Culture

On Saturday, September 19, at noon, Oktoberfest will once again open with the ceremonial tapping of the keg, during which the mayor of Munich drives a tap into the first wooden barrel of beer and calls out "O'zapft is," a Bavarian phrase that translates to "It's tapped." His call will be followed by 12 gunshots, a signal that lets all festival tents know that they can start serving beer. More than 6 million people are expected at the world's largest Volksfest, which runs this year through October 4. Oktoberfest: What to know about 'the best party in Germany'To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Expanded security measures to prevent overcrowding The festival grounds are enormous: Oktoberfest takes place on Munich's...

Over the years, many people have passed through this fourth-floor apartment in an old Berlin building. Here, at Rosenheimer Straße 40, they have sat on the sofa and gathered around the kitchen table. They have looked out the window and let their minds wander. Marie Rolshoven has lived here with her family since 2007. "The feeling of crossing that threshold, the same one the former residents crossed for the last time, stays with you," she says. She knows that Jews once lived here, and none of them survived the Nazi era. Driven from their homes After the National Socialists seized power in January 1933, it quickly became clear that Jews were considered second-class citizens under Nazi rule. Even the right to remain in their homes could no longer be taken for granted. "A racially consciou...

Apostle, prostitute, penitent and confidante of Jesus — just a few of the roles assigned to Mary Magdalene since the early days of Christianity. Artists from the Renaissance to the Baroque period, including Titian, El Greco and Georges de la Tour, depicted her in the 16th and 17th centuries as a repentant penitent; Rembrandt portrayed her as a witness to Christ's resurrection; and Max Beckmann, a representative of the New Objectivity movement, depicted her as a sinner in 1917. Nearly a century later, she was portrayed by Lady Gaga in a music video. "Mary Magdalene is probably the most multifaceted and enigmatic figure in the Bible, and also one of the most enigmatic in European cultural history," says Bastian Eclercy, curator of the exhibition "Mary Magdalene: Sin. Pray. Love" at the St...

A decade after the deadliest jihadist attack in Germany's history, a new six-part TV series looks at the institutional failures that allowed it to happen. "Blindspot Berlin," which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows the year-long police investigation that failed to stop Anis Amri — a Tunisian whose asylum applications had been rejected, and who was already known to German security services — from driving a hijacked truck into a crowded Christmas market at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz on December 19, 2016. Twelve people died, including Lukasz Urban, the Polish driver Amri shot before seizing his vehicle. Dozens more were injured; a 13th victim died of their injuries in 2021. Amri fled the scene and made his way across Europe before being shot dead four...

"The present moment is much like the 11th century. ... We don't want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians a thousand years ago, we must." Those are the words of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his 2020 book, "American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free."   Hegseth has repeatedly used the biblical language and symbolism of the Crusades to frame both domestic and foreign policy, from the current war in Iran to the "fight" against the "scourge of leftism."   Nearly 1,000 years have passed since the cold November day in 1095 when Pope Urban II delivered the fiery speech that would ignite centuries of warfare and change the course of history.   But Hegseth is only the latest in a long line of politicians and extremists to reference the Crusades — from the Ku Klux Klan to US President ...

In recent years, Moscow has declared numerous foreign foundations and organizations "undesirable" and banned them from operating in the country. However, despite the significantly deteriorated relations between Russia and the West as a result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the Goethe-Institut, which opened in Russia in 1992, had been able to continue operating. But that's no longer the case. Employees of the Goethe-Institut must stop working on September 13 — and staff members sent from Germany must leave the country by that date. According to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the closure of the Goethe-Institut's three locations in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk comes as a response to the announced closure of the Russian House in Berlin, the minister said. ...

On September 12, Celine Dion kicks off a series of 26 sold-out concerts, part of a Paris residency held through May 2027. Some 500,000 people are expected to attend the performances, marking the global star's highly anticipated return to the stage following a prolonged break.  In 2022, she announced that she was battling with a rare and incurable neurological disorder, stiff-person syndrome. The health issues led her to cancel her world tour.   In the summer of 2024, she returned to the spotlight atop the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, her resilience giving hope to fans worldwide.   Now, in the days ahead of her Paris concerts, Dion has been thrilling hundreds of fans gathered in front of her hotel, taking the time to chat with them for a few minutes eve...

When Belarusians took to the streets in 2020 to protest against the disputed results of the presidential election, hopes were high that the regime of autocratic ruler Alexander Lukashenko would end, and that Belarusian society would find freedom. But authorities responded with an unprecedented campaign of repression that continues to this day. All forms of dissent have essentially been silenced. It's in this context that filmmaker Andrei Kutsila directed a new documentary that depicts the state's system of repression. His film, "Letters from the Silenced Country," was co-produced by DW and premieres at the Venice Film Festival on September 9. A silenced country Like the 300,000 to 500,000 Belarusians who now live in exile, Kutsila realized that he had to leave his home country amid th...

The results of the 2025 PISA study, published on September 8, show a dramatic drop in performance in reading and mathematics around the world. The Program for International Student Assessment, better known as PISA, is a global study that measures how well 15-year-old students can apply their knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science to real-life situations. The test is designed to measure problem-solving skills rather than evaluate students on memorized school facts, which means they cannot revise in preparation for it. First administered in 2000, it is considered the world's most influential measure of educational performance. In 2025, more than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies took the test.  The study always includes in its ranking the average of the int...

First, let's start with a clarification: Strictly speaking, it's not actually a tapestry, since tapestries are woven, whereas this artwork is an embroidery on linen. Nevertheless, it is commonly referred to as such.  This pictorial narrative which is approximately 70 meters (230 feet) long, depicts the events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, culminating in the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror's victory over Harold II. The Norman Conquest radically changed England: politics, laws and culture all came under the influence of Norman rule. The Bayeux Tapestry bears witness to this event; at the same time, it is an outstanding example of English craftsmanship from the Middle Ages and is seen by many Britons as one of the most important symbols of British identity...