The Local Germany

215 countries, 26 years and one engine

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 13:46:00 +0200

Gunther Holtorf left Bavaria in 1989 in his blue four-by-four planning to visit Africa. 26 years later he's returning home after travelling 900,000 kilometres and visiting 215 countries.

Animal activist fights off murder threats

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 10:11:00 +0200

Friedrich Mülln has been dragged through the courts and threatened with murder during his years of animal rights activism. His latest court case was in Munich this week but he tells The Local he has no plans to give up the fight.

Klinsmann: Not German enough for Germany?

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 17:46:00 +0200

The USA’s German-born coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, squares up against his countrymen on Thursday in the football World Cup. The former German coach changed the nation's football forever and is The Local's German of the Week.

'Hotties were always allowed in'

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:31:00 +0100

Sifting through Munich's riff-raff is no easy task - Klaus Gunschmann did it for two decades at the door of the city's most famous nightclub, P1. The empire he ran - as doorman and boss, turns 30 this year - he's our German of the Week.

Writer trades shopping for hunter-gathering

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 10:45:00 +0100

For a year writer Greta Taubert turned her back on consumerism in favour of self-sufficiency. Her experiment in independent living doubled up as preparation for an apocalypse, making her The Local’s German of the Week.

'Germans work hard, let's give them a break'

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 16:12:00 +0100

Thai boxer by night, head of Porsche's supervisory board by day, Uwe Hück made the news this week by calling for shorter working hours. He is The Local's German of the Week.

Keeper of Germany's finest wine cellar

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:17:00 +0100

Keeping the keys to Bremen´s 15th century wine cellar means becoming a part of a 600-year-old tradition. The vast collection is one of the indebted city's most valuable assets but is being targeted by a wealthy Chinese collector.

Former Miss Germany tries luck in Mexico

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 14:01:00 +0200

Natalie Ackermann was crowned Miss Germany seven years ago. Today she is a host on Mexican television and will shoot a movie with actor Antonio Banderas. A soap star with Hollywood ambitions, she is The Local's German of the Week.

Leading opera singer turns to comedy

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 16:43:00 +0200

Thomas Quasthoff left behind a sparkling career as a concert bass-baritone last year to pursue new projects. Now he stars in a comedy show in Berlin's West End. One of the country's most acclaimed performers, he is our German of the Week.

From fencer to Olympic boss - Thomas Bach

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:36:00 +0200

On Tuesday, former fencer Thomas Bach became the most powerful man in international sport after being elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He is the first German in 119 years to hold the position making him our German of the Week.

The man who gate-crashed Merkel's plane

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:58:00 +0200

He is known only as Volkan T. But the mystery bodybuilder is the man behind one of Germany’s more bizarre news stories this summer, making him our German of the week.

'Crybaby' Playboy model travels like refugee

Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:40:00 +0200

Former playboy model Mirja du Mont seriously risked breaking a nail when she agreed to travel like an asylum seeker for a controversial reality-documentary – a journey we say makes her German of the Week.

The blue-blooded Bavarian Duke

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 18:00:00 +0200

All eyes were on the British royals this week, while in Bavaria a direct descendant of Stuart King Charles I turned 80 in relative privacy. Yet our German of the week Franz Herzog von Bayern's blood runs as blue as little Prince George's.

Gangster rapper with an appetite for scandal

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 18:28:00 +0200

This Friday, his latest song will be banned to minors - a move made faster than normal in an attempt to stop sales benefiting from the controversy. For good or bad, this makes rapper Bushido our German of the Week.

Playmobil mogul still in the game at 80

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:35:00 +0200

Generations of children all over the world have one German man to thank for hours of fun. Playmobil owner Horst Brandstätter reached the ripe old age of 80 on Thursday, making him our German of the Week.

'I am Senegalese, but firstly I am German'

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:43:00 +0200

Karamba Diaby hopes to become the first black member of the Bundestag this September, making him The Local's German of Week.

Sandbag volunteers: 'You have to help'

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:30:00 +0200

Germany has been watching in horror as rivers break their banks, flooding towns and cities, prompting evacuation and turning farmland into bogs. Our Germans of the Week are all those who pulled on wellies to help others.

'I hate Wagner but I hate him on my knees'

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:12:00 +0200

Germany is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wagner on Wednesday. Probably the country's most revered and reviled composer, the man considered both a musical genius and an anti-Semite is The Local's German of the Week.

'At his final heartbeat I knew I had to act'

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:08:00 +0200

The trial of a group of young men suspected of beating to death 20-year-old Jonny K. began in Berlin this week. His older sister's tireless campaigning for a safer capital in the wake of his death makes her our German of the Week.

'Today I am happy to live with a beard'

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:47:00 +0200

Women with facial hair used to be relegated to carnival sideshows, but one bearded lady is fighting for her right to remain unshaven. Mariam is The Local's German of the Week.