https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed A 79-year-old former agent of East Germany's Stasi secret police has been charged with shooting dead a Polish man in 1974 as he tried to escape to the West, prosecutors said Thursday. https://www.thelocal.de/20231012/50-years-later-ex-stasi-agent-charged-with-killing-man-fleeing-to-west-germany Thu, 12 Oct 2023 18:18:43 +0200 50-years-later-ex-stasi-agent-charged-with-killing-man-fleeing-to-west-germany Wednesday January 27th marks the 25th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day. The Local spoke with one survivor about her experiences and why she ultimately returned to the place she once fled. https://www.thelocal.de/20191129/i-decided-to-stay-why-a-holocaust-survivor-chose-to-return-to-east-berlin Fri, 29 Nov 2019 11:59:56 +0100 i-decided-to-stay-why-a-holocaust-survivor-chose-to-return-to-east-berlin The Beatles famously sang "All you need is love." For Hans and Uschi Kriz, living on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall, both love and grit were necessary for starting their lives together. https://www.thelocal.de/20201109/beatmusic-over-berlin-a-cold-war-love-story Mon, 09 Nov 2020 12:55:49 +0100 beatmusic-over-berlin-a-cold-war-love-story In a time when US absentee ballot signatures are being questioned, author Susan Signe Morrison remembers the 1988 election and a vexed incident of signature recognition. https://www.thelocal.de/20201029/what-it-was-like-voting-as-an-american-in-germany-right-before-the-berlin-wall-fell Thu, 29 Oct 2020 17:23:09 +0100 what-it-was-like-voting-as-an-american-in-germany-right-before-the-berlin-wall-fell Three decades ago this week, demonstrations against the GDR reached fever pitch, signalling the beginning of the end for the East German communist regime - and it all began with meetings held in a Leipzig church. https://www.thelocal.de/20191010/how-a-leipzig-church-led-to-peaceful-revolution-and-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall Thu, 10 Oct 2019 13:39:44 +0200 how-a-leipzig-church-led-to-peaceful-revolution-and-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall On October 3rd, Germany celebrates 30 years of reunification. But by that date in 1990, the cogs of reform had already been turning for quite some time. The Local looks at just what happened during this momentous year - from the night the Wall fell to the day two countries truly became one. https://www.thelocal.de/20151001/timeline-the-road-to-german-reunification Thu, 01 Oct 2015 16:26:19 +0200 timeline-the-road-to-german-reunification Many terms used in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) fell out of use after German reunification, but some can still be heard in former East Germany today. A new book seeks to help west Germans brush up on their GDR lingo. https://www.thelocal.de/20200916/what-divides-the-german-language-between-the-east-and-west Wed, 16 Sep 2020 19:03:01 +0200 what-divides-the-german-language-between-the-east-and-west Almost 30 years on from German reunification, the former East Germany has largely caught up with the west economically but still has a lower level of trust in democracy, according to an annual report presented Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.de/20200917/german-report-hails-success-of-reunification-30-years-on Thu, 17 Sep 2020 11:34:30 +0200 german-report-hails-success-of-reunification-30-years-on To mark German Reunification Day on Thursday The Local spoke to two eastern Germans from different generations to find out what unity means to them and what they think the country can learn from its past. https://www.thelocal.de/20181003/talkin-bout-my-generation Wed, 03 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0200 talkin-bout-my-generation Citizens of former East Germany were subjected to communist dictators, an all-imposing secret police and material shortages. Yet these issues became the butt of many knee-slapping jokes. https://www.thelocal.de/20191003/jokes-from-former-east-germany Thu, 03 Oct 2019 09:45:59 +0200 jokes-from-former-east-germany A new study has highlighted major concerns of eastern Germans, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. https://www.thelocal.de/20191002/is-germany-really-united-30-years-after-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:22:22 +0200 is-germany-really-united-30-years-after-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall Nearly 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, Germany's parliament voted Thursday to transfer the vast secret police files of the former East German communist regime into the Federal Archives -- despite concerns voiced by some historians and ex-dissidents. https://www.thelocal.de/20190927/a-lid-will-be-put-on-history-stasi-archive Fri, 27 Sep 2019 11:29:11 +0200 a-lid-will-be-put-on-history-stasi-archive Nearing the 30 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we explore how five films compare to the real East Germany and how east Germans feel about these portrayals of their former state. https://www.thelocal.de/20190925/films-east-germany-legacy-east-germans-perceive-them Wed, 25 Sep 2019 17:49:59 +0200 films-east-germany-legacy-east-germans-perceive-them For years after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the mantra for millions of former East Germans was to "Go West" for better jobs and opportunities. But now the reverse is often the case. https://www.thelocal.de/20190924/go-east-more-germans-returning-to-roots Tue, 24 Sep 2019 11:15:44 +0200 go-east-more-germans-returning-to-roots In the German Democratic Republic (GDR) he was a hero of the people, and in all of Germany he was a role model: the cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn has died at the age of 82. https://www.thelocal.de/20190923/tributes-sigmund-jahn-germany-first-man-space Mon, 23 Sep 2019 13:23:22 +0200 tributes-sigmund-jahn-germany-first-man-space The little known tragedy of the 1969 rumoured Rolling Stones concert captures both the East Germans’ determination for freedom of expression, and the horrors of life under the Stasi. https://www.thelocal.de/20190912/rolling-stones-concert-east-germany Thu, 12 Sep 2019 12:41:59 +0200 rolling-stones-concert-east-germany August 19th marks the 30th anniversary of a pivotal event that led to the fall the Iron Curtain. We remember the East Germans who tried to escape via the Bulgarian border in the years leading up to the end of communism. https://www.thelocal.de/20190819/remembering-german-victims-of-bulgarias-iron-curtain Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:19:55 +0200 remembering-german-victims-of-bulgarias-iron-curtain Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the city of Sopron Monday to commemorate a pivotal moment in the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. https://www.thelocal.de/20190819/merkel-to-mark-iron-curtain-anniversary-amid-new-divides Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:36:07 +0200 merkel-to-mark-iron-curtain-anniversary-amid-new-divides Feeling ignored and short on resources, many in the east German state of Brandenburg are turning to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of the September 1st state elections. https://www.thelocal.de/20190816/brandenburg-elections-in-east-german-rust-belt-economic-fears-boost-far-right Fri, 16 Aug 2019 11:58:23 +0200 brandenburg-elections-in-east-german-rust-belt-economic-fears-boost-far-right Though national stereotypes purport that Germans adore order and rules, Germany is not shy of protests and demonstrations. Here is a look at what sparked the protest culture of today. https://www.thelocal.de/20190716/why-did-germans-protest-on-monday-evenings Tue, 16 Jul 2019 17:50:44 +0200 why-did-germans-protest-on-monday-evenings