with cash. The the world of design to this day. That’s Thuringia. written by Siri – wavering between rational and benign and Russia;” and, finally, it means a “renunciation of the ban US is a service provider with no missionary pretentions, while describing the precarious state of the world in a on state transfers” to the southeast flank of Europe, which a nation like any other. Only stronger.” Friend and foe paint-by-numbers fashion. will costs lots of money, especially for Germany. Münkler alike may sharpen their intellectual incisors on the pages argues that a Europe of collective values must be augmented of Ulrich’s book. in the future “through the observation and acceptance of geopolitical realities.” Required reading. Bauhaus: Timeless, but well ahead of its time. Founded in Weimar by Walter Gropius in 1919, it revolutionised creative thinking well beyond Thuringia’s borders, soon becoming the most important art school for modern JOSCHKA FISCHER HERFRIED MÜNKLER BERND ULRICH design. Architects and artists from all over the world continue to be inspired by the Bauhaus ideas to Der Abstieg des Westens. Europa in der neuen Eine neue Sicherheitsarchitektur für Europa? Einige Guten Morgen, Abendland. Der Westen am this day. To find out which Thuringian ideas have shaped the world, visit www.thats-thuringia.com. Weltordnung des 21. Jahrhunderts, politikstrategische Überlegungen, in: “Merkur. Deutsche Beginn einer neuen Epoche, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2018. Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken”, July 2018. 2017. Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society 28 The German Times October 2018 ARTS & LIFE

The inner game of tennis A special edition of The German Times marking October 3rd, the Day of German Unity Angelique Kerber was knocked out early on in this year’s US Open. But she’s not worried. She’s achieved so much in the past two years, she can now finally be satisfied

Kerber won three Grand Slam if you win one tournament, you BY JÜRGEN SCHMIEDER tournaments since her US Open need to win the next as well. loss in 2015, plus the Silver Medal It brings up a serious question: n Sept. 5, 2015, at the Olympic Games in Rio. She Why should any athlete even Angelique Kerber began also earned tens of millions in want to win titles if they’re not Ocomposing a text mes- prize money and was ranked #1 in allowed to enjoy their success sage on her cell phone. She was the world for a total of 34 weeks. afterwards? This approach – the sitting in the locker room of the And yet, nobody has given her a one that says you always have to Arthur Ashe Stadium in New nickname other than “Angie,” an win, this greed for success, this THE VENTURE York after her match against Vic- abbreviation of her first name, and permanent dissatisfaction – can tória Azárenka. It was an excit- anyone who says “Angelique” also make a person terribly unhappy. ing, gripping, first-class match, has to say “Kerber” afterwards. Kerber is not one of those never perhaps the best of the entire This was not the case for “Steffi” stop athletes. She’s not someone CAPITAL tournament, but Kerber had lost. or “Boris” in the 1980s. who climbs to the peak just to She was now in a state of des- Steffi Graf won everything. look for the next mountaintop. peration, struggling with herself That’s why she continues to be the She’s also not an athlete who and her defeat. The message she benchmark for all young women celebrates her successes in a way “Poor but sexy” no more. With real estate prices was about to send is one that playing tennis today. People now that would make her come tum- on the rise, is the German capital losing its athletes usually write at the end like to argue that millions of Ger- PICTURE ALLIANCE/REUTERS bling down the mountainside. their careers. The recipient was mans discovered their love of The outward spoils of triumph: She is the way she is. And here’s unique allure among European metropolises? Barbara Rittner, head coach of tennis in the 1980s. But that’s Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon 2018. an idea: Is it possible that Steffi the German national team, and only half true. What actually hap- Graf is sitting in her home in Las The Berlin Times tells it as it is the message read: “It just isn’t pened is that millions of Germans Vegas right now thinking that going to work for me, is it?” became interested in Steffi Graf coach at the time and was prep- next rally, especially in tricky situ- there was no second tennis boom this Angelique Kerber has really One year later, on Sept. 8, 2016, and Boris Becker, and only after ping his protégé Novak Djokovic ations. It might sound easy, but in Germany, even if a couple of hit the mark in life? Is it possible Kerber once again found herself that did they come to know the dif- for his next match. No, Kerber anyone who’s played tennis knows people tried adamantly to start she’s noticed how Kerber wins in the catacombs of the world’s ference between topspin and slice. did not turn to Boris, she turned how incredibly difficult it is not one. Kerber has had to participate major tournaments and Olympic largest tennis arena. She was about A similar thing happened shortly to Steffi, who invited her to a to think about the score or the in appearances with sponsors, medals and achieves the top spot to play Caroline Wozniacki in the thereafter with boxer Henry joint training in Las Vegas and preceding rallies. reporters, tournament officials, in the world rankings and still US Open semifinal, but that wasn’t Maske, when everyone suddenly also exchanged some text mes- Until 2015, however, Kerber etc., but anyone who watches her – in spite of all of this – doesn’t what had the tennis world buzzing. became familiar with the concept sages with her. The two women had a problem. She was one of during these events can see that participate in the whole circus The big news was that Serena Wil- of “double cover.” Also, thanks did not become friends; Graf knew the best players in the world, but what she really wants is to be left Germans inevitably put on when liams had just lost, which meant to Michael Schumacher, Germans that Kerber didn’t need a friend. when it came to all important alone. No athlete likes to lose, but one of their athletes is successful, PICTURE ALLIANCE / IMAGEBROKER/ FOTOATELIER BERLIN that after the tournament, Kerber came to know that on the For- Instead, the tennis legend gave tournaments, she just couldn’t maybe Kerber saw her numerous that is, beatifying the protago- was going to rise to the world mula One track in Montréal, the Kerber some very simple advice: win. early defeats (at the US Open in nists into angels and later sending number-one spot, something no best strategy was to take three pit “You have to go your own way.” “Anyone who makes the same the first round) as a way to be left them packing off to hell? German player had achieved since stops. In other words, back in the It was exactly what she needed mistake over and over again has to alone again. Is it possible that Grafhas Steffi Graf. Her reaction? “I was 1980s, Germany didn’t experience to hear. learn from it at some point,” she She won Wimbledon this year, noticed that Kerber – most of PARTY LIKE IT’S 1929 BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS THE RAVAGES OF TIME CAPITAL CRIBS in the fitness studio with my coach says about her own transforma- which is the pinnacle for a tennis the time – is simply left alone? The hit TV show Berlin Babylon portrays The Alba basketball team has developed From Russian spies to haunted houses: The boom in luxury apartment buildings is and my physiotherapist. We just tion. She struggled time and again career. And she has learned from That she was given the time and the people and the excitement of the city a one-of-a-kind youth program – to find the photographer Ciarán Fahey has captured but one reason for an increasingly tight real went silent for a couple of sec- with draws and drills, with wind her successes and all the hype they the space to go her own way? in its final years of freedom during the next roundball star and teach all kids how both glorious and obscure Berlin relics of a estate market. Who gets to live in the city onds.” Kerber would go on to win and weather, with overcrowded brought with them. After her vic- Kerber is sitting once again in Roaring Twenties. page 31 to play the game. page 33 time gone by. pages 34–35 tomorrow? page 36 the tournament. It would be her GRAF KNEW THAT training courts and negative tory in London, she refrained from the catacombs of Arthur Ashe second Grand Slam title after the reporting, i.e. with things she has taking on too many appointments. Stadium, this time after her defeat Australian Open she won only a no influence over. Of course, for She traveled home to the Polish at the 2018 US Open. She is dis- few months prior. In other words, KERBER DIDN’T NEED a while you can use these factors town of Puszczykowo and took appointed, of course. Still, her contrary to the sentiment of her to explain away bitter defeats, a vacation, which for her means Grand Slam record this year is message to Rittner, it was going A FRIEND. INSTEAD, but at some point athletes have lying around, chilling out, taking semifinals, quarterfinals, victory to work for her. to ask themselves if maybe they herself out of the picture. “I knew – and now the third round. Not Two years later, on Sept. 1, aren’t quite as good as they always what I wanted to do and what I only is this an orderly number, 2018, Kerber was back at Arthur THE TENNIS LEGEND thought. On that point, Kerber didn’t want to do. And I said so, it’s also quite a good track record. Ashe Stadium, where she lost 6:3, says: “I decided then and there too. After Wimbledon, I wanted Kerber knows that she didn’t play 3:6, 3:6 to Dominika Cibulková. GAVE KERBER SOME that I would never again let the to do nothing for a few weeks.” well and that she’s going to have A tale of many cities Kerber didn’t play very well, and pressure get to me.” One might say that Kerber to train hard again. After this she also didn’t fight as boldly VERY SIMPLE ADVICE: And Kerber did just that. She no threw away an opportunity to defeat, she has her eye on the next Facets of meaning abound – in an ever-changing city. The novelist Annett Gröschner tells the tale of Berlin today against this defeat as she’d done longer stressed about things; plus, win another Grand Slam title. challenge. And this time, she has so many times before in her career. she stopped looking for excuses. A number of other favorites got a special goal in mind: to achieve And yet, she by no means gave “YOU HAVE TO GO This approach led her to win both knocked out early at this year’s a “Career Slam,” that is, win all the impression that she felt like a the Australian Open and US Open US Open; there could have been four Grand Slam tournaments, erlin, Prenzlauer Allee, after the other. But there’s also and apartments – especially in Ten years after the start of the performance “Die Zeit schlägt Thus far, anyone who has failed person, a reviled person, a YOUR OWN WAY” in 2016. Anyone who’s ever been a repeat of her Wimbledon final but not necessarily in the same just behind the Ringbahn the well-dressed woman who, on the east – seemed to belong to no financial crisis, it is clear who dich tot” (Time beats you to come here with great plans and desperate person. This time, she present at the usual celebrations against Serena Williams. And it’s year. Only ten women have done Bsubway line. A drunk and early Sunday mornings, moves one. Money was not an issue. A got the short end of the stick death). In his book of the same an arrogance stemming from wasn’t going to write a distressed that take place after key sporting true, Cibulkova hadn’t won the it in the history of tennis. Kerber staggering, somewhat shabby from one trash bin to the next in new culture was emerging from in Berlin – the renters, i.e. the name, actor and essayist Hans prejudice has failed in Berlin. text message to Rittner. If she events would have been aston- match; Angelique Kerber had lost only has the French Open left looking older woman with a sec- search of returnable bottles. the rubble, like the vinegar trees overwhelming majority of Ber- Zischler argues that “Berlin is Even the worst blowhards who had wanted to write something, it a tennis boom; it was a Steffi-and- Kerber is not blessed with an ished after Kerber’s triumph at it. Unnecessarily. But anyone who to win. Keep going, never stop. ond-hand cigarette butt in the This year will make 35 I’ve that come to life in autumn, in liners. Low interest rates have too big for Berlin.” It’s one of the have been in town for just a day would probably have been similar Boris boom. This accounts for a exceptional touch, a thrilling serve the US Open. She didn’t want to pooh-poohs Kerber at this point Sure, but at your own pace and corner of her mouth stretches spent in Berlin – just about the colors so vivacious, a box of made real estate investment a most truthful sentences I’ve ever and start holding forth on the to what she told reporters that day: lot of the things now happening or a soulful slice. She had to work drink any alcohol; she didn’t want has not understood what her life by your own rules. This is some- her left fist into the air and whole time in Prenzlauer Berg. watercolors could never echo high-yield endeavor, the result read about Berlin. There are so habits and customs of the city “I won Wimbledon this year. No to Kerber. extremely hard for everything she’s to celebrate in a nightclub. What is about and even why she’s so thing Angelique Kerber earned. It shouts out to the folks waiting In this hot summer of 2018, as I them. But the two halves of the of which has been a continual many different ways one could are swallowed up in a flash. one can take that away from me.” After writing that sad text mes- now capable of doing on court. she really wanted was the ham successful. worked out for her. for the walk signal to flash green: was walking across Schönhauser city, in their own right and in rental-price explosion with par- interpret those words. One is that One could say that Berlin has It is important to keep these sage to Rittner back in 2015, She’s one of the fittest players on sandwich and sour peach rings her The mantra of many profes- “Enough of this nonsense! You Allee, I felt a few drops of rain competition with one another, ticularly grim results for Berlin; the idea of Berlin was always always drawn in people who three moments in mind when talk- Kerber did not seek guidance from the women’s circuit. Her training mother Beata had smuggled into sional athletes is keep going, all have enough blankies!” turn to steam on the crosswalk had lived beyond their means, a for, in contrast to other European larger than the lived reality, and would arrogate to clean up the JÜRGEN SCHMIEDER ing about Angelique Kerber. They Boris Becker, although he was included honing her understand- the complex. never stop. Once you get over the is a US-based sports reporter I love these kinds of exclama- baking in the sun, and for a gargantuan self-service shop of capitals, 86 percent of the city’s this contradiction produced deci- city, and then rubbed their faces say so much about her, as well as there, only a few meters away, as ing of on-court situations and her Still, after Kerber started win- first hurdle, you have to immedi- for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. tions in public places. You surely brief moment I was able to recall corruption and subsidy. Thus, 1.6 million apartments are rental sions in Berlin that were disadvan- into the Brandenburg dust. The about Germany’s interest in tennis. she typed. He was working as a ability to focus entirely on the ning Grand Slam tournaments, ately think of the next one. And hear them in most big cities, but the expectations of that young tageous to the rest of the world. price has often been high, and in Berlin, where the locals – espe- woman who had just fled the Another is that Berlin transcends sometimes required the help of cially in the east and around the countryside. The hopes I had back far beyond the conception any others, as with the liberation of edges of the city – still foster a then were inseparably linked to individual has of Berlin. The total- Berlin in 1945. strong dialect, they are the most the big city’s olfactory reservoir ity of opinions possessed by all Unfortunately, there is at pres- direct, at times mean and quite at that time: the scent of lime THE IDEA OF 3.5 million Berliners on their city ent a tendency to segregate, as it often comical. blossoms and water sprayed on results in anything but a closed is commonplace in the big cities The woman stands on the dry streets, mixed with the crueler BERLIN WAS ALWAYS narrative. of the world. But Berlin has bridge over the Ringbahn, which smells of season-old potatoes, Every Berliner who walks no such tradition, as one sees demarcates the inner city from pissoirs and dead mice, sooty through the city sees something from the few villa districts in the the outskirts of Berlin. Especially chimneys and lentil soup with LARGER THAN different. This fascinates me. A southwest of the city. Living in THE FUTURE IS WRITTEN in the east and northeast of the bacon, that is, if you happened person who lives affluently in close proximity to people with city, the train line has become to venture through a building’s THE LIVED REALITY Zehlendorf moves through the vastly different origins, income somewhat of a social barrier over gate to its back courtyard. city with a different orientation levels and education – a fin- the last ten years. Behind the The dilapidation of the city and knows a Berlin that is entirely de-siècle apartment block is a IN THESE STARS Ringbahn bridge, SUVs turn into dovetailed with my vanquished different than that known to the popular and revelatory example compact cars. As soon as pedes- illusions of childhood, which at the start of the new millen- flats, 72 percent of which are young Turkish woman who grew – was a wonderful peculiarity trians heading away from the begged for something new nium, the deeply indebted state owned by private lessors. The up in Neukölln. The old women of Berlin. But now every pre- inner city step off the bridge and to take their place. The city’s of Berlin was forced to hawk rest are divided between hous- I spoke to for years about Berlin, war apartment building is in onto solid ground, baby stroll- unrenovated spaces and cemeter- its silverware, which included ing cooperatives and municipal and who are now almost all dead, great jeopardy. The “locals” ers suddenly become cheap or ies ensured that past generations the sale of up to 60,000 apart- housing associations. The frag- were tough and unsentimental, – long-established tenants are second-hand; coffee comes out were never far from our thoughts. ments from non-profit housing mentation of entire rental houses sometimes mean and scared of now commonly referred to by of a big thermos and is actually Another constant presence in our associations at a give-away price into individually purchasable con- nothing. this English or “new German” called coffee – or Plörre, German lives was the insuperable concrete to return-oriented, market-listed dominiums, expensive and often Those coming to the city to term – are seen as inherited lia- slang for dishwater; an ice cream wall, which I never imagined I housing associations. There are pointless façade insulation and a find success never let their image bilities among stacks of gold OUR FUTURE IS CALLED EUROPE. WITH ITS CURRENT 28 MEMBER STATES, THE EUROPEAN UNION IS EUTOP – Structural process partner for your success since 1990 cone costs 40 cents less; and you would see disappear. Its virtu- barely any vinegar trees remain- modernization allocation of 11 of Berlin crumble, and when it bricks. They are increasingly ONE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC ECONOMIC REGIONS IN THE WORLD, AND THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. can try your luck at the slots in ally over-night disappearance six ing today in the inner city; every percent still make for an unfet- does, they just rebuild it. One of being forced out of their familiar EUTOP ∙ Rue d’Arlon 15 any number of one-room casinos years later marked the advent of once-vacant lot is developed, only tered business model and a license the old women had a saying back neighborhoods in the inner city Since EUTOP was founded in 1990, two years before the European Union was called into being by the signing of the Maastricht 1050 Brussels ∙ Belgium well into the wee hours of the a truly exhilarating time. rarely with social housing; open to print money – a situation that is then: “Everyone gets their slice of and deposited in the outskirts Treaty, we have regarded EU-Europe as a single political entity, whose heart beats in Brussels. The EUTOP business model is Phone: +32 2 2868080 night. There are old people who The first few years after the spaces for artists are shrinking; quickly becoming an irrevocable Berlin.” This is no less true today, of town. Berlin, now as before, founded on this very conviction. Fax: +32 2 2868099 spend all day perched on a pillow Wall fell are rhapsodized, often studios and rehearsal spaces have reality. only the slices have become more is a conglomerate of 3 cities, 59 www.eutop.eu in their window sill gazing down by people who weren’t there, as been repurposed or have simply “Berlin, where have you gone?” unfairly divided than they were villages and 12 former estates. We look forward to our future together. It is written in these stars. [email protected] at the street, lighting one cigarette a time when property, houses become unaffordable. asked Fabian Hinrichs in his 2013 30 years ago. Those who have lived in Prenzlauer

continued on page 30 30 The Berlin Times October 2018 October 2018 The Berlin Times 31 IT’S ABOUT EDUCATION, PICTURE ALLIANCE /ZB/KARLHEINZ SCHINDLER out of Döblin – that figures BY URSULA SCHEER in the fate of each our stars: the weighty, warmhearted yet o one evades the under- brutal Bruno Wolter (Peter tow of ecstasy, nor the Kurth), who passes himself off STUPID Nvortex of doom. As the BERLIN TIMES as something like a fatherly first double-episode of Babylon friend. Filmmaker and author Güner Balcı argues that Germany Berlin comes to a close and the A political sex scandal pro- is neglecting its immigrant children. A polemic denizens of a packed nightclub vides but a succulent introduc- throb to the music, entranced tory segue to the events that and infatuated by the androg- will ensnarl the main charac- ynous charm of the Russian 1929 ters: a bloody massacre and a he misgivings harbored as equals. Today, this inability are told that many parents fail dead-end jobs. This state of affairs performer on stage, elsewhere conspiracy involving a freight by many Germans with is creating an even greater rift in to wake up in time to get their is a consequence of massive politi- in the city Stalin’s henchmen Weighty, warmhearted, brutal – Berlin Babylon is the German TV series train from Russia. Poison gas, Tregard to migrants are German society. All too often, kids to school on time. Accord- cal neglect, as well. In fact, the unload their Gatling guns on an bounteous amounts of gold and steadfast and long-standing. This public debate on integration is ing to the report, these kids are school featured in the TV report underground band of Trotskyite of the year, depicting life in the German capital during the Roaring Twenties the ambitions of the “Black will not come as a surprise to characterized by a willingness to often made to attend school only was slated to be shut down due to dreamers. A lady of the night Reichswehr,” a group of gen- anyone who has taken the time focus solely on the shortcomings to render their parents eligible declining student numbers – a fact finds her John; confetti litters the erals out to restore the Kaiser to examine the state of migrant of “others.” for Kindergeld (child benefits – that was left unmentioned by the air; bodies fall in a flurry of gun- to his throne – these are just a integration in German society Indeed, it would seem that for a social security payout for all producers of the program, which fire. The singer lowers her mask, few of the factors our stars face over the past decades. What is years no one has been prepared parents and guardians). A teacher was broadcast on German public banana-skirted dancers contort in season one. Season two fea- alarming, however, is the number to take the social and political with a thick Eastern European television. Instead, the school their bodies à la Josephine Baker tures the specter of communists

of Germans who judge the failed responsibility needed to be able to accent – a man who thinks the became a repository for students and a love-struck youth looks FILME FRÉDÉRIC BATIER/X and brownshirts marching the integration of migrants and their seek out and find new solutions. plural of “crisis” is “crisises” – is who were not accepted elsewhere. on in awe. streets, as a pincer movement children more harshly than they How else can we account for the seen lamenting the lack of interest Güner Balcı Now, with an increased budget Everything spins, everything of right- and left-wing enemies do the failings of their fellow fact that over several decades, in education among his students. and new friendly-sounding sup- happens at once and everything of democracy threatens to take Germans. It’s not only those on large numbers of youth socialized The film them shows close-ups of to be mixed in with the major- kids, the Muslim ghetto is their port programs, the school has relates to everything else: the down history’s actual Foreign the right who see every crimi- in a Muslim context in Germany children who, though they appear ity of students? Should they lead only place of influence, a place become an institution for those glamorous and the gruesome, lust Minister Gustav Stresemann nal with Turkish, Iraqi or Tuni- have consistently lost out in terms self-conscious, are nevertheless “normal” lives, where they attend where the often romanticized tra- who are more or less biding time for life and fear of death, desire and the fictitious Jewish Deputy sian roots as an opportunity to of education? How else can we proud to be the object of media school regularly, that is, where ditional values of their grandpar- before a likely adulthood spent and pain, the lives of the little Police Commissioner August demonize all migrants; they are explain why Germany’s current attention. Although most of these the state actually carries out its ents’ culture become the bench- on Hartz IV or in prison. I guess people and the global political Brenda. not the only ones who sneer at government has not been able to students were born in Germany, supervisory duty with regard to mark for their lives in Germany. it didn’t occur to anyone to put order. The images in the final Babylon Berlin is no history “Kanake” talk, a derogatory fill a single cabinet post with a not a single one of them can mothers and fathers who are over- By the end of the TV report, the few remaining students into sequence are cut to the rhythm lesson. It is an adaptation of term used to describe the German person with a “migration back- deliver a grammatically correct whelmed by their circumstances? attentive viewers will have begun a different school. of the music, forming a wide Volker Kutscher’s novel Der spoken among migrant youths ground”? And even after nearly sentence in German. These children live marginalized to notice – almost accidentally – Instead of disrupting a class- shot in the mind’s eye: Such is nasse Fisch (The Wet Fish) that often comprises crude collo- 60 years of recruitment agree- Scenes such as these should be lives in districts that many non- the longings and hardships etched room populated by the children of Babylon Berlin, the capital of with a slew of historical details quialisms and expressions in their ments, the prospect of having a enough to warrant a thorough migrants actively avoid; and they into the heart and mind of one the ambitious middle class, these the German Reich in the year thrown in a manner somewhat native tongues. In fact, no matter head of state with Arab or Turk- analysis of how and where things are cared for and receive their particular pimply-faced teenage children are left to fend for them- 1929, six years after the hyper- lacking in academic rigor, but where they stand on the political ish roots remains wholly incon- went wrong. How is it possible education in kindergartens and boy. This boy with Turkish roots selves, causing more strain on inflation of the early Weimar the broad strokes of history spectrum, people who are quick ceivable. that huge numbers of children schools that are widely known to sits down and begins to play a weary teachers and creating fertile Republic, and four years before more or less hit the mark. And to criticize migrants inevitably A recent TV program examined circumvent the legal obligation be problematic. piece on the piano – something he terrain for Islamists in search of Hitler comes to power. We find Tom Tykwer exploits certain have one thing in common: a the conditions at a school in the to attend school? How can this Kids like these can be found taught himself to do. His teacher new souls. These are clearly not ourselves at the peak of the Roar- of his talents that have brought false sense of superiority. Berlin district of Neukölln where happen in a country that had throughout Germany, especially admits that all these years, she’s the goals of integration. ing Twenties, a year in which the him success in the past: his use Many of us in Germany have almost all students come from a €48.1 billion GDP surplus in in areas where large numbers of never known he could play piano. Worker’s Revolt meets its bloody of kaleidoscopic imagery, his yet to learn how to share our lives immigrant families, including so- the first two quarters of 2018 immigrants reside. From a sta- It goes without saying that suppression, Alfred Döblin pens expertise at combining the fates GÜNER BALCI with people who are “other.” called problem students, that is, alone. And what’s wrong with tistical perspective, they are the we cannot single out teachers is a documentary film maker, his Berlin Alexanderplatz and of many individuals into one This seems to be a value and an those whose families depend on the students themselves? Can it “losers” of German society. After as being solely responsible for journalist and author. Her latest Bertolt Brecht delivers the trium- dynamic narrative whole and approach to life that we rarely welfare funds (Hartz IV). The be possible that all their prob- all, the cold hard reality is that the thousands of students who novel Das Mädchen und der phant Threepenny Opera. his inimitable sense of tempo Gotteskrieger (The girl and the strive to achieve. Few people report begins by stating that 18 lems are related to their oft-cited access to education is directly leave school every year without holy warrior) was published in Lead director Tom Tykwer and timing. It’s no matter that in Germany seem to even have of the 24 students in the class “migration background”? In all related to a child’s social and attaining their degree or with a 2016. (Run Lola Run, Sense 8), who the plot is sometimes over- the ability to view “strangers” arrive late for first period. We honesty, do we even want them economic background. For these certificate that condemns them to also co-created the series with wrought – what a ride! We Achim von Borries and Henk have love, sex, syphilis, crime, Handloegten, claims he is trying the state, and we’re just get- continued from page 29 to hurl his audience into a time Party like it’s 1929: Charlotte Richter (Liv Lisa Fries) is out on the town in Berlin Babylon. ting started; a woman dies but A tale of many cities machine. The mammoth project lives on, a tattooed priest of shot at 300 locations on 185 And why not? Is Germany not Väter (Our mothers, our unshakable. This order is crum- Gereon Rath. The commissioner the underworld and an Arme- shooting days with over 5,000 the country that – in the era in fathers) tried, at last, to culti- bling before our eyes; the trans- of the homicide division comes nian stir up trouble. The series IMPRINT Berg for decades feel displaced crying, a note in her hand inform- As has always been the case, even Great Britain, who cannot for just 10 minutes, and with extras in just two seasons, on which Babylon Berlin is set – vate a complexity and cinematic Atlantic axis is creaking; Europe to the capital from Cologne. He does not economize on violence, in places like Reinickendorf or ing her that her lease was being young people without a penny tolerate the rise of new nation- them their habits and customs, a budget of (gulp) €40 million. produced films likeMetropolis? language that critics compared is struggling for cohesion; the is concealing a secret mission as gruesome corpses or gross Hohenschönhausen, especially terminated because her landlord to their name are moving to alism in their countries or have the tables lining the sidewalks To make it all happen, the fee- Nazi propaganda films and the to Band of Brothers. refugee crisis and the fear of well as his love life and a mor- improbabilities, yet it invokes, when they haven’t moved there wanted to move into the apart- Berlin to try their luck. They lost their work prospects for in front of cafés, the late-night financed public television station repressive kitsch of post-war But looking back at the 1920s radicalized Islam are dividing phine addiction. Only drugs can indeed flawlessly, the classics The Berlin Times is an international registered voluntarily. ment himself. But where to go if come from Brandenburg, Ham- political reasons. They are all convenience stores, the fruits, ARD first had to join forces with cinema would later teach Ger- is something new. Babylon society; the established parties quell his would-be disqualifying of the era of silent film. Its trademark of Times Media GmbH. For decades, the poor in Berlin Berlin is the only place that gives burg, from Dresden and from forming communities that are spices and meals, and the ways the subscription channel Sky. The mans a healthy skepticism of Berlin is now venturing such a are faltering and right-wing tremors that he and many other greatest success, however, stems had always had a roof over their you life, where no one gives a the Ruhr Valley, and despite more or less mixed, but often of walking, dressing, dancing, most expensive German series of the seductive power of imagery. feat – it first ran on Sky in 2017, populists are gaining momen- soldiers brought home from the from its atmospheric depth. If All rights reserved. heads and a lock on their door. hoot if your hat’s on crooked, the cliché, not so much from exist in parallel as well. working and raising families. all time is seeking to step out of The medium became rather pro- and now on ARD – finding large tum. Germany is inching closer trenches. At his side, played you’ve seen even three episodes, Publisher and liable They have now become much your belly is big and round or Swabia. In terms of non-Ger- Most of the older generation of Even the most parochial born- the provinciality of German TV saic, often a bit superficial and audiences and already drowning to “Weimar conditions.” But a by Liv Lisa Fries, is the young you need only hear the menac- for editorial content: more visible. Many people with your skin is dark? To live in aban- mans, most newcomers are from born Berliners is relatively com- Berliners wouldn’t wait a minute and onto the world stage without never experimental. Toeing the in awards. This is a symptom series like Babylon Berlin is a Charlotte Richter, a modern ing brass section in the intro Detlef Prinz precarious employment – and doned shacks, allotment gardens Poland, followed by Turkey, posed in facing these changes. before screaming: “Enough of betraying its roots in European line was the order of the day. of something darker, as were sensuously shuddering glance girl and a product of Berlin’s to become fully submerged in © Times Media GmbH, there are many in Berlin – who or tents? Russia, Syria and Bulgaria. Their city has always reinvented this nonsense!” culture. It wants to speak to both Epic television was dedicated a series of recent exhibitions into a distant mirror. grim working-class districts. By Babylon Berlin. Tempelhofer Ufer 23 – 24, 10963 Berlin, Germany rely on the dole or are raising The number of born-Berliners In the past five years, Berlin itself anew, even during the time a domestic and a global audience, to the Middle Ages, the present, on the art of the era. For Ger- Two main characters stare day she’s a stenotypist at the children alone are afraid of losing who still live there is dwindling. has become a Noah’s Ark, not of the Wall, when it served as fans who for almost 50 years have the division of Germany or the mans, the splendor and misery back at us from the panorama, Alex, Berlin’s infamous police www.times-media.de their homes and having to live on At present the figure is 47 percent, only for refugees from Syria center stage for the Cold War. ANNETT GRÖSCHNER religiously watched the successful catastrophe of the Third Reich. of the first German democracy each conflicted, morally suspect headquarters. By night she’s URSULA SCHEER is a novelist and journalism is a television critic and arts the street. I will never forget the while in Berlin Mitte, the city’s and Afghanistan, but for artists Imagine, if you will, that all professor at the University crime series Tatort as well the In terms of the latter, Philipp seem closer at hand than they yet likeable, and each portrayed a prostitute who dreams of a editor for the Frankfurter moment when my almost 90-year- most central and most gentrified and intellectuals from Hungary, those who moved to the city over of the Arts Berlin. devotees of The Sopranos and Kadelbach’s 2013 World War II were just a few years ago, when by outstanding actors. Volker career as criminal investigator. Allgemeine Zeitung. old neighbor came down the stairs district, it’s only 34 percent. Poland, Turkey, Croatia and the past 30 years disappeared Game of Thrones. drama Unsere Mütter, unsere trust in the post-war order was Bruch is the Great War veteran And then a character – straight

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GETTIN’

SCHOOLED Big stage: Alba youth during an exhibition game in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Alba’s basketballers are taking the game to the classroom

to acquire funding from the ate vicinity, where his popularity Alba. It was made possiblewith BY PAUL OSTWALD German Academic Scholarship BY HORST SCHNEIDER helped him consistently vanquish funding from the Berlin Senate Foundation and work with the his mightiest opponent: the school Department for Education, Youth andra Maischberger’s TV Dutch publishing house Brill or Basketball lovers, Moritz receptionist. As he got to know and Family in the capital. talk show in the fall of Refugee journal to publish our second edition. Wagner is a household principals and teachers, they turned The fact that more and more S 2015 was drawing to a Our new budget finally allowed Fname. But even lesser fans out to be interested contacts who children at school have lives that are close when she gave the last us to pay the authors an hono - will be hearing the 7-foot center’s were very eager to work with Alba too stationary – some, for example, word to a guest from the audi - Sending a message to the political and academic world – why a rarium, albeit a very small one. name in the future. He has – after and offered their school gymnasi- cannot even run backwards – is ence. In nearly accent-free young Berliner at Oxford founded a science publication for refugees In 2018, not only did German a successful college career with the ums for basketball clubs. the basis for the Alba Kitasport German, Hakim spoke about migration policy change, the Michigan Wolverines – signed an However, these sessions, led by project, which youth coaches have his studies in Syria, his trek origin of our authors did as NBA contract with the Los Ange- the Alba coaches after classes and been implementing in Berlin day across the Mediterranean well. Turkey had replaced Syria les Lakers, thereby becoming the during holidays, were just the begin- care centers for the past two years. and his new job as a geriatric and Iraq, which presented the first Berliner to play for the best ning. Harnisch’s realization that the Alba’s pioneering initiative to install Showing his true colors: nurse in a small town in Lower editors with new challenges. For basketball league in the world. introduction of the Ganztagsschule height-adjustable basketball hoops Moe Wagner at the Saxony. Before applause broke example, the migration stories When he was picked 25th by the (all-day school) has fundamentally at Berlin schools lets even the little NBA draft in June. out in the studio, a caption were often comparable to those Lakers in the NBA draft in June, changed the relationship between ones get a taste for the satisfaction showed viewers at home who of many Syrian academics; in "Moe" mounted the podium at school, sports and after-school when the ball finds its mark. They exactly this exemplary young addition to civil wars, environ- Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in a activities, triggered his innovation. can even dunk. Forty years ago, the Syrian was: “Hakim, refugee.” mental disasters and political custom-tailored suit and casually If children sit in school until 4, young Henning Harnisch had to set It was a revelatory moment ers. To treat them only with less fearful if they realize that was that our publication would teachers. The linguist Husam persecution were now promi- opened his jacket, flashing the two they’re left with little time or energy up a trampoline under his in a debate on the dangerous compassion, regrettably, often refugees are concerned with the enable and inspire our authors Aldeen al-Barazy from Damas- nent factors; fleeing across the logos inside: the golden capital M to actively play on a basketball team basketball hoop to take denigration of those refugees meant leaving their knowledge same issues as they are. Through to pursue their academic careers. cus described the importance of Mediterranean has in many of the University of Michigan and or participate in other after-school his first shots. who had fled to Europe in the and expertise untouched and contributions on television and Countless submissions started intonation when learning new cases been replaced by reset- the white albatross of Alba, where activities. The logical conclusion The Grundschul- summer of 2015. Hakim can thus limiting any intellectual in print media, we were able to flowing in. Many of them languages. He had fled Syria, tling in a more peaceful region his basketball career was born 12 was to directly integrate basketball liga (primary school vouch that the word “refu - exchange or discourse. cast a better light on refugees, focused in some way on migra - and now lives in the tranquil of migrants’ home countries. years ago. into the school curricula. The pro- league) founded gee” had become a new label My fellow students at Oxford one that would reach far beyond tion: an article by a lawyer from German town of Düppenweiler Therefore, in addition to The now 7-footer grew up in gram Alba macht Schule was born. by Alba, in which almost overnight. The German University and I were preoc- our academic audiences. At the Bangladesh argued that people in Saarland. translators, we also had to Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, (“Alba macht Schule” is a pun that around 90 Berlin word for “refugee,” Flüchtling, cupied with the subject in the Gaining the authors trust establish some new guidelines: just a few blocks away from Max- roughly means both “Alba does schools compete for has the diminutive suffix ling, fall of 2015. To facilitate a new involved a great deal of respon - Who should decide whether an Schmeling-Halle, the former home school” and “Alba catches on.”) points and victories implying that a person must discourse in this situation, my sibility. We set about build - author is actually considered a court of Alba Berlin. The leap from “At school, on average, a single at the annual championship somehow be pitiable as well roommate Mark Barclay and I ing a small editorial office and "refugee"? We chose to leave intramural basketball at school to teacher must encourage 28 chil- in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, as from a distant, unknown founded the Journal of Inter- WE WERE ABLE recruiting the first academ - that classification to the authors regular training at Alba was rather dren to do sports. There are many and the associated Oberschul- culture. Reports frequently rupted Studies. It was to become ics for peer reviews. The vast themselves, to those who were manageable, as the head of the great teachers, but that’s almost liga (high school league) with painted the same image in dif - an academic journal that would majority was surprisingly open expelled or had to flee. Berlin division, just twelve years impossible, especially since elemen- about 80 schools, ensures that ferent shades of negativity. give refugee scientists the oppor- TO CAST A BETTER to our project, enlisted more We are now working on the ago, decided to make a push for tary school teachers with no back- competitiveness is kept alive. It was also a rather liberat - tunity to publish their finished of their colleagues and added third edition, and one new youth players. Henning Harnisch, ground in sports often have to teach Those on school teams that do ing moment, as this was one and unfinished articles in all dis- LIGHT ON REFUGEES, us to their mailing lists. But factor is the institutionalization a former national player and bas- sports,” explains Harnisch. So Alba very well automatically get the of the first opportunities for ciplines. we were missing one crucial of the journal. We are working ketball idol of the 1990s, found macht Schule puts teachers in the urge to fight for Alba wins. Last a refugee to represent himself At 19 years of age, none of us ONE THAT WOULD component: €1,500 to cover to create legal and editorial his calling in Alba management at classroom, with a qualified basket- season, Alba was the first club in the “refugee debate.” The had the capacity to assess the printing expenses. We started structures that will ensure the the end of his playing career and ball coach by their side. Initial fears ever to be the German champions daily reportages, comments and academic relevance or integrity getting our first donations and survival of the project regard- developed a new youth concept were quickly eliminated, as teach- in all youth categories (U14, U16 interviews on the new “task of of articles written by professors REACH FAR BEYOND by May 2016 we were able to less of whether we stay on as that today – highly lauded and ers realized that teaching in pairs and U19). the century” (Angela Merkel and researchers. So we set up a publish the first issue. publishers. frequently copied for its successful was more effective, and students For Henning Harnisch, it’s not on Jan. 14, 2016) had all been multi-level peer-review process, OUR ACADEMIC As expected, there were mixed combination of schools and sports were instantly excited by the new just about recruiting new basket- delivered by politicians – it as is common with scientific pub- feelings: while BBC, NPR and clubs – is a role model for more life being breathed into physical ball stars. He also cares about the remains the exception that a lications: subject matter experts the German weekly Der Spiegel than just basketball programs and education. 999 out of 1000 students that don’t person who had himself fled receive and rate the essays with- AUDIENCES gave us a warm welcome, we well beyond the confines of Berlin. By now, more than 50 Alba youth make it to the NBA, or even to the to Germany was given a voice. out being told the name and received quite a few hateful Harnisch came to the realization coaches at 19 Berlin “schools with Bundesliga. If the majority of these There was widespread dis - history of the author. Texts were remarks on social media: “The that it will not do to wait for talent sports profiles” support teachers 999 students become “sports citi- regard for the fact that most to be selected based on their same time, we wanted to send displaced by natural disasters only knowledge these people to walk through the door and sign in physical education. Since 2012– zens” and continue to play sports refugees brought much more quality, not on their author’s a message to the academic and should be integrated into the bring with them is rape,” was up to train: “We have to go to 13, five other major Berlin clubs after graduation or even watch to Europe than a bundle of biography. political world: the knowledge international legal system. A one. The totality of reactions, the schools!” Harnisch, who in – Hertha BSC and 1st FC Union Alba games from the bleachers, clothes. Some brought their We were hoping to change the and diversity of discourse are Syrian student visited schools however, showed us that the PAUL OSTWALD his playing days sunk shots like no (soccer), the Foxes (handball), the the former basketball pro knows The 21-year-old Oxford student HORST SCHNEIDER knowledge: in their native perception of refugees and coun- jeopardized when refugee aca- during the civil war in order to project had found an audience. other and made dunking a German Polar Bears (ice hockey) and the BR that his going door to door in is co-founder of the is a basketball writer HAGEN PHOTO/KEVIN ALLIANCE/AP PICTURE countries they had been pro- teract the understandable fears demics are not given a perspec- ascertain whether, in the future, While the first issue was Journal of Interrupted Studies. Bundesliga staple, eventually visited Volleys (volleyball) – also attend Prenzlauer Berg 12 years ago was based in Berlin. fessors, students and research- many people have; they may be tive. Our biggest hope, however, robots could replace missing self-published, we were able all the schools in Alba’s immedi- these schools and collaborate with most definitely not in vain.

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he giant Ferris wheel the whole “biography” of his loomed silently in the objects, seeking out the full story TBerlin sky. They could often hidden behind the city’s see it clearly through the trees, decaying structures. even from a distance. It stood He usually sets out by himself. within the fenced-off grounds “I’m more focused when I’m of a former amusement park in alone,” says Fahey. “That way, the Plänterwald district of what I don’t have to talk and there once was East Berlin. As they are no time pressures. It allows got closer, they saw several signs me to get a deeper sense of the saying ZUTRITT VERBOTEN past. When you find yourself (NO TRESPASSING) on the in the very spot where an event fences surrounding the erstwhile took place, it allows you to feel fairgrounds. But nothing was the history much more intensely going to stop Ciarán Fahey. He than in a museum.” 3 turned to his girlfriend: “I’ve got On the other hand, setting out to get in there.” by himself also means facing all In the summer of 2009, Fahey of the associated dangers alone: overcame his fear of the security guard dogs, security guards, guards and German shepherds ghosts, falling ceilings, crumbling that might be awaiting him on stairs and tricky entrances that the other side. He climbed over can’t be used as exits. But that the high green security fence, never stopped Fahey. To this roamed around the abandoned day, he still gets tips from read- Spreepark and photographed ers and now has a list of more the rusted and uncanny remains than one hundred further sites of East Germany’s theme-park to explore before they disappear. culture. He then published his That is, before Berlin becomes as images and an accompanying clean as Munich. And, seeing as history of the amusement park the ravages of time continue to on his website abandonedber- gnaw away at the structures and lin.com. He also posted dozens sites, time and speed are indeed 1 2 4 of reports on other abandoned of the essence. In other words, properties in Berlin. Soon there- whenever possible, Fahey says: after, The Guardian newspaper “I’ve got to get in there.” rated his blog as one of the best City Blogs in the world. Ask Fahey what motivates him and the Irish-born journalist and photographer will explain that The pictures shown his goal is to capture the tran- here are taken from sient nature of things, to show Ciarán Fahey’s book RICHES OF RUINS the beauty of structures decay- ing in front of our eyes before Verlassene Orte/ NO TRESPASSING signs never stopped Ciarán Fahey from they are demolished or reclaimed Abandoned Berlin exploring Berlin’s many abandoned and forgotten buildings by nature. Just like people, he German/English argues, buildings too are not be.bra verlag, 2015,

BY PETER H. KOEPF made for eternity. As a journal- 192 pages, ist, Fahey doesn’t limit himself 22,00 euros to just visiting and taking pic- 6 7 tures of these sites; he researches

5

9 10 11

1 COLOSSUS OF CEMENT AND IRON 5 TOP SECRET 9 FROSTBITE After 100 productive years, German reunification spelled the demise of Vogelsang was one of the few military sites the Soviets built themselves. Cool, it isn’t. For 99 years, this ice factory delivered ice to all of Berlin, and the VEB Coswig Chemical Plant, which operated this factory in Rüders- They mostly took over German ones, but this one, all 5,800 hectares of it, right from the freezer, back when Berlin households, breweries, pubs and dorf. A barbed-wire fence did not stop Ciarán Fahey from sizing up this was top secret – they built nuclear weapons here. Let’s be thankful it’s no fishmongers didn’t have their own fridges. All that’s left now is this frozen asset. industrial-era cathedral, which started producing animal feed phosphates longer in use. // Vogelsang, 16792 Zehdenick // Eisfabrik, Köpenicker Straße 40/41, 10179 Berlin back in 1899 and continued to do so even after World War II. // Chemiewerk Rüdersdorf, Gutenbergstraße, 15562 Rüdersdorf 6 TRABI GRAVEYARD 10 TANGO TRISTE This old garage began to rot during the GDR. It houses dozens of They’re like twins, Dance Hall Riviera and Event Location Grünau. So splendidly 2 THE FUN’S OVER automobiles in various stages of decline, including a EZ P70 Zwickau they shone in the 1890s. Partygoers and night owls from far and wide came In 1969, on the 20th anniversary of the GDR, the government gifted manufactured in the fifties, a Sachsenring P70, forerunner of the Trabant to Berlin's southeastern district during the German Empire, Weimar Republic its subjects a second television channel and a public amusement park, P50, and a number of Moskvitches from Russia in very critical condition. and two dictatorships just to visit them. And now? The party’s over. The crowds the only permanent one if its kind in the country: the VEB Kulturpark // Trabiwerkstatt, Schönerlinder Straße 5, 13127 Berlin moved on to discos and now clubs, leaving the former dance palaces to endure Plänterwald. The roller coaster and Ferris wheel have now rusted the people’s indifference to their fate. // Ballhaus Grünau, Regattastrasse 161 through, and the dinosaurs have died out. 7 AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED & 167, 12527 Berlin // Spreepark, Kiehnwerderallee 1-3, 12437 Berlin Two abandoned houses with a common family history in Waidmannslust. Wind whistles through the shattered windows of Villa Schade, whirling 11 DOWN THE DRAIN 3 BAD DOCTORS letters and magazines up through the air, taking with it the memory of what As rats partied in the baby pool, the days of the Blub Water Park became Waldhaus Buch was a sanatorium and a hospital, but also a research once was here. Ciarán Fahey captured this image before the villa was turned numbered. In the 1980s and 1990s, up to 600,000 visitors got their feet wet institute. The clinic was involved in the Nazi’s euthanasia program. The into apartments. The cinema will presumably soon meet the same fate. here every summer. In 2002, years after it closed, there was an attempt to house, which served as an orthopedic clinic during the GDR, was closed // Villa Schade, Waidmannsluster Damm 167/163, 13469 Berlin re-open the waterpark – but only as a health spa. Judging by this photo, it didn’t in 1992. Time has since taken its toll. succeed. // Blub, Buschkrugallee 64, 12359 Berlin // Waldhaus Buch, Alt-Buch 74, 13125 Berlin 8 THE EARS OF THE WEST This radar station allowed the Americans to overhear enemy plans on 12 RISEN FROM THE ASHES – NOT 4 TRAIN TO NOWHERE the other side of the Iron Curtain. The large hill where the remains of the The villa of August Hinderer was destroyed by fire on March 24, 1944. The Trains no longer pass here; even the rails have disappeared. But when you station stand is not the work of the devil – despite its name, Teufelsberg, A professor and director of the Evangelical Press Service , Hinderer was stand in one of the decaying sheds and close your eyes, you can almost hear or Devil’s Mountain – it’s the work of Berliners themselves. Over 12 arrested by the Nazis in 1934, yet survived. After the unsuccessful attempt to the whirr of trains, the cries of diesel engines and the din of workers piling million cubic meters of rubble were deposited here, most of it the assassinate Hitler in July 1944, he survived yet another interrogation. Hinderer goods onto cars. Nothing gets loaded here today. All that remains are loads of remains of buildings bombed by the Allies in WW2. died in October, 1945. Today, his granddaughter dreams of restoring the rot. // Güterbahnhof Pankow, Am Feuchten Winkel 137-145, Berlin 13089 // Teufelsberg, 14055 Berlin building. // Hinderer’s Villa, location not disclosed for fear of vandalism

8 12 36 The Berlin Times October 2018 October 2018 The Berlin Times 37

Rich and sexy (2) PEDERSEN/DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE / BRITTA Booming Berlin is driving up real estate prices, and the city’s endless red tape is making the problem worse

job profiles and actually cut some BY TONG-JIN SMITH Red parade: The leaders of today’s Left Party Sahra Wagenknecht, Dietmar of the labor costs, but the change Bartsch, Bernd Riexinger and Katja Kipping (top; left to right) lead the flag is only slowly starting to happen, bearers (right) to Rosa Luxemburg’s and Karl Liebknecht’s grave (bottom). t was one of the last vacant leaving the construction industry plots in Berlin’s trendy dis- with a skill shortage for the time

Itrict of Prenzlauer Berg – a GRAHN EUROLUFTBILD.DE/ROBERT being. prime location nestled between What seems more troubling, historical buildings and in direct however, is the amount of time vicinity of shops, restaurants and energy construction com- and the heavily frequented U2 panies and developers spend on subway line. For years the plot dealing with bureaucracy. In remained barren – nothing to Germany, building is strongly see here. Then, one day a sign regulated and companies must BENSCH PICTURE ALLIANCE / REUTERS FABRIZIO appeared advertising a housing conform to literally thousands project initiated by an archi- of rules and regulations. “We’ve tect seeking co-builders for a asked our members to calculate multi-family house. The idea their expenses in dealing with was a combination of street- bureaucracy and found that 82 front apartments and courtyard percent felt rather burdened, if townhouses – a modern take not overly so. In fact, in 2017, on Berlin’s traditional housing about 17,000 employees in structure. Bit by bit every unit Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony was sold. Several months into and Saxony-Anhalt worked the project, the homeowner exclusively on bureaucratic Sacred socialist procession group was ready to build on matters resulting in these com- the lot. And in the spring of panies spending a good €500 A solemn march for the Goths of socialism and a folk festival for the left: the wintertime march honoring this year they finally moved into million just on paperwork. As a their new homes. result, many projects have been Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht is a bizarre parade of the pious in eastern Berlin. This year will “It was a long process but delayed, or even cancelled,” says mark the 100th anniversary of the death of these two icons of the workers’ movement well worthwhile. I love my new Momberg. It is now abundantly home and I’m starting to feel very clear that bureaucracy has also comfortable in my new neigh- become a decisive factor in real borhood,” says Kristina Kutsch estate price increases. Liebknecht. On Jan. 15, 1919, the march since the fall of the the GDR went: “Dem Karl Lieb- richsfelde at the head of a mass course, the GDR’s secret secu- who just finished furnishing her Add to that a massive increase BY KLAUS GRIMBERG after the brutal defeat of the GDR have done so with vigor knecht haben wir's geschworen, demonstration. This coming Jan- rity forces were already well- penthouse in May. “But over the in land prices and you have an Spartacist uprising in Berlin, they and sincerity. It’s the pensioners der Rosa Luxemburg reichen wir uary, an especially large crowd informed about the plans and course of the last five years, since explanation for Berlin’s loss of hey’re easy to spot, even were both murdered by members above all who cling unbendingly die Hand” (We have sworn to of celebrities is anticipated. An went about stifling the action. we first started the project, we’ve affordability. For one, many pri- at a distance. Retir- of right-wing Freikorps, volun- to the socialist tradition. These Karl Liebknecht we’ll give Rosa alliance of a wide spectrum of However, there also happened to certainly seen an upward surge vate landowners have been hold- Tees bundled up in thick tary vigilante militias comprising cadres of yesteryear are indi- Luxemburg a helping hand). For left-wing groups is expected to be West German camera teams in costs. Just finding a craftsman ing off on developing or selling winter jackets and fur hats former soldiers from the Prussian viduals who boldly continue to most of the elderly comrades at march to the memorial. It seems on site, and their images captur- or company to do the flooring or their properties with hopes of trudging towards the exit at the army. believe in the victory of socialism the annual march, these words the memorial march allows them ing the rabid suppression of the tiling has been a challenge, no cashing in on the boom. Mean- Berlin Lichtenberg S-Bahn sta- During the GDR, this hallowed to forget their trench battles and activists were broadcast around matter how much they charge.” while, the public sector, a major tion. The color spectrum worn procession to the Memorial to turf wars for a couple of hours. the world. This resulted in pro- Her experience is not unique. landowner in Berlin, continues by the members of this crowd the Socialists represented an And then, as soon as they arrive tests in several East German Berlin has become a boomtown to enforce the policy of selling ranges from gray to beige, while important Kampfdemonstration at their destination, the event cities against the mass arrests for the building industry, as con- to the highest bidder instead of their facial expressions run – a demonstration of continued starts to look more like a com- that had taken place both before dominiums and rental apartments seeking the best concept, which between reverent and grim. The struggle – carried out by the state FREEDOM IS munity fair featuring stalls with and after the demonstration. have been going up in neighbor- could lead to more sustainable only splash of color in this pro- leadership and the ruling com- food produced in socialist soli- Some historians see the events hoods all across the city. At the and socially balanced urban cession of seniors is the red car- munist party. It was designed to ALWAYS FREEDOM darity and musical groups play- of Jan. 17, 1988, as the first same time, real estate and rental development. nations they often carry. These symbolically renew the legacy of ing old battle songs to lift leftist evidence of a tangible beginning prices have doubled in the past “When you look at the pure flowers provide the decisive clue Luxemburg and Liebknecht in spirits. Of course, there are also to the Peaceful Revolution in the ten years, edging Berlin closer building costs per square meter as to where their strangely uni- East Germany each year. Noth- FOR THE ONE the obligatory bookstands where GDR, which would eventually to the top of the list of Ger- for a new residential building form caravan is headed, namely ing was left to chance at this care- one can find literature designed bring down the Wall in 1989. many’s most expensive cities. – whether it be a single-family to the official Memorial to the fully prepared march that started WHO THINKS to foster more in-depth study of In the hundred years since Only Munich, Frankfurt, Ham- home or an apartment in a multi- Socialists in Berlin-Friedrichs- at Frankfurter Tor at the edge leftist theories. their deaths, many a battle has burg and Stuttgart are still ahead. story building – you currently felde. of downtown East Berlin. For DIFFERENTLY, But things weren’t always this been fought over the true legacy But Berlin has made headlines as need to calculate about €2,000,” This memorial procession takes loyal party bigwigs, it marked a peaceful at the annual Luxem- of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl the city with the largest increase Momberg explains. Add on the place every year on the second solemn day on the socialist cal- ROSA LUXEMBURG burg-Liebknecht demonstration. Liebknecht. Time and again, the between 2016 and 2017, with cost of the property itself and Sunday in January. It is held in endar. The majority of the other In 1988, citizens’ rights activists thoughts and writings of the two prices going up by a whopping total prices soar. Thus, a family honor of Rosa Luxemburg and “demonstrators,” however, were in the GDR had already begun to socialists have been interpreted 11.4 percent. Real estate buyers looking to buy a two-bedroom, Karl Liebknecht, two of the lead- forced to attend by various fac- FAMOUSLY SAID advocate for a democratization and instrumentalized, as they are now expected to shell out 90 square-meter apartment in an ing figures of the German work- tory organizations, schools and of their country and were plan- surely will continue to be in the close to €3,700 per square meter upscale neighborhood will more ers movement at the beginning other groups. It became quite ning to participate in the state- future. At the memorial march on average, according to a recent often than not need to spend over of the 20th century. Leftists of clear that the longer the GDR orchestrated mass gathering. in early January 2019, the old study. €500,000. With salaries increas- all persuasions participate in this existed, the less enthusiasm there and see German reunification as continue to inspire. Their goal was to take Rosa Lux- comrades from the GDR and With a growing number of ing at a far slower pace than real slow walk, which ends at the last was for the event. Apart from the a hostile takeover by imperialist Later on, after the Goths of emburg at her word by rendering young leftists from today will upscale and luxury condomini- estate prices, affording a home resting ground of these two icons apparatchiks and devout com- forces. These men and women socialism have laid down their some of her quotes onto the self- come together in their worship ums currently under construc- of their own has become signifi- and other estimable socialists. rades, the majority of the par- shake hands with familiarity; carnations, things get a bit more made banners they intended to of these two larger-than-life role tion or in planning for the near cantly more difficult for Berliners. In the coming year, this annual ticipants forced to attend could they know each other from back colorful. To this day, party chair- display during the official march: models. And yet, if you sat these future, prices can be expected Similarly, finding a rental unit commemorative gathering will be seen trotting rather listlessly then. They know they are united men and leading left-wing party “Freedom is always freedom for groups down for a discussion at to continue their upward trend. has become a challenge for most, have a special significance, as it past the graves and the VIP stand. in their defiant adherence to the members from all over Europe the one who thinks differently” a single table, they would likely More than 2,000 apartments as the market situation shows will mark the 100th anniversary In contrast, the individuals ideals of socialism. The beginning use the opportunity to make their and “Those who do not move have very little to say to each are currently on the market for no sign of relief. Young profes- of the death of Luxemburg and who have been taking part in of one popular children’s song in pilgrimage to the graves in Fried- do not notice their chains.” Of other. €4,500 or more per square meter, sionals, university students and which constitutes roughly half lower-income families are being the condominiums for sale, both hit especially hard. new and old. The sky is the limit Built next to that Wall: “Living Levels”, a high-priced apartment building where East and West Berlin were once separated. More than a hundred appli- with penthouses and apartments cants per apartment and lines of between €5 and €10 million At the same time, however, more expensive. The same goes potential tenants cueing around becoming a sought-after com- housing construction has not for minerals and mineral oil. the corner to attend viewings modity for German and foreign been able to keep up with In fact, between February 2017 have become the norm in many investors seeking to participate in demand. According to city and February 2018, German con- neighborhoods. “You have to be the boom and own a piece of the authorities, 194,000 new units REAL ESTATE struction companies have seen creative and willing to make a pie – or a pad in Berlin. will be needed by 2030 – an the cost of concrete rise 2.7 per- number of compromises to find For the city, this is a new objective that seems out of reach AND RENTAL PRICES cent while the cost of bitumen an apartment you can actually phenomenon. For years, Berlin as public housing companies and used for road surfacing and roof- afford,” says Marie Steffens, a was “poor but sexy” – a phrase private developers struggle with ing rose 8.6 percent. Steel used student at Berlin’s Free Univer- coined by former mayor Klaus bureaucracy and rising costs, let HAVE DOUBLED IN in stabilizing concrete structures sity, who has spent more than six Wowereit. But today we see a dif- alone properties adequate for saw a price increase of almost months looking for an apartment. ferent situation. “There are four urban development. THE PAST TEN YEARS 20 percent, and even softwood So while Berlin’s mayor Michael reasons for Berlin’s tremendous “And lastly, the average stan- timber has been affected with a Müller (SPD) pointed a finger price development,” says Till dard land value for residential price increase of 4.5 percent. at foreign investors in a recent Johannes Brühöfener-McCourt, plots zoned for closed construc- Another factor contributing to interview, and considered banning who heads the research depart- tion has increased sevenfold expensive,” says Robert Mom- prices. “Although construction higher construction costs is a lack them from purchasing homes in ment at Ziegert, a Berlin based in the past nine years,” says berg, managing director of the is pretty much a local business of skilled workers. “The market Berlin – much like in New Zea- banking and real estate consult- Brühöfener-McCourt. “Simulta- Building Industry Federation relying on regional sourcing, we is practically void, which is due land – developers, builders and ing firm. “First of all, Berlin’s neously, residential developers East, representing 260 build- are nevertheless susceptible to in part to demographic change, Berliners are still waiting for costs positive economic development. have seen an increase in costs of ing companies in Berlin, Bran- global market price changes,” but also to image problems con- and red tape to decrease and the SALE | PURCHASE | PROPERTY MANAGEMENT In the last ten years, we’ve seen over 25 percent.” The result is denburg, Saxony and Saxony- he explains. In other words, struction professions have among number of available and afford- an annual GDP increase per clear: buying or renting a home Anhalt. “One contributing factor when the Chinese administration younger generations,” says Mom- able homes to increase. working person of 4.6 percent. has become a lot more expensive being higher demand resulting in decides to create the next mega- berg. “And you have to remember villas [email protected] Secondly, in the same timeframe, in Berlin, a city that has been higher prices. A simple case of city and construction companies that construction requires a lot TONG-JIN SMITH appartments we’ve seen the workforce grow known as the most affordable demand and supply. But there’s involved in its development buy of manpower. In fact, up to 28 is a freelance journalist and a www.krossa-co.de by 20.6 percent.” This, he says, and hip European capital. more to it.” Momberg lists raw up all the steel they can find on percent of building costs are com- lecturer at the Free University residential- and commercial property has had a stimulating effect on “There is no denying it: con- materials as a contributing factor the market, building a multi- prised of labor costs.” Increased of Berlin. estate agent the housing market. struction has become more resulting in higher real estate family house in Berlin becomes digitization may help create new plots 38 The Berlin Times October 2018 October 2018 The Berlin Times 39 PICTURE ALLIANCE / AKG-IMAGES Runway model Berlin is spotlighting the history of the former Tempelhof Airport during DES TERRORS LEMWERDER / TOPOGRAPHIE WENZ, F.-HERBERT © ARCHIV the Nazi era. The city is also gearing up to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift with a festival featuring almost 40 original aircraft

Arlington, Virginia. The dimen- bly of aircraft was to use massive Army was actually the first to airport, which was decommis- another four months until late BY JAN KEPP sions at Tempelhof in the Nazi numbers of forced laborers taken occupy Tempelhof airport, but sioned in 2008, is now a park summer of that year. The twin era reflected a preoccupation by the Nazis from German-occu- in July 1945, the US Air Force mainly used by the residents of its historical events, Berlin Blockade empelhof Airport is with overly large buildings that pied territories. More than 3,000 took over and maintained an air surrounding neighborhoods. The and Berlin Airlift, are thus not firmly anchored in the was typical of National Socialist men and women were ruthlessly base in the eastern part of the technical and logistical arrange- chronologically identical. Tcollective memory of architecture. The original termi- exploited and forced to work in building all the way up to 1994. ments required for a three-day The lifting of the Blockade and (West) Berlin residents first and nal building, which functioned weapons manufacturing for the The western part of the airport commemorative event will pre- the end of the Airlift marked the foremost as the main take-off as such up until the end of the Luftwaffe. Living in barebones was opened for civil aviation sumably end up being too pro- resolution of the first true crisis and landing strip used by the war, appeared almost as a dwarf barracks at the edge of the air- under German administration tracted to incorporate the central of the Cold War by peaceful American and British “Ros- in comparison to it. field, the forced laborers had in 1951. site of the Airlift. means. However, the absence inenbomber” (transport planes) With the outbreak of war, the to work for ten or more hours The image of the US soldiers For recent generations of Ber- of military force did not prevent during the Berlin Airlift 1948-49. new airport complex was trans- each day, all the while with inad- in West Berlin changed deeply liners, the sheer scale of the larg- all loss of human life during This “gateway to the free formed into a large-scale aircraft equate amounts of food. They with the start of the Berlin Air- est humanitarian relief action in the Air Lift. Airplane accidents world” would continue to factory. The roof of the building faced draconian punishments lift or “Luftbrücke” (air bridge). the history of the world can be accounted for the death of at influence the emotional lives of was extended over the airfield’s for the slightest negligence or After the unprecedented supply hard to comprehend. For more least 78 people, the names of West Berliners from the 1950s “apron” and given a wooden offense and there was very lim- of food and especially coal to than a year, propeller planes whom are engraved on the base on. In contrast, very little is exterior, thus creating spacious ited medical care. This meant the city – which had been sealed delivered a total of two mil- of the Airlift Memorial in front known about the role played factory halls. The companies that many of the forced labor- off on all sides by the Rus- lion tons of supplies to Berlin. of the former airport. by Tempelhof Airport during known as Weser Flugzeugbau ers did not survive their time sians – between June 24, 1948, Thus, more than 270,000 flights, One of the honorary guests at the era of National Socialism and May 12, 1949, Berliners i.e. almost 1,000 flights per day the 70 Years Berlin Airlift festival (1933–1945). started to see the GIs more as to guarantee the survival of the will be none other than Gail Sey- The exhibition “Ein weites protectors than as occupiers. Under construction: Junkers Ju 87 in 1943 at Tempelhof. hungry and freezing citizens mour “Hal” Halvorsen, born Oct. Sent from above: Uncle Wiggly Wings. Feld” (A Wide Field - Tempelhof From that moment on, this new of West Berlin. The technical 10, 1920, in Salt Lake City, UT. Airport and its History), which relationship was reflected and Wiesbaden Erbenheim Airbase With the help of these original and logistical feats of air trans- Halvorsen was the first pilot to – one was Halvorsen’s. He thus explain that he had just wanted is on display until the end of the A NEW GENERATION celebrated once a year at the (June 10–12) in Hessen, then aircraft, organizers will reenact port executed by the pilots and just before landing at Tempelhof arranged with the kids that he to bring a little happiness to the year in the former General Avia- US Air Force’s Open Door Day to Fliegerhorst Faßberg (June the actual schedule and time ground crews remain one of a – delight children waiting atop would “wiggle” his wings as he needy children of bombed-out tion Terminal, seeks to change OF BERLINERS WILL BE at Tempelhof, a huge festival 12–15) in Lower Saxony and intervals from 1948–49 at the kind and will forever be linked the mountains of rubble in Neu- approached, earning him the nick- Berlin. Historical eyewitnesses A WIDE FIELD – TEMPELHOF this. Curated by the Topography attended by hundreds of thou- finally to the airfield in Berlin- three airports. In other words, to the history of Berlin. kölln by pitching from his plane name “Uncle Wiggly Wings.” agree that he had a tremendously AIRPORT AND ITS HISTORY of Terror foundation in Berlin, ABLE TO EXPERIENCE sands of people. Schönhagen (June 15–19). for the first time in 70 years, a The incessant, positive reports bags of candy, each equipped Halvorsen’s initiative was positive impact on the image the exhibition focuses on the The gratitude of Berliners for Of the many airplanes that new generation of Berliners will by news outlets all over the world with its own little parachute. This quickly picked up by the press, of Americans in postwar Ger- strategic expansion of the air- the energetic and extensive soli- participated in the Airlift, there be able to experience the Airlift focusing on the Allied air deliver- Operation Little Vittles led to the unleashing a wave of support. He many. An exhibition by the Topography of Terror THE AIRLIFT WITH THEIR foundation at the former Tempelhof Airport; port starting in 1936 and its darity shown by the Allies for are only roughly 160 left in with their own eyes. At the air- ies in 1948–49 and the burgeon- Airlift pilots and their airplanes and his crew were soon given 425 until Dec. 30, 2018. later use as a weapons produc- their walled-off city will be on operation worldwide. Individ- ports in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, ing reputation of the Western to be called “Rosinenbomber,” kilos of sweets to drop on Berlin tion site. Emphasis is also placed OWN EYES display again in the coming year. ual fans, foundations, museums Faßberg and Berlin-Schönhagen, powers constituted one of the or “Candy Bombers.” As the each day. By the end of the Air JAN KEPP Free entrance daily from 10AM to 7PM. on the fate of the thousands of A week-long festival is currently and associations spend a lot of crews and aircraft will also be reasons the Soviet Blockade was airplanes landed at Tempelhof Lift, a total of about 25 airplane is a freelance journalist based in Berlin. laborers who were forced to in the works for June 2019; the time and effort to keep them in on display for the general public lifted on May 12, 1949. None- every 90 seconds, the children on crews threw 23 tons of candy over work on the assembly of combat event will take place at three good flying condition. For the to visit up close. Plans include theless, the Airlift carried on for the ground could not tell which the city. Halvorsen would later aircraft. and Deutsche Lufthansa used at Tempelhof; some were even locations and commemorate one-week festival in Germany, a “Luftbrücke zum Anfassen” Large sections of the monu- the facilities as an important site killed in Allied bombing raids. the end of the Berlin Airlift 70 almost 40 planes have already (hands-on airlift) accompanied mental airport complex at Tem- for the manufacturing of equip- While the old manufacturing years prior. The special feature agreed to participate. Some of by multiple-day public events pelhof were built between 1936 ment for the Luftwaffe during buildings were almost com- of the fest: those historical “Ros- them will be coming from diverse and school and youth projects. and 1939 at the edge of the then the war. Among other things, pletely destroyed in the war, inenbomber” transport planes European cities, over 20 will be Whether the airplanes will be airfield. Although never fully Tempelhof saw the production the new main building remained will be returning to Germany. flying from the United States, able to land at Tempelhof Air- completed, at the beginning of of roughly 2,000 Ju-87 dive intact. The order to demolish A number of the original planes and a DC-4 will be coming to port is currently being debated the 1940s it comprised the larg- bombers, which would go on it was apparently ignored by – including Douglas DC-3/C-47, Germany from South Africa. in Berlin political circles. While est building in the world in terms to become the backbone of the the airport commander, and the Douglas DC-4/C-54 and Junk- One owner has indicated that a special permit good just for the of area covered; in the post- Nazi Luftwaffe. Allies also spared the complex, ers JU-52 models – will make he intends to make the flight all exhibition is theoretically con- war period, that position would During the war, the only way seeing as they planned to use it their way from several different the way from Australia to be a ceivable, it seems highly improb- be usurped by the Pentagon in to guarantee the efficient assem- for their own purposes. The Red corners of the world, first to the part of the reunion. able. The spacious tarmac of the

done with walls Berlin #FreiheitBerlin

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BePa_GermanTimes_DoneWithWalls_375x264_ISOnewspaper.indd 1 07.03.18 11:58 40 The Berlin Times October 2018

For a short time in 2017, it looked like Friedenauer Presse would have to close its doors. But after the 87-year-old

HENRIETTE GÄNGEL Katharina Wolff stepped down, Friederike Jacob (left) could not let the storied publishing house vanish, and decided to take it over herself: “I invite everyone to discover Friedenauer Presse again or for the first time.”

excavations that lie unrecog- embarked on an adventurous tution, thanks in large part to the BY LUTZ LICHTENBERGER nized and dormant in archives, journey to Moscow in search of efforts of its tireless patron and anthologies and complete edi- the lost manuscript. There, she prose stylist, Peter Urban. Urban, n inconspicuous street tions.” managed to track down Babel’s who died in 2013, translated all in Berlin’s Wedding dis- Friedenauer Presse began in the widow, Antonina Pirozhkova, the big names: Daniil Kharms, Atrict: in a light-flooded 1960s with a focus on German who was about to emigrate to Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Goncha- apartment on the second floor contemporary literature. The Florida. Though she put herself rov, Maxim Gorky, Alexander of a classic pre-war tenement first book they published was at risk by doing so, she had kept Pushkin and especially Anton stands a seemingly ordinary written by the later Nobel Prize the remaining parts of the diary Chekhov. Anyone witnessing bookshelf. A closer look reveals winner Günter Grass – it was a for all those years. Wagenbach one of the countless Chekhov that it holds nothing less than thread-bound brochure. To this needed barely one afternoon to performances being staged at any the history of German-Russian day, the house continues to pub- gain Pirozhkova’s trust. She then given time experiences it in the publishing, literature and cul- lish such booklets of bibliophilic retyped the manuscript on her tone set by Urban. It comes with- ture. And, along with Friederike elegance in its Presse-Ducked typewriter and journeyed back to out the flowery, almost lovely Jacob, it also holds the future of series. Berlin, where the publisher’s star touch of the older translations, this tradition. The 35-year-old In 1983, Wagenbach took over translator, Peter Urban, trans- but shines in its sober, elegant Slavicist is the new publisher at the management of the publish- timbre. Jacob, who devoured Friedenauer Presse, the widely ing house, and with her came Dostoyevsky as a teenager and renowned Berlin publishing increased attention on Russian later learned to love Chekhov, is house also known as a one-stop literature. For the woman who publishing a new edition of his shop for German translations of had never lived in Russia but Seven Stories. Russian world literature. grew up surrounded by Rus- And in the spring, Friederike Friedenauer Presse was sian parents and grandparents, Literary mission Jacob is waiting, as did her pre- founded in 1963 in the epony- Russian literature was a time decessor thirty years earlier, in a mous southwestern district of machine, her homeland in the similarly confused political situ- Berlin by Andreas Wolff, the pages of a tattered book. In the Friedenauer Presse is rekindling international ation for a supposedly lost trove. grandson of the St. Petersburg midst of the Cold War, her mis- understanding through great works of art Then came the stories of Vsevolod publisher M.O. Wolff. From sion was not a political one. Petrov (1912–1978), whose dis- the very beginning it was the However, Wagenbach’s publica- covery in the Pushkin Archive in mission of the publishing house tions had, as all successful books Moscow was a recent cultural to make previously untranslated do, just enough global aware- She also wanted to paint a dif- and genuine. It has its own space, lated the text into German. Frie- spectacle in Russia. “Literature is and unpublished works acces- ness. The publisher also takes ferent picture of Eastern Europe. it makes it possible to approach denauer Presse finally published more direct, it’s a fictional real- sible to German readers. Wolff's on translations from French, Considering the current political a country without receiving a the book in 1990. ity – and yet can convey a differ- successor, his daughter Katha- Spanish and Polish, but Russian conflict between Russia, the US pre-emptive interpretation of it.” Friederike Jacob has already ent image of a society, and thus rina Wagenbach, describes the works remain the focus. and Europe, media coverage, One of the most important reissued Babel's Red Cavalry in resonate beyond the private space idea as follows: “It’s about Jacob, who was born that same irrespective of political direction, books published by Friende- her first program this autumn, of the reader,” says Jacob. She enabling readers to make dis- year, remarks that the publishing is always necessary from a spe- nauer remains Isaac Babel’s which will be followed by a new sounds very much like her great coveries, regardless of time and house has stayed unequivocally cific perspective. “Fortunately, Diary: 1920, the basis for his edition of Diary: 1920 next year. predecessor Katharina Wagen- language – novelties as well as loyal to its initial mission. “Lit- the raison d'être of literature is famous novel Red Cavalry. In Friedenauer Presse has become bach. The tradition of the house the (unjustly) forgotten, the erature is not simply reporting.” different. Literature is immediate the mid-1980s, Wagenbach a German-Russian literary insti- is ready for the future.

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