Articles tagged as Germany | Smithsonian Magazine

Bodo Mende (left) and Karl Kreile (right) are the first couple in Germany to celebrate a same-sex wedding.

Germany Celebrates Its First Same-Sex Marriages

The country’s marriage equality law, which was passed in June, went into effect on Sunday

October 2, 2017

Tim Renner, undersecretary of state for cultural affairs, at a 2016 press conference for the Urban National Museum for Urban Contemporary Art.

Museum Devoted to Street Art Opens in Berlin

The façade of the five-story building is covered in large murals

September 25, 2017

A European bison, also referred to as a wisent

A Wild Bison Was Spotted in Germany for the First Time in Two Centuries. Then It Was Shot

As conservationists work to restore the once mighty European bison, they must face misunderstandings from concerned citizens

September 22, 2017

The "Blockbuster" bomb after it was defused

On Sunday, residents living within a mile of the site left their homes while the 4,000-pound “Blockbuster” was defused

September 5, 2017

His broad strokes and large-scale paintings helped re-establish Germany as post-war cultural hub

August 23, 2017

Artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker sought to incorporate exotic elements into their art in Germany's colonial era, such as the bananas shown in this 1905 painting

German Art Museum Tackles Legacy of Colonialism

Looking hard at its own collection, Kunsthalle Bremen aims to challenge the racism of colonialism that persists today

August 17, 2017

Chinese laborers comprised the largest non-European workforce during World War I, and were tasked with everything from digging trenches to manning factories.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Surprisingly Important Role China Played in WWI

In turn, the peace talks that ended the war had an enormous impact on China’s future

August 17, 2017

The latest edition of the Duden dictionary includes tindern, or online dating, and postfaktisch, meaning post-truth

August 9, 2017

Built in a World War II-era civilian bunker, the Berlin Story Museum includes a controversial replica of the bunker Adolf Hitler died in

Berlin Exhibit Confronts Hitler’s Rise to Power

Asking ‘Hitler—how could it happen,’ the exhibit warns the dangers of dictatorship

August 1, 2017

Dachau's gate had a chilling message for its inmates.

Georg Tauber’s paintings detail medical experiments, beatings and eventual liberation

July 31, 2017

Die Hermannsschlacht, Gemälde von Friedrich Gunkel, 1862–1864

New Research

New Excavation Will Examine Germany’s Legendary “Founding Battle”

The dig hopes to find conclusive evidence that Kalkriese is the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest

July 28, 2017

How Germans Turned Trains Into Massive Artillery in WWII

Railway guns like the German WWII K5 gun had a very narrow aim. To get around that problem, Germans developed a circular track, allowing the gun to rotate

July 19, 2017

Otto von Bismarck addressing the Reichstag

History of Now

Bismarck Tried to End Socialism’s Grip—By Offering Government Healthcare

The 1883 law was the first of its kind to institute mandatory, government-monitored health insurance

July 14, 2017

Cool Finds

WWII Enigma Machine Found at Flea Market Sells for $51,000

The legendary coding machine was first unearthed by a mathematician with a careful eye who purchased it for roughly $114

July 13, 2017

Trace Martin Luther’s Footsteps Through Germany

It’s 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation—here’s what you can still see today

June 26, 2017

President John F. Kennedy sits in the Oval Office with West Berlin's Mayor Willy Brandt in 1961. The Berlin Wall would be erected only a few months later.

Where the Myth of JFK’s ‘Jelly Donut’ Mistake Came From

The misinterpretation didn’t arise until years after his death

June 26, 2017

This moving bowl will soon commemorate German reunification in Berlin.

The German Memorial to Freedom and Unity has a fraught history

June 15, 2017

This memorial to the victims of Nazi Germany's "euthanasia" program was erected in Berlin in 2000.

A research society is still coming to grips with its past—and learning more about how the Third Reich targeted people with disabilities

May 5, 2017

The courtyard at St. Ermin's Hotel in London.

This Luxury Hotel in London Was Once a Secret Spy Base

St. Ermin’s Hotel has sat at the middle of British secret intelligence since the 1930s

April 18, 2017

A reproduction of the "Tower of Blue Horses," which hasn't been spotted since the late 1940s.

Cool Finds

Two New Exhibitions Celebrate a Long-Lost Painting

The “Tower of the Blue Horses” is gone, but not forgotten

March 13, 2017