As a relatively small city in Germany, Bremen has quite a significant amount of tourists coming to visit. Last week, as I walked into the Marktplatz (market square) I could tell spring was here as the blue skies and the slightly warmer temperature had once again...
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What’s “Karlsruhe” and why is it in the news the whole time?
If you happen to watch German TV or read German newspapers or simply follow German news, you know that more often than not, notices either begin or end with words along the lines of "Karlsruhe will give an answer by the end of next week" or "meanwhile Karlsruhe will...
German and Austrian Pioneers in LGBTQ Rights
Update: This post was last updated in April 2023 to reflect new laws and to add information for Switzerland. Although we tend to think of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) rights movement as a modern, fairly recent phenomenon, the advocacy of...
Red Bull and the Richest Man in Austria
According to the Forbes annual tally, there were seven billionaires in Austria in 2016. (Only one of them female.) Dietrich "Didi" Mateschitz (1944-2022) was at the top of that list – the wealthiest person in Austria before his death on 22 October 2022 at the age of...
Austria and Germany: Worlds Apart
Billy Wilder (1906-2002), the noted Austrian-American film director (Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Some Like It Hot), as famous as he was, used to complain about how he was frequently misidentified as German. Americans often get Austria and Germany mixed up. Sometimes...
A Prussian in Hawaii: Heinrich Berger and the Royal Hawaiian Band
The story of Heinrich (later Henry) Wilhelm Berger has fascinated me ever since I first learned about the Prussian military musician. Berger traveled all the way from Berlin to Honolulu in 1872 - no simple journey in that day and age. Prussian Emperor (Kaiser) Wilhelm...
Celebrities Who’ve Called Berlin Home
For the past few days the world has been in mourning. David Bowie has died. And like the rest of the world, Berlin is laying claim to its adopted son. Bowie lived in Berlin in the 1970s, departing LA and Switzerland for something altogether more hedonistic. He was...
12 Cities, 12 Fates: Germany Looks Back on the Eve of the 70th Anniversary of World War Two
Horror on an unprecedented scale engulfed Europe in the 1940s, but it was only after the smoke had cleared that the true scope of the brutality came into focus. Millions across the continent were dead, tens of millions displaced, and whole nations found themselves on...
Expat book review: Hausfrau, by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Let me start by saying that Hausfrau was not a light, happy read. It is also not an easy one to review. I heard about it this week when I was perusing Facebook (I think it was mentioned in the New York Times feed) and I immediately went out and bought it. It isn't...
A Golden Cup
Tomorrow one of the most coveted trophies in sport will come to Berlin. Today Germany woke up collectively hungover but with a jubilant smile on its face. Yesterday, just before midnight, the nation erupted into euphoria when the German football team won the World...
“Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known” reviewed
What happens when an all American woman with a French-Italian name moves to Switzerland? American writer Chantal Panozzo tells all about it in her recently published book, Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known. With her trademark humor, she shares her evolution as...
Confessions of an Expat TV Addict in Germany
This is the most honest way to introduce myself to German-Way readers, Hello, my name is ebe and I am an expat TV addict. It’s true. Despite living in Germany for several years, I still watch American TV every day. As a writer working from home, I have the freedom to...
Das Bombing: Graffiti in Germany and Europe
Graffiti and tagging are a phenomenon seen all over the world, but how they are regarded and dealt with varies widely, depending on the location. A stroll through the streets of Berlin quickly reveals why it is sometimes referred to as "the graffiti capital of...
Drinking Kaffee in Germany
“You can tell when you have crossed the frontier into Germany because of the badness of the coffee.” - Edward VII (1841-1910, son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert)* I'm a devoted coffee drinker. I drink it wherever I am, especially in Europe. I've had coffee in...
Luisa Weiss’ Advice for the Expat in Germany
It's Monday, but I got to talk to the creator and author behind the popular food blog The Wednesday Chef, Luisa Weiss, last week. She's also the author of the best-selling memoir, My Berlin Kitchen which came out late last year, and as you may have guessed, she lives...
Bad Nauheim and Elvis
Towards the end of my October visit to Austria and Germany, my wife and I drove to Bad Nauheim in the state of Hesse, about a half-hour drive north from Frankfurt am Main. When I told Germans why I was going there, I usually got chuckles in response. Today the spa...
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