Berlin

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Hitler Sells Again in Germany
 Hitler Sells Again in Germany 
May 31, 2009 7:07 AM CDT

Hitler Sells Again in Germany

(Newser) - The Broadway hit musical comedy The Producers finally opened in Berlin to boffo box office receipts—but not before in intense sales push to break through German reluctance to see an ersatz Hitler hamming it up on stage, reports the Los Angeles Times. "If you put it on most...

German Tempers Heat Up Over Cold War Tourist Traps

'Snackpoint Charlie,' actors in military uniforms labeled disrespectful to dead

(Newser) - The Disneyfication of Cold War landmarks in Berlin has irked people with bad memories of East Germany, the Independent reports. Critics, including former Allied officers and those who suffered under oppressive rule, argue that the atmosphere around places like Checkpoint Charlie—where actors in military uniforms hustle tourists for coins...

'Funny Fuhrer' Finally Hits Berlin

'The Producers' inspires uneasy laughs with its German debut

(Newser) - The Producers has goose-stepped its way onto a German stage 76 years after the springtime when Hitler took power, the New York Times reports. There were plenty of laughs—if sometimes uneasy ones—on opening night Sunday, but the Nazi-mocking musical and its swastika-laden ads prompted a fresh round of...

Corpses Having Sex Sparks Uproar

Popular traveling exhibit of bodies triggers new controversy

(Newser) - A controversial traveling exhibit of preserved bodies has sparked a storm of controversy with a new addition of corpses having sex, reports the Guardian. "It's not meant to be sexually stimulating," said creator Gunther von Hagens, who opens the Berlin exhibit to the public today. German politicians and...

Merkel in Her Undies Drives Berliners Wild

Berliners fascinated by provocative billboard

(Newser) - A striking new ad featuring a drawing of Angela Merkel wearing only underwear has attracted the fascination of Berlin residents, the Local reports. Placed prominently in a busy shopping district, the billboard depicts Merkel with other figures from German politics—also in their skivvies—looking on. "The chancellor's office...

Berlin Pols Target 'Disneyland' Soldiers

They're turning serious monument into 'Disneyland:' officials

(Newser) - German politicians want the fake Cold War soldiers who pose near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate gone, because they’re turning a somber symbol of the nation’s unification into “Disneyland,” Der Spiegel reports. The performers don American, East German, and Soviet military gear and snap photos with tourists...

Nazi-Mocking Producers Coming to Berlin

(Newser) - This could be awkward. Mel Brooks’ The Producers has been a smash around the world, but will the Hitler-mocking musical play in Germany? The Admiralspalast theater in Berlin—which the real Führer once frequented—is betting Germans are ready to laugh at the blood-soaked past, the Daily Mail reports....

Brothel Battles Downturn with Flat-Rate Pass

Berlin club charges $90 for 'everything—ladies, drinks, and food'

(Newser) - A Berlin brothel is fighting world economic gloom with a special offer: a flat-rate, unlimited, all-access pass, Der Spiegel reports. For about $90, clients are free to get chummy with all the workers. Men can even bring their wives. “70 euros, that includes everything—ladies, drinks and food,”...

Grumpy Berliners Learn to Smile

Friendliness campaign gives city an image makeover

(Newser) - Berlin may not be a city of churlish insults and bad manners much longer. Long known for the rudeness of its residents, the German capital is on a “friendliness offensive,” Der Spiegel reports. Pegged to its annual tourism convention, Berlin’s campaign aims to boost the number of...

Berlin Protesters Torch Luxury Cars
Berlin Protesters Torch Luxury Cars
Feb 27, 2009 3:13 PM CST

Berlin Protesters Torch Luxury Cars

Sardonically named 'BMW' claims responsibility for arsons

(Newser) - As the financial crisis inflames class tensions, economic protest in Berlin has taken the form of arson attacks on luxury cars, Bloomberg reports. Activists have torched more than 2 dozen vehicles this year, and the pace is increasing. A group puckishly calling itself “BMW”—an acronym for "...

German Politician: Let the Poor Catch Rats

Advocates for poor squeal about Dickensian plan

(Newser) - One German politician has a solution to help Berlin's poor: let them catch the rats that are plaguing the city. "People who collect bottles could get one euro [$1.40] for every dead rat," he cheerfully explained. But the Dickensian plan, which may be officially introduced today, wasn't...

Berlin Divided Over Wild Boars
 Berlin Divided Over Wild Boars 
Dec 16, 2008 9:54 AM CST

Berlin Divided Over Wild Boars

Some locals call for extermination, shocking others

(Newser) - Berliners are sharing their city with thousands of wild boars—and citizens are split on how to treat the porkers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some prefer a more aggressive approach: Don’t feed them corn, says one licensed urban boar hunter, “feed them lead." But others are...

Bow WOW! Berlin Opens Soup Kitchen for Dogs

New leash on life for pets of struggling humans

(Newser) - Things are apparently woof all over—so Berliners have now opened a soup kitchen for dogs. Businesses have donated pet food and funds so that hounds belonging to homeless people and the unemployed can chow down. Organizers shrug off criticism that their efforts would be put to better use serving...

Artist to Smoke Kurt Cobain's Ashes

Nirvana frontman's supposed remains, stolen from wife, will star in Berlin exhibition

(Newser) - An Australian performance artist who claims to have obtained late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s ashes will smoke them at a Berlin exhibition, NME reports. Artist Natascha Stellmach says the lighting up will symbolize Cobain’s ultimate freedom from the media. As to how she came by the remains, which...

Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper
 Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper 
Sep 23, 2008 1:34 PM CDT

Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper

Autopsy rules out foul play

(Newser) - Berlin prosecutors said an autopsy today showed that Thomas Doerflein, the zookeeper who gained fame for hand-rearing the polar bear cub Knut, died of a heart attack. The city's mayor paid tribute to him for writing Berlin history. "Other causes of death, in particular involvement by another party, are...

Reject Obama and World Will Revolt
 Reject Obama 
 and World Will Revolt 
OPINION
Sep 10, 2008 1:48 PM CDT

Reject Obama and World Will Revolt

A McCain victory would be a clear message to the globe

(Newser) - Electing John McCain would be a little like giving the rest of the world the finger, writes Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland. Judging from international polls, “if the free world could choose its leader, it would be Barack Obama,” he writes. And if the US rejects a once-in-a-generation leader,...

Berlin Opens Hitler's 'Future City' Tunnels

Network provides glimpse of megalomaniac's plans for world capital

(Newser) - Berlin has opened three vast tunnels under the city built as part of Adolf Hitler's vision of a grandiose Nazi capital, Reuters reports. The tunnels were to house a transit system beneath planned boulevards, squares, and huge buildings, including a Great Hall with room for 180,000 people. The Albert...

Obama's 'One World' Vision Too 'Radical': Bolton

Ex-ambassador takes exceptions to Democrat's globalism

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s Berlin speech seemed short on content, but actually revealed the senator’s radical globalist thinking, ex-UN ambassador John Bolton writes in the Los Angeles Times. Obama called himself a “citizen of the world,” and said the Berlin Wall fell because “the world stood as...

Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits
Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits
OPINION
Jul 25, 2008 12:28 PM CDT

Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits

Most praise it, with reservations

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s speech in Germany is drawing the full complement of responses in Europe, from glowing to scowling. Here are a few:
  • He’s “an idealist in the true spirit of the American success story,” writes Gerhard Spohl in Der Spiegel, and aspires to be "something
...

Obama's Empty Rhetoric Starting to Wear Thin
Obama's Empty Rhetoric Starting to Wear Thin
Opinion
Jul 25, 2008 9:59 AM CDT

Obama's Empty Rhetoric Starting to Wear Thin

Optimism needs substance, Brooks says

(Newser) - Say this for Barack Obama: He’s optimistic. Yesterday in Berlin he promised to “remake the world,” envisioned a “new dawn in the Middle East” and mentioned walls tumbling down no fewer than 11 times. It was trademark Obama rhetoric, writes David Brooks of the New York ...

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