After Ukraine invasion, Germany reconsiders trading with autocrats

Apr 12, 2022
Russia’s aggression has forced Germany to reconsider the notion that trade helps promote democracy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the German lower house of parliament on March 17. Zelenskyy has criticized Germany for failing to ban Russian gas.
Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

Germany turns tough toward Russia over Ukraine invasion

Feb 28, 2022
Germany dropped its opposition to some tough new sanctions against Russia and is now stepping up spending on defense.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, seen above, announced 
a sharp increase in military spending on Sunday.
Clemens Bilan/Getty Images

What kind of economy will Germany's new leader inherit?

As Angela Merkel’s term ends, Germany struggles with lagging COVID vaccinations, an energy transition and an undigitized economy.
Olaf Scholz is set to replace Angela Merkel as Germany's chancellor this week.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

How Germany's Ahr region found a way to sell wine after a devastating flood

Sep 28, 2021
Vineyards in the Ahr Valley were destroyed by the summer floods, but that opened up a unique business opportunity for the area. Meet FlutWein.
Peter Kriechel and Daniel Kollar (in shorts) are the founders of FlutWein, which has been successful selling wine from the flood-ravaged Ahr wine region.
Victoria Craig / BBC

Post-election, infrastructure question looms over Germany's flood-damaged regions

Sep 27, 2021
The town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler illustrates many of the climate change and infrastructure issues that have been part of the election's talking points.
A man rides his bicycle on streets destroyed by the flood in Bad Neuenahr, western Germany on August 25, 2021, weeks after heavy rain and floods caused major damage in the Ahr region.
INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images

Can Germany – Europe’s biggest carbon polluter – clean up its act?

Sep 15, 2021
Germany has pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. Is that achievable?
Steam and exhaust rise from the chemical company and coking plant in Oberhausen, Germany in January 2017.
Lukas Schulze via Getty Images

How Germany’s family-owned “mittelstand” companies are coping with the pandemic

May 5, 2021
Mittelstands have long histories and local roots. Will those proud qualities see them through the COVID-19 crisis?
Hanns Martin Rincker of the Rincker foundry creates a church bell inscription. “We will become something else,“ he says. “The market always changes.”
Courtesy Hanns Martin Rincker

For public good, not for profit.

Germany under U.S. pressure over Russian pipeline

Apr 19, 2021
The U.S is threatening further sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany.
Workers building a section of the wall of the Nord Stream 2.
Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Germany seethes over the slow delivery of COVID-19 vaccines

Feb 24, 2021
Delays in the European Commission’s procurement of vaccine is tempering Germany’s enthusiasm for the European Union.
A nurse inoculates a resident of Saxony, Germany, with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images

With Biden incoming, Merkel outgoing, where do Western relations with China stand?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded an EU business deal with China just before the new year that could disadvantage the U.S.
Clemens Bilan - Pool/Getty Images