cafebabel.com

20 years reunification: Coke, immigrants and east Germans

('eurotopics',) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:28:46 -0000

On 3 October Germany celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its reunification. But many are disappointed with the unification process and East Germans are still underrepresented among the country's elites, the Czech, UK, Italian and Slovakian papers write

Melancholy in Berlin: views of three foreign writer residents

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:43:59 -0000

Very loosely, a 19-year-old Klaus Mann saw 1920s Berlin as 'seductive, gray, scabby, peeling, yet vibrant vitality, nervous, shimmering, phosphorescent, animated, full of tensions and promises.' Italian, Croatian and French writers Gianluca Falanga, Maksim Cristan and Maia Mazaurette give us their noughties take

To be or to be in Berlin: poor but (creatively) rich

('Camelia Ivanova',) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:22:59 -0000

Money and the crisis are not on the agenda for Berliners who can focus on different things, such as art. 'Being poor is not cool, but OK,' is the word on the street. It all looks very promising for someone from Bulgaria, the EU's officially poorest country, where a lack of money, unlike cheap glamour, can never be a virtue

Berlin film festival: 60 years of masterpieces

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The Berlin international film festival (or Berlinale) has been fraught with political struggles. Created by the allies of west Berlin right under the noses of communist dictators, it was a way of opening a window to the 'free' world. Over the years, it has developed into an unmissable world cinema event

European bloggers describe their Berlin walls

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:11 -0000

Monday is 9 November, the day when the Berlin wall was brought down. To reflect on this iconic modern historical event for the eurogeneration, citizen journalists from five cafebabel.com local teams - Sofia, Budapest, Turin, Strasbourg and Istanbul - simultaneously blogged one day about the walls they see in their cities

20th anniversary: go and see the 'Berlin wall' be destroyed in Paris

('Aatish Pattni',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0000

On 9 November 2009 there will be a lot of commemoration services to celebrate the Berlin wall coming down 20 years ago. Two ‘euro-enthusiast’ associations in Paris are organising a ‘destroy party’ on the big day itself. What’s the concept? A wall made of foam, some pickaxes and some good wine

Jean-Christophe Bas: 'the erasmus generation doesn’t know how lucky it is'

('Helen Swain',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0000

Finally, on 9 November 1989, there was peace. Young Europeans born after this historic day did experience the war. But what does the construction of Europe mean to them? In his book L’Europe à la carte, Jean-Christophe Bas calls upon the spoiled children of the eurogeneration’s in order to create a less self-centred Europe.

9/11 - the fateful day of German history

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:17:00 -0000

From the revolution to the reunification, from Hitler’s putsch until Kristallnacht: November 9 marks the German history of the twentieth century

Czech internet forums, KSCM: disillusionment and nostalgia for communist past

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:26:47 -0000

Two decades ago, the Czechs were clinking their keys to bring down the communist regime. Today, the communist party is winning some support back as some claim they they lived better under communism. Others allege that the same people hold power and that totalitarian practices persist. We scour three major Czech news website forums to weigh up the tone of the people

It's like talking to a Berlin wall

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000

140 kilometres of wall crumbled in 1989 and hundreds of European expressions arose as it fell. The idiom of the week is flavoured by the 9 November event

Berlin craze: tourists shun sights for ‘Kiez’ experience

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The metropolis attracts more visitors than any other German city with almost 18 million overnight stays in 2008. But tourism is no longer about taking in the typical sights: tourists are now taking over ‘Kiez’ (city neighbourhoods) and bikes which, until now, were exclusively secrets for the capital’s residents

An East German childhood: ‘People took off their clothes to express their freedom’

('Sarah Pybus',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0000

West Germans often subscribe to a pretty grim idea of life growing up behind the wall in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Yet although East German children had few toys and less holidays, were they really less happy than their western counterparts? Eik, 29, recalls his Soviet upbringing

Soviet nostalgia: Russian drink, bunker parties and film in Vilnius

('Ed Saunders',) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Twenty years after the Iron Curtain, the Baltic tiger is experiencing a bout of nostalgia. A young, trendy generation, fed up of hearing about the past, is looking back at a not-quite-so ‘carefree’ childhood under the soviet regime

2 days in Warsaw: Solidarnosc, cult Polish documentaries and Berlusconi

('Lydia Bigos',) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:42:13 -0000

For two days at the end of April 2009, the Polish capital becomes the 'centre of Europe' as the EU's largest centre-right party descend on the city. Quality time spent between British, Spanish and Polish colleagues raises an understanding of what the last twenty years mean, and the gap between east and west. Opinion

Alison Smale: 'by learning languages I could escape the boring life I had been living as a child in England'

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:15:00 -0000

The former German and Politics student at Bristol university is the first woman to lead the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. The multilingual managing editor talks European elections, languages and journalism

London and Berlin reviews of Mark Ravenhill's 'Over There' play

('Sandra Wickert',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:30:46 -0000

Mark Ravenhill’s unconventional play about identical twins who are reunited after growing up in east and west Germany travelled from London to Berlin this spring. Our London reviewer calls it a timely commentary on the EU’s current political troubles. Our Berlin reviewer wonders if the British director reproaches the Germans with the repression of history. Cross-reviews from the Royal Court and Schaubühne theatres

What communism means to three central and eastern European women

('Kate Robinson',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin wall, what does communism mean to Cecilia, 22, from Bulgaria, Katharina, 20, from Slovakia and Anna, 28, from the Czech Republic?

Solidarity turn their backs on 1989

('Aatish Pattni',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 -0000

In 1989, the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) trade union contributed to a democratic revolution in Poland. Now, on the 20th anniversary the celebrations could be called off due to trade union protestors

Mihai Mircea Butcovan: 'the majority of Italians ignore everything which Romania does for the EU'

('Michelle Williams',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:45:00 -0000

The Italy-based writer and poet, 40, looks at the Romania he left behind twenty years after the revolution ended the communist regime. Interview

Opium, the green gold of Afghanistan

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:00:00 -0000

Despite the efforts of the United Nations and the government, the production of opium continues to grow, inundating Europe with tonnes of heroin.