The social and economic problems left unanswered by Germany’s political elite have become a matter concerning the future of the entire European Union. Yet the AfD’s rise may also expose conflicts of interest that the party’s Central European supporters scarcely seem to anticipate.
From a royal wedding in 1810 to the world’s largest beer festival, Oktoberfest has grown into far more than a celebration of beer. It is a temporary city, a living Bavarian tradition and an experience that transforms Munich every autumn. Having watched the Wiesn rise from an empty field outside my office window, I discovered its history, rituals and the unmistakable magic behind the words: “O’zapft is!”
Judit Szilos-Zongor has been living in Munich for three years. Inspired in part by the story of her Danube Swabian ancestors, she explores what it means to find a sense of home in a country to which her family’s history reconnects nearly three hundred years later.
A family’s firsthand insights into navigating Deutschclasses, competitive entry programs, and the German education system. Germany’s education system is increasingly tested by international mobility and migration. Every year, families arrive from across Europe and beyond with school-age children who must find their place in a system they do not yet understand – and often in a language they do not yet speak. What happens when such a family enters the system?
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