Navigating human landscapes: From Rungholt to Miniaturwunderland

(8 April 2024) The Irenaut is a new magazine with a bold mission: to explore the human genius for peace and chart the violence that stifles it. In its second issue, it focusses on anthropodicy - the question of whether humans are fundamentally good and, by extension, whether our existence as a species can be justified.

In an essay I've contributed on this theme, I approach the concept by looking at the human geography of Germany, a country on which, especially in the north, we as a species have left a particularly indelible mark, and about the landscapes of which we have spilled no shortage of ink.

What do Germany's literary (and not-so-literary) landscapes and places say about the human relationship to the natural environment? What, in turn, does this say about us? And what do we say about ourselves?  Read my essay: 'Navigating human landscapes: From Rungholt to Miniaturwunderland'.

Germany's new cannabis law isn't dangerous - it's common sense

(1 April 2024) Every country which legalizes cannabis goes about it in its own characteristic way - so in Germany, that means endless angst-y debates, federal-state media-grandstanding, and a hellishly complex end result. As such, it will, as of today, be legal to own up to three cannabis plants and possess 50g of dried weed at home (25g on your person when you're out) and you will be able to buy it, but only through registered cannabis associations which will have to conform to eingetragener Verein standards...

You get the picture. Yet the law is, while typically tricky, broadly sensible, in the spirit of public health and harm prevention, and a boon to everyone who just wants a puff every now and then. Put my opinion on it for The Local in your pipe and smoke it!

Even with German citizenship reform foreigners must be wary of lurch to the far-right

(25 January 2024) Two weeks on from the Correctiv exclusive about right-wing extremists meeting in Potsdam to discuss mass deportations from Germany (including of German citizens) it's all had some time to sink in. In my analysis (for The Local), there is no immediate danger either of the far-right AfD getting into power or of this party enacting the kind of plans discussed; there is, however, a serious medium-term risk of a political spectrum weighted ever more towards the right in which UK/US-style 'hostile environment' policies leave foreign-born German citizens vulnerable. Those of us who could be sent 'back' somewhere need contingency plans.

Germany faces a hellish year in politics amid rise of far-right

(4 January 2024) No-one likes being the purveyor of terrible news, but the outlook for Germany in 2024 is... well, terrible. Our government has now irrevocably disappointed even those few of us who still saw some potential in it - and is facing a drubbing in a range of elections which will be read as plebiscites (and may lead to its premature end). Meanwhile, everyone from train drivers from farmers is on strike and the economy is still anaemic. Fun times, as I explain for The Local.

Does Emmanuel Macron understand France?

(22 November 2023) I've just translated a think-piece written for the New Statesman by geographer and essayist Christophe Guilluy. In it, he argues that France's various rebellious movements of recent decades - the Non! to a European constitution, the surges for Le Pen candidates at presidential elections, the gilets jaunes - are all part of a wider, grass-roots-and-common-sense groundswell against a predatory capitalist system. Read his point of view here.

Political analysis on the Germany in Focus podcast

(12 October 2023) After sizing up the situation - and the beer tankards - in Bavaria for The Local ahead of the state elections on 8th October, I delivered post-election analysis on the results there and in the state of Hesse for the outlet's Germany in Focus podcast. Listen in here.

Oktoberfest revelry reveals the political storm brewing in Bavaria

(28 September 2023) As anyone who has had me on the phone in the last couple of days will have heard, I've been at the Oktoberfest. *croak* In my capacity as regular of around 15 years standing and frequent visitor to Germany's self-proclaimed Promised Land, Bavaria, it's my pleasure to unpick for The Local what is at stakes in the state's upcoming regional elections - due the weekend after this year's bumper 17-day Fest ends and guaranteed to make Munich's lingering collective hangover worse.

Is Germany really the sick man of Europe?

(5 September 2024) It seems I'm now getting to that age where revivals start to concern styles I remember well the first time round: the current trend for cargo trousers and crop-tops in female fashion is straight out of the "Y2G" years, for instance, when I was in my mid-teens. Around that time, Germany was, according to The Economist, 'The Sick Man of Europe', its industry outdated and services sector sclerotic, with low growth and high unemployment as the inevitable consequence.

Back then, this description - Der kranke Mann Europas - sent shockwaves through the country, giving Schröder the political momentum to push through the highly unpopular Hartz IV reforms in an effort to give Germany an economic reboot. From 2005 onwards,  growth duly picked up, unemployment went into rapid decline, and then we weathered the Financial Crisis better than most other major economies. What many see as a correlation may well have been more of a coincidence - how setting up a low-wage sector in an economy dependent on premium exports was responsible for our golden 2010s is beyond my comprehension - but one lesson was learned: when the gloom descends and the vultures start circling, eye-catching reforms can change the economic discourse and improve the mood. In economics, it's often a question of psychology.

Now we have once again been named The Economist's 'Sick Man of Europe' and indeed our economy is in the doldrums. Here's me in The Local on how to deal with this less enjoyably nostalgic part of the current turn-of-the-Millennium revival. Sneak preview: yes, we need an ambitious package of reforms to revivify business confidence and kick-start the economy; no, we don't need fiscal austerity and lower wages.

German impatience: more haste now, less speed later

(24 May 2023) A recent news story about slow-lane check-outs in German supermarkets for the lonely got me musing on German impatience. As anyone who has been shopping here will know, cashiers at the major chain stores scan items so fast over the till that no even the swiftest customer can put them away and pay as fast: the illusion of speed actually leads to slower check-outs, if anything. Then again, our national urge to do things as quickly as possible can, well-applied, have positive effects. Read me on German impatience in The Local.

I became a German citizen to vote, but paying taxes should have been enough

(20 April 2023) Germany is reforming its laws on obtaining citizenship (and on maintaining dual nationality) - and this is good news. Then again, German citizenship requirements are not, even as they stand now, excessively onerous. In my view, the real issue is that most countries - not just Germany - take income tax from immigrants, sometimes for decades, without offering them the right to have their say in how this money is used. Read my unpopular opinion - No taxation without representation! - in The Local.

Germany's ruthless housing market is tough on new tenants - but there are winners

(26 January 2023) In the mid-2000s, one of the most attractive things about Germany was the ease of finding a flat - and the cheap rents that went with it. Germans themselves were (not so) blissfully unaware of how good a deal they had.

Since then, things have changed. New-contract rents in Germany's major cities now equal those of neighbouring countries and good lettings are scarce. Yet this is not, as some think it is, a housing market in crisis. Germany retains admirable rental protections from which existing tenants benefit. Owners and landlords, too, are in a strong position. It's just not that great anymore if you're looking for a flat... Here's my analysis of the German housing market in The Local.

Britain’s democratic rot has continued under Rishi Sunak

(25 January 2023) New year, same old Downing Street lies: and, as ever, it's good to have Annette Dittert on hand to skewer them with such verve. In this column for the New Statesman, she uses the metaphor of the Emperor's new clothes - apt both to sharp-suited Sunak and to her own role pointing out what should be the blindingly obvious! As ever, a pleasure to translate.

Why Germany’s €49 travel ticket is far better than the previous €9 ticket

(15 November 2022) Germany's planned €49 ticket for local and regional public transport is genuinely transformative policy which will make using busses, trams, and trains easier and smoother than ever before while helping hard-pressed citizens as living costs soar - and if we’d never had the ill-thought-out €9 ticket bonanza this summer, it would be hailed as such. As it is, though, this important moment seems like an anti-climax. Read my take on the new ticket for The Local.

Rishi Sunak can’t escape the Tories’ post-truth policies

(14 November 2022) It's been a while since Annette Dittert's last column about British politics in the New Statesman. After all, as bureau chief for ARD in London, she'd had enough to be doing with her day job: Tory Leadership Drama No. 1, death of the Queen, the explosive Truss-Kwarteng Intermezzo, Tory Leadership Drama No. 2... So her examination of Rishi Sunak's current position is a welcome return to the written word - one which, as ever, I had the pleasure of translating.

German government is pushing ambitious agenda despite turbulent first year

(21 October 2022) Confession intime: the photos of me on this website are around 10 years old now. Whenever I mull over possible replacements, I'm shocked by how old I now look. In that, I'm very much like the current German government, whose fresh-faced 2021 look has - after eight months of continuous firefighting - deteriorated into a decidedly washed-out, haggard countenance.

Yet our tri-partite coalition, while no longer particularly photogenic and based on an agreement which Russia's actions have torn up, is doing better than many (including itself) think. With any luck, its participants will remember that and keep the show on the road. Read my thoughts on Germany's government one year in The Local.

Germany’s autumn Covid rules are a giant mess beyond parody

(25 August 2022) If every one of Germany's beloved observers of our national neuroses, from the legendary Loriot right down to today's Jan Böhmermann, were to come together to parody our love of excessive complexity and petty busy-body rules through the medium of Covid legislation, they would probably have trouble coming up with something as absurd as what is proposed from 1st October onwards. Read my take in The Local.

Germany has failed to do its energy ‘homework’ – and faces years of catching up

(05 August 2022) Germany's energy crisis is the result of our decades' long failure to examine our strategic position and take action accordingly. Every government since Schröder's first administration in 1998 - and by extension the German electorate - is complicit, and now we must learn to live with the consequences until we finally sit ourselves down and (as our patronising turn of phrase has it) "do our homework". In The Local, I look at what went wrong, where and how, and ask why we still aren't doing enough to become energy-independent.

The shocking state of German trains exposes the myth about punctuality

(27 July 2022) One of the most widespread stereotypes about Germans is that we are punctual and that our national efficiency means that trains run on time. It also the most likely stereotype to fall victim to reality: when tourists or business travellers actually come to Germany and use our rail network, they are reliably shocked - this year more than ever, as punctuality sinks to all-time lows. Read my rant/two cents on the matter in The Local.

The post-Johnson era is already a nightmare

(19 July 2022) In her latest piece for the New Statesman, Annette Dittert offers a refreshing and bracing look past the current obsessing about Truss/Sunak and into the heart of the matter: a post-truth political environment which many UK media outlets have played a conscious role in shaping. As ever, a pleasure and an honour to translate.

Why Germany can’t break out of its Covid rules rut

(04 July 2022) So Germany's Covid expert committee has delivered its verdict on the effect of the restrictions imposed at various points over the last two years. As expected, said verdict is Delphic at best - mainly, so the Committee argues, due to a lack of data in Germany. However, a brief comparison with neighbouring countries would be enough for anyone to see that we have gone wrong somewhere: despite comparable (and much reduced) rates of death and infection, we are one of the only countries left in Europe with mandatory restrictions - and are considering re-imposing the ones we dropped in spring. Here's why.

Will Germany’s motorists and cyclists ever learn to live with other?

(16 June 2022) It's that time of year again: the sun is out, and so the city streets and country roads of Germany are full with cyclists - and with their most bitter enemy, motorists. There's something particularly poisonous about the car-vs-bike debate here, and The Local asked me to look at why.

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