Category Archives: politics

>Renft

Posted on 10/02/2011 by Marcellina

> A recent blogpost elswhere about “Krautrock” (classic rock music from Germany) got me thinking about a post I had wanted a certain music critic friend to write. He never got around to it so I guess I’ll have to … Continue reading →

Posted in Germany, history, lives of others, music, politics | Comments Off on >Renft

>Hilde Zach 1942-2011

Posted on 17/01/2011 by Marcellina

> The former mayor of Innsbruck was a special kind of politician. First, she loved Innsbruck (it was said that the city was her “only child”). In her eight years in office, I never heard a single bad word said … Continue reading →

Posted in Austria, culture, current events, lives of others, music, politics | 3 Comments

>Fun With The Language

Posted on 21/11/2010 by Marcellina

>New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich writes about Sarah Palin this week, and in doing so has coined the perfect word to describe her new reality show, and in turn the perfect word to describe the image she presents … Continue reading →

Posted in America, culture, current events, Life Abroad, media, politics | 2 Comments

>The Other September 11th.

Posted on 08/09/2010 by Marcellina

>I caught this poem in a film clip at the end of Patrizio Guzman’s documentary “Salvador Allende”, read aloud by its author, Gonzalo Millán. I couldn’t find an English translation of it online, so you’ll just have to accept mine. … Continue reading →

Posted in history, literature, memory, politics | 2 Comments

>Prussian

Posted on 08/09/2010 by Marcellina

>Do you know that the name Prussia goes much further back than the northern German kingdom with which we mostly associate the name? Prussia was a group of tribes in the Baltics, and the Prussian language (now dead) was related … Continue reading →

Posted in assimilation, Germany, history, media, politics | Comments Off on >Prussian

>Munich History: Hans and Sophie Scholl, Kurt Eisner

Posted on 14/06/2010 by Marcellina

>If you don’t know the brief, sad yet courageous story of the Scholl siblings, Sophie and Hans, then go directly to the Sophie Scholl entry in wikipedia before you continue. In all honesty, it’s not clear to me why she … Continue reading →

Posted in Germany, history, memory, politics | 2 Comments

>Up In The Border Guard Tower

Posted on 26/04/2010 by Marcellina

>On the way back from Freiberg, we took a detour off the Autobahn and went hunting for the old East-West border, which is now just a state line again. We knew there were still guard towers standing, we could see … Continue reading →

Posted in archaeology, Germany, history, politics, travel | 2 Comments

>"A Massacre… Would Have Been More Humane"

Posted on 10/04/2010 by Marcellina

>ARD, Germany’s “first” national television station, aired an extraordinary documentary last night about the Armenian Genocide. It mixed rare photos and film footage with “clips” of “interviews” — using well-known German actors portraying contemporary witnesses, their lines from those witnesses’ … Continue reading →

Posted in current events, Germany, history, media, politics | 2 Comments

>Filmschau: About Gretel Bergmann and Dora Ratjen

Posted on 16/12/2009 by Marcellina

>I just saw a new German film the other day, “Berlin 36”. While the film itself was only so-so as far as how it was made (although acted and shot very well), the true story on which it’s based is … Continue reading →

Posted in Germany, history, politics, sport | Comments Off on >Filmschau: About Gretel Bergmann and Dora Ratjen

>Have You Heard Of Herta Müller?

Posted on 12/10/2009 by Marcellina

>Neither had I. She has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. More significantly, neither had the beau, who is knows a lot about European literature. Wikipedia, in its entry on Müller, says that prior to the award, Müller … Continue reading →

Posted in assimilation, culture, current events, Germany, history, memory, politics | Comments Off on >Have You Heard Of Herta Müller?