47 h. ago In Berlin, I took an evening class on fascism – and found out how to stop the AfD | Tania Roettger

With the far-right party ahead in the polls, I discovered that a novel set during the rise of the Nazis provides a timely warningIn 1932, the Berlin-born writer Gabriele Tergit set out to memorialise what she saw as a disappearing world: the lives and fates of the city’s Jews. By 1945, after fleeing the Nazis first to Czechoslovakia, then Palestine, then Britain, Tergit had finished her novel, but it took until 1951 for The Effingers to be published. Even then, only a few German booksellers wanted it in their shops. It was too strange a piece of work for a German public that had watched, if not participated, in the Holocaust.Though overlooked at the time, it has been rediscovered as a classic in Germany, and has now been published in English for the first time. It is a chronicle of three affluent Jewish families in Berlin between 1878 and 1942, with an epilogue set in 1948, based on Tergit’s return visit to her destroyed city. Tergit understood how dangerous the Nazis were. She was ...

Politics

1 week ago Keir Starmer and European leaders set out six major Ukraine peace deal commitments

It came as PM Keir Starmer Starmer travelled to Berlin on Monday evening for talks with Ukraine's war-time leader Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies over a peace deal

Politics

1 week ago European leaders propose ‘multinational force’ and hail ‘significant progress’ on Ukraine talks – Europe live

Statement suggests force to ‘provide robust support’ and enforce a potential peace deal in UkraineSeparately, the commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill has just confirmed that commission president Ursula von der Leyen will attend the Berlin talks this evening.Not a surprise at all, but good to have it formally confirmed. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago European leaders gather for crunch meeting on Ukraine as Zelenskyy says US talks were ‘not easy’ – Europe live

No details on any tangible compromises between US and Ukraine, with Zelenskyy ruling out territorial concessionsSeparately, the commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill has just confirmed that commission president Ursula von der Leyen will attend the Berlin talks this evening.Not a surprise at all, but good to have it formally confirmed. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago European leaders gather in Berlin as US pushes to end Ukraine conflict

Zelenskyy to meet British, French and German leaders, with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also invitedEurope live – latest updatesEuropean leaders including Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday in a show of support hosted by the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, as the US pushes for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.The British prime minister, French president and the heads of Nato and the EU, who have criticised previous US proposals to end the Russian invasion as too favourable to Moscow, are set to convene with Zelenskyy on Monday evening at Merz’s offices in central Berlin. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Berlin, London, New York step up security at Hanukkah events after Sydney attack

Berlin, London, New York step up security at Hanukkah events after Sydney attack  The Times of Israel

Events

2 w. ago Composer Craig Armstrong: "I don’t think anybody realised the impact the film Love Actually would have"

Glasgow composer Craig Armstrong will release his new work Pacific on 5 December 2025 via CMA Records. Written for piano, cello, and electronics, the three-movement piece was originally commissioned in December 2024 by Christian Kellersman, a pioneering figure in contemporary classical and jazz music, for his new live event series Berlin Confidential, co-curated with Alexander Szlovák.

Politics

4 w. ago ‘No topic is too difficult’: children’s series on life in communist East Germany wins an Emmy

In Fritzi’s Footsteps tells story of a girl growing up in Leipzig who witnesses the fall of the Berlin WallThe creators of a children’s television series about life in communist East Germany have said they hope it will awaken interest in the region’s history, after it was awarded an International Emmy.Auf Fritzis Spuren (In Fritzi’s Footsteps) tells the story of a 12-year-old girl living in the eastern city of Leipzig and how she experiences life in the east and the events that lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Continue reading...

Politics