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Sunday 5th April 2020 |  View  in browser
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Current Affairs 


Merkel Back to Work

Friday marked Merkel’s return to office in Berlin after a 2-week quarantine where she was self-isolating out of precaution after exposure to coronavirus. The Chancellor’s ratings have shot up with 72% of Germans agreeing with the government’s actions during the crisis.

Merkel hinted the current German lockdown may extend beyond Easter, appealing to the public in a ‘composed and calm’ manner to stick to lockdown rules.

N95 masks bound for Berlin’s police force were reportedly confiscated by the US in Bangkok and rediverted there in an ‘act of modern piracy’, according to Berlin SPD politician Andreas Giesel.

Heinsberg, the most-infected district in the country, is being treated as a laboratory to study the virus’ spread. A representative 1000 people will be followed to study exactly how the infection is transmitted to guide national decision-making. 

Jena in Thuringia now requires residents to wear masks in public, with towels or scarves being acceptable alternatives.

Elsewhere

A feature film focusing on Merkel’s response during the time of the 2015 refugee crisis is set to be released. Based on a bestselling book, it will showcase the socio-political fallout from her decision to keep Germany’s borders open.

Over half of Germany’s power was generated through renewables at the beginning of 2020, with experts warning investment in the field must continue to meet targets.

 

Weekly

Follow the latest opinion polls here.

Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station before and after the lockdown. Source: The Guardian

Weekly Poll

Should Merkel stay on as Chancellor beyond 2021?

YES          NO          NOT SURE

Last week, we asked if it's appropriate to display a shrine to the Christian martyr Saint Corona in the face of the COVID-19 crisis?

63% of you answered 'yes'.
Longer read: Art from Home

Bauhaus × Central St Martins
 
Last year’s Bauhaus centenary celebrations saw a number of imaginative tributes to the design movement, but Vic Reeves’ re-enactment of the Bauhaus School in a series of challenges for six deadpan Central St Martins art students is truly a cut above the rest.
 
The Bauhaus ‘teachers’, ranging from sculptor David Batchelor to furniture designer Kate Butler and fashion designer Holly Fulton, brief the students before they complete challenges in a range of mediums from photography (without cameras), to costume design with the allocated theme of simply ‘metal’.
 
After a busy week of challenges, the participants throw a Bauhaus costume party to show off their metallic costumes and set design to fellow students. They serve glittery cupcakes (nut-free and vegan of course, we are in the 21st century despite appearances) and perform a dance choreographed according to the Bauhaus rules: ‘in pairs but without touching’ and ‘leaping and wild stamping of feet are absolutely essential’.
 
It’s strangely… heart-warming to see the students’ cool frowns melt away as they giddily dart around in their tinfoil hats. There’s definitely something magical about the Bauhaus way of teaching, perhaps it explains why the students stayed loyal through hardship, repeatedly rebuilding the school after being pushed first out of Weimar, then Dessau, by right-wing philistines.
 
Bauhaus parties were an opportunity for the artists to create completely original costumes. In his essay ‘Life at Bauhaus’ (1925), architect Farkas Molnár describes the surreal scenes: “Kandinsky prefers to appear decked out as an antenna… Feininger as two right triangles… Gropius as Le Corbusier… Klee as the song of the blue tree. A rather grotesque menagerie…” For a taste of the Bauhaus school with a contemporary twist, check out the programme on iPlayer.
The Architecture Party, Bauhaus School.
Moment.de Website Reads
 

Coronavirus: the latest in Germany (4 April)

Opinion: Has Germany hacked coronavirus?

Magnus Hirschfeld: Weimar Germany’s LGBT+ Pioneer
 
Nach Mitternacht Review – Irmgard Keun’s novel is a compelling account of life in Nazi Germany
 
Love in lockdown as elderly German-Danish couple defy Covid-19 border closure keeping them apart

Art from Home: See where some of Berlin’s most creative spirits are quarantining
 
Lotte Reiniger: Germany’s Answer to Disney
 
Project by Oxford students sheds new light on heroic Nazi-era resistance movement, Die Weiße Rose

Sofa sightseeing: tour Germany’s cultural institutions from home
 
Sofa Sightseeing: part two
Austria
 
Coronavirus
 
The new decree approved by the Ministry of Health requires customers to wear protective masks inside supermarkets and food retailers to disinfect trolleys and install Plexiglas partitions at cash desks from Monday. The limited availability of masks, however, is posing significant challenges.
 
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen called upon the population for “perseverance” and a “new togetherness” in a televised address to the nation.
 
Politics
 
The opposition parties (SPÖ, FPÖ, NEOS) voiced their disagreement with the third Corona-package in the Austrian National Council (Nationalrat).
 
They criticised how the governing coalition (ÖVP-Grünen) seemed to bypass oppositional scrutiny and refuse amendments due to “lack of time”.
 
Culture
 
Under the hashtag #myhomeismyburgtheater, the famous Viennese theatre Burgtheater is posting readings by the actors of its ensemble online. Burgtheater director Martin Kušej expects a potential re-opening in Autumn.
 
Entertainment
 
Styrian Schlager-singer Andreas Gabalier composed a new song to raise peoples’ spirits during the Coronavirus crisis: Neuer Wind (New Wind), available on YouTube.
Germany in the UK
 
Books and film
 
Daniel Kehlmann’s novel, Tyll, has been shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. A vivid historical tale based on German Folklore, it’s sure to capture the imaginations of the judges. Read The Guardian’s review.
 
A new German-language film, ‘Freud’ is now available on Netflix. This Austrian-German crime drama reimagines the life of Sigmund Freud. Read a review in The Guardian (here).
 
Elsewhere
 
Check out the Goethe Institut’s video series on Leading Women, which showcases 10 powerful figures in positions such as the CEO of the Berlin Transport Authority and the conductor of a leading Japanese Orchestra.
Music

Song of the week is: Schenk mir dein Herz’ - Höhner (2009)
Word of the Week 

Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen
         Phrase: to not see the forest/wood for the trees
 
This idiomatic expression refers to being distracted from what’s important by trivialities. In a sense, you get tangled up or lost in the trivial things that you miss the obvious.
  • Oft sieht man den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht, deswegen muss man ab und zu eine Pause einlegen und auf das zu konzentrieren, was wichtig ist. = Often one doesn’t see the forest for the trees, so one has to take a break from time to time and concentrate on what is important.
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