Remembering Richard von Weizsäcker
The recent death of Richard von Weizsäcker is an occasion to reflect on the role he played in shaping Germany’s ability to come to grips with its past and face …
Behind the PEGIDA Protests
As Francis Fukuyama describes in his latest book, Political Order and Political Decay, there is a vicious cycle within modern liberal democracies that is apparent today: a feedback loop of …
Joachim Gauck: Träume vom Paradies
The Presidential Office in Germany is a unique product of German history. It is a curious mixture of past monarchies and postwar symbolism of the Federal Republic. The office seeks …
(Re-)Building Coalitions
Reforming the EU is hardly possible without coalitions of “builders” – member states willing and able to engage in sustainable coalition building at the EU level. Since 2008, the EU …
Remembering MdB. Andreas Schockenhoff
Andreas Schockenhoff passed away recently, and AGI mourns a great loss. As a member of the Bundestag, Andreas was a frequent participant in our programs and a deeply committed transatlantic …
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Support Our WorkThe Miracle of Leipzig
This is a story about the secret of freedom—courage. Germans in Leipzig courageously faced down a regime that had killed fellow citizens, whose only crime was to seek freedom and …
Post-Unification German Studies: Momentum Gained or Lost?
Carl Bildt, until recently Sweden’s foreign minister, told Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in 2003: “For a generation Americans and Europeans shared the same date: 1945. A whole …
The Day the Berlin Wall Really Fell
Contrary to popular lore, the Berlin Wall did not fall on November 9, 1989. Nor did it fall in Berlin. It fell on October 9 some 120 miles away, in …
2009 and 2014: Reflections
Time flies. I am struck by how recent the events of the twentieth anniversary of the Mauerfall feel. A rainy, but magical, memory. At first blush, 2009 seems a more …
After the Wall: Survivors’ Expectations
There were many expectations when the Wall came down. Not least among them that Holocaust survivors living in Eastern Europe would finally receive payments from Germany for their suffering. But …
November 1989
Like December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, and September 11, 2001, November 9, 1989, is one of those dates remembered in freeze frame. But it’s the rare exception that most …
Saxonian Signals: The Future of the FDP and AfD After Saxony’s Election
The state election in Saxony on Sunday made some waves in Germany. While the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) was able to sustain its leadership of the state, despite its worst …
