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Looking Back: The Best German Posts of 2020 Posted by Sten on Dec 21, 2020
2020 has been a weird year. Jahresrückblicke (end-of-year reviews) don’t feel satisfying with the continuing pandemic and just before Christmas many European countries are back in a hard lockdown. What to do with the extra time sitting at home? Perhaps this post will give you plenty to entertain yourself for a while – let’s have our…
The German Haushaltswoche – Part 2: Merkel’s Speech Posted by Sten on Dec 11, 2020
It’s an exciting week in the German Bundestag (the German legislative body, its lower house of Congress). Earlier this week, German Bundesfinanzminister (secretary of finance) Olaf Scholz presented the Haushaltsentwurf (budget draft) for 2021. The Bundesregierung (federal government) has agreed; now it’s time for the Bundestag to follow suit. But before that happens, they have four days to…
The German Haushaltswoche – Part 1: Record Debt! Posted by Sten on Dec 10, 2020
It’s an exciting week in the German Bundestag (the German legislative body, its lower house of Congress). Earlier this week, German Bundesfinanzminister (secretary of finance) Olaf Scholz presented the Haushaltsentwurf (budget draft) for 2021. The Bundesregierung (federal government) has agreed; now it’s time for the Bundestag to follow suit. But before that happens, they have four days to…
Don’t Let It Confuse You! – Mode Posted by Sten on Dec 3, 2020
In this series, we look at words that exist in both English and German, but really don’t mean what you might expect them to, so-called false friends. We also look at words that sound or look deceivingly similar. Today, we look at a classic false friend, though. It’s quite fashionable – Mode! For previous posts…
Black Friday in Germany Posted by Sten on Nov 27, 2020
Some years ago, we discussed the Schwarzer Freitag (Black Friday) in Germany. It is not remembered as a good day, as it refers to one of the worst days of the 1929 financial crisis. The shopping spree Friday exists in Germany, too, though. In that last post, I provided some vocabulary to make shopping in Germany a…
75 Years Ago: The Nuremberg Trials Posted by Sten on Nov 23, 2020
Last Friday was the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Nürnberger Prozesse (Nuremberg trials). It was a series of Strafprozesse (criminal trials) to bring Nazis to justice. The Prozesse are seen as the beginning of the Völkerstrafrecht (International Criminal Law) and were an important marker how justice can be served to people that have such severe crimes…
The US Election in Germany Posted by Sten on Nov 12, 2020
As expected, the US election was a drawn-out process this time with television networks being careful with their projections. The winner was projected only last Friday. As always with the election of a new president in the United States, the whole world was watching – Germany as well. How was the election covered, and what…