Some call today’s German election boring, but it could produce a Brexit/Trump-like surprise. Stakes are high as Germans take to the polls today for the 19th federal election since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. The campaign season has been short and rather uneventful, especially by American standards, and Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to have a lock on the top job. However, some surprises may yet be in store — including the makeup of the coalition government she will lead in her fourth term and the makeup of the German Bundestag (parliament). Read more
One afternoon, in a plaza in the center of Dresden, a tall man with a fatherly face and glasses insists that our interview be videotaped. Tourists and natives sit on patios eating sandwiches and ice cream as the man's colleague tries to get the video camera working. An old man in a straw hat approaches me to admire my interview subject. "Just so you know—in anti-Islamic dialogue, he is the No. 1 in Germany! That's why they call him a Nazi. And he is definitely not a Nazi." With the camera finally ready, the man begins his speech, gesticulating as though to a live television audience, even though only a couple curious onlookers are watching. He warns of a surge of radical Islam in Germany. It's...
Statement by ACG Chairman Ambassador Robert M. Kimmitt It is with great sadness that we learned today of the death of Helmut Kohl. I had the honor of working with Chancellor Kohl for over three decades, beginning in the Reagan years, continuing through German Unification, and intensifying when I was appointed as the first American Ambassador in over 50 years to a united Germany. Helmut Kohl will always be remembered as the Chancellor of Unification, but he was also a committed European and strong transatlanticist. We offer his family and the German people our condolences at this difficult time, even as we join them in remembering the life and contribution of one of the Twentieth Century’s major political figures.
Vor 300 Millionen Jahren bildeten die Appalachen, aus denen heute der durch Washington fließende Potomac-Fluss kommt, eine zusammenhängende Kette mit dem Antiatlasgebirge in Marokko - das sogenannte Herzynische System. Der Potomac selbst, der zwischen Pentagon und Weißem Haus liegt und die "National Mall" abschließt, ist nach Angaben des US Geological Service ein vergleichsweise junger Fluß. Er entstand in den vergangenen zwei bis drei Millionen Jahren in Folge mehrerer Eiszeiten, die dazu beitrugen, das heutige Einzugsgebiet zu formen. Erdgeschichtlich betrachtet einen Wimpernschlag von nur 267 Jahren ist es wiederum her, dass ein 18-jähriger Mann namens George Washington, der später Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten und Namensgeber ihrer Hauptstadt werden sollte, an den Ufern dieses Flusses als Landvermesser tätig war. Er trug damit auch zur Landnahme von den...
It is hard to ignore the growing interest in gender equity issues on both sides of the Atlantic. This is especially true in March – which is Women’s History Month in the United States and only a handful of other countries. But, it is normal to see gender issues discussed in the American and German media on a regular basis. At the end of February, a small group of women in Germany launched the Feministisches Netzwerk, a counterpart to the Women’s March on Washington movement. Growing out of the nationwide demonstrations in favor of the rights of women, minorities, and the LBGTQ community on January 21, the Women’s March is now a nonprofit organization with a growing network both nationally and internationally. Across Germany and...
