Germany
Lime light
In April 1501, about the time Michelangelo was returning from Rome to Florence to compete for the commission to carve…
A truly radical review of business rates is worth more than all the Budget spin
Of all the measures talked up ahead of the Budget, the reannouncement of a ‘radical’ review of the business rates…
Diary
Last week I went to the exhilarating English National Opera production of Wagner’s The Mastersingers — five hours of wonderful…
Diary
It’ll be a Skype interview, says the producer from Greek television, and not live. In TV-speak that usually means not…
High life
The good news is that a Greek suppository is about to relieve the EU’s economic constipation. The bad is that…
The great European revolt
For Angela Merkel, it’s a crisis. For David Cameron, it’s an opportunity
Dresden notebook
Sachsenschweine — Saxon pigs — said the graffiti as my train moved out of Berlin on its way to Dresden.…
Long life
Whether or not you believe in the afterlife, death remains an impenetrable mystery. One moment a person is making jokes…
This time round, the eurozone looks robust enough to get rid of its Greek problem
Ever since European Central Bank president Mario Draghi declared himself ready, in July 2012, ‘to do whatever it takes to…
Back to the front
Germans are beginning to recognise that they will not always be able to stay out of military conflicts
Demons of deflation
The new fear haunting Europe
On war and remembrance
There’s a plausible theory — recently rehearsed in the BBC’s excellent two-part documentary The Lion’s Last Roar? — that our…
What Merkel wants
The German Chancellor has a lot in common with David Cameron – which is why she can’t afford to help him very much
Signifying nothing
Fury is a second world war drama that plays with us viscerally and unsparingly — I think I saw a…
Stormy October: Germany stumbles, shares fall and bankers take another bashing
October is always a turbulent month, and I’m feeling uneasy about this one. The FTSE100 index, which looked set to…
Bear market
The West will have to drop sanctions on Russia – or face another global economic crash
Art from another planet
‘Some day we shall no longer need pictures: we shall just be happy.’ — Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter, 1966…
From the sublime to the ridiculous
In the Royal Academy’s courtyard are two large glass cases or vitrines containing model submarines. In one the sea has…
Master of alchemy
Martin Gayford talks to a surprisingly jolly Anselm Kiefer about art and metamorphosis
The enigma of Werner Herzog
William Cook watches a new box set from the BFI that reveals the full extent of the German director’s genius – and insanity
High life
Gstaad In this freewheeling Swiss village of the 1950s, the unconventional was the norm and monumental drinking commonplace, but the…
Hitler’s Valkyrie
Unity Mitford at 100
Day by day, we should keep an eye on the trouble spots of European banking
‘1914: Day by Day’, the Radio 4 series by the historian Margaret MacMillan, is a gripping reminder that significant global…
The Spectator’s Notes
The conviction of Max Clifford for indecent assaults feels like a vindication of the jury system, as did the acquittal…
Diary
What a week! I was thrilled to have a chance to confront Nick Clegg but my excitement was tempered with…
