When Family Separation Became a Human Rights Issue
In the aftermath of World War II, preserving the nuclear family became a key pillar of liberal democratic ideology.
Publishing Queer Berlin
Weimar Germany was an improbably safe space for newspapers and magazines by and for lesbians.
Suicide by Proxy
In early Modern Europe, suicide was a sin to be punished with eternal damnation. Some women found an awful workaround: committing murder.
The Red Woodstock: Not Quite According to Plan
The 1973 World Festival of Youth and Students highlighted the paradoxes inherent in the East German socialist project.
Did Allied Bombs Destroy German Morale?
With men mostly absent, women and children dominated a small city called Darmstadt. Then "fire night" came.
The Princes of Saxony Collected These Kitschy Miniature Mountains
Struck with “Berggeschrey,” or “mountain clamour,” early modern nobles of Saxony dolled up the dirty and dangerous work of the mines with gold and glitter.
The Beatles Got Started in Hamburg. There’s a Reason for That.
The Beatles first played Hamburg's pleasure zone in 1960, in a former strip club near the infamous Reeperbahn.
The Man behind the “New Man”
Otto Weininger's only book, Sex & Character, is a misogynist, anti-Semitic screed masquerading as philosophy. Yet it was enormously influential in fin-de-siècle Vienna.
The Weimar Republic: Gone But Not Forgotten
The Weimar Republic is famous for failing, but considering its turmoil and crisis, it's surprising how long it actually lasted.
Why Was There a Berlin Wall in the First Place?
A brief history of East and West Germany, and why they built the Berlin Wall.