With the words: "Now I have the feeling that there is a leaden weight over everything," Bodo Ramelow described the social mood in Germany on September 1, 2013, a few weeks before the federal election. At this time, Ramelow was still the parliamentary group leader of the Left Party (Die Linke) in the Thuringian State Parliament. With his "feeling," Ramelow, born on February 16, 1956 in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Lower Saxony, was not alone. The society itself seemed on the verge of being crushed by a leaden burden, not just the mood within it. In those days, the final recourse of German politics had narrowed to the dogma of inevitability, and the ruling elite, in a grotesque manner, asserted a claim to political infallibility. In various coalitions, they had subjected the actions of the state to the paradigm of neoliberalism and called for market-radical globalization. They had reduced the role of the state to ensuring the functioning of the market. They treated its social responsibility towards the individual, society, and nature as a historical footnote. This paved the way for the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Many people had begun to oppose the dictate of supposed inevitability. The disillusioned turned away from the governing parties. Not a few ended up in right-wing extremist groups. Against this background, the interviewer conducted the following conversation with Bodo Ramelow. In the lead-up to the 2013 federal election, it was intended to shed light on the extent to which the party Die Linke had a concept for how to win over those disillusioned by the politics of the governing parties for a democratic and emancipatory society. A few months after the interview, Bodo Ramelow became the first Minister President of the party Die Linke in a German state. The outcome of the 2013 federal election arithmetically would have permitted a red-red-green coalition government. – But things turned out differently.
Interview with the Singer Songwriter Cynthia Nickschas Content: Songs for my personal therapy - It's noisy in my family! - I have the music and then somehow the words fall into place. - I want to tell people to live their lives. - I'm not very good at handling criticism, but I try. - I want a band! - Generation stupid ("Generation blöd") - I serenaded the whole Frankfurt Criminal Police (Kripo) that evening!
During the Nazi regime, people were primarily evaluated based on their economic utility to the "national community." Individuals with mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, or those labeled as "asocial" were classified by Nazi eugenicists as "hereditarily ill," forcibly sterilized, gassed in extermination centers, lethally injected in so-called healing and nursing homes, or starved to death. In an interview, the former commercial director of the Mainkofen District Hospital in Deggendorf, Lower Bavaria, answers questions about how the Nazi murder program was implemented in the clinic he managed.
The interview with Sissy Engl, a recognized and successful singer, actress, and choreographer, took place on July 6, 2012, in Munich. Sissy Engl is a co-founder of the "Mandolin Motions Einstein Show Academy," which she started in 1980 with Peter Mühlen. She is known for her artistic versatility. Particularly influential were her roles in theater plays by Fernando Arrabal and Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as her provocative performances in films during the sexual liberation of the 1970s. In the interview, Sissy Engl also discusses her collaborations with Munich cultural figures such as Katja Ebstein and Konstantin Wecker and provides insights into her often challenging personal experiences with colleagues in the cultural industry of the old Federal Republic. A recurring topic is her life with Peter Mühlen, who had attempted suicide the night before an interview she had arranged. The interview with Peter Mühlen, which took place under unusual and difficult circumstances, was one of his last public appearances before his death on September 15, 2012.
Giora Feidman, often referred to as the "King of Klezmer", was born on March 25, 1936, in Buenos Aires. He continues to fill major concert halls worldwide with his music. This conversation provides deep insights into the creative output and influence of an extraordinary musician, remaining as a valuable and enlightening exchange in memory. In July 2012, I had the privilege of meeting the great clarinetist and instrumental soloist of Klezmer music, Giora Feidman, in Bad Staffelstein, Upper Franconia. After his impressive performance at "Songs on a Summer Evening," which had enchanted both me and about 5,000 other visitors at the festival in the meadow in front of Banz Abbey, we arranged to have breakfast the next morning at his hotel. The sound of his clarinet still resonated deeply within me, a testament to his extraordinary ability to captivate his audience.
From May 31, 2012, to June 3, 2012, the Paradise Bird Festival took place at the small castle Weitersroda, near the county town of Hildburghausen. Today, this singer-songwriter gathering is a fixed institution in southern Thuringia. However, this wasn't always the case: From 2008 to 2012, local Nazis attempted to prevent this event. The brown wolves didn't limit themselves to verbal attacks on social media but, as in previous years, they took action again – setting fire to a participating musician's car in the castle courtyard. Subsequently, singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker called for solidarity with the organizers of the Paradise Bird Festival. Heinz Michael Vilsmeier heeded Konstantin Wecker's appeal and went to Weitersroda to join the Paradise Birds, where he conducted the following interview with Florian Kirner, also known as Prince Chaos II.
Judith Bernstein's parents left Germany a few years after the Nazis came to power. Since emigration to the USA was denied to them, they fled to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine and settled down in Rehavia, a suburb outside Jerusalem, like many German Jews at the time. In the "garden city" of Rehavia, Judith Bernstein was born in 1945 into a world shaped by the culture of its German-born residents, the Jeckes. Judith Bernstein was socialized into this German-Jewish society – and although her grandparents had been murdered in Auschwitz two years before her birth, she was strongly drawn to her parents' old homeland. When she received a scholarship from the city of Munich, she came to Germany in 1966 to study. She experienced the Six-Day War in 1967 from the Bavarian capital, a conflict that would have far-reaching consequences for the thinking of many Israelis and thus for the policies of Israel. Judith Bernstein did return to Israel, where she married and in 1973 and 1976 gave birth to her daughters Sharon and Shelly, but eventually, she concluded that Israel had ceased to be appealing to her. At the end of 1976, she returned to Germany, this time permanently. – Judith Bernstein has now been living for decades in Munich, where through her involvement in the Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group she advocates for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between Jews and Palestinians. Her late husband Reiner Bernstein also supported her in this cause. Judith Bernstein discusses the experiences she and Reiner had to face due to their activism in the following conversation.
From May 31, 2012, to June 3, 2012, the Paradise Bird Festival took place at the small castle Weitersroda, near the county town of Hildburghausen. Today, this singer-songwriter gathering is a fixed institution in southern Thuringia. However, this wasn't always the case: From 2008 to 2012, local Nazis attempted to prevent this event. The brown wolves didn't limit themselves to verbal attacks on social media but, as in previous years, they took action again – setting fire to a participating musician's car in the castle courtyard. Subsequently, singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker called for solidarity with the organizers of the Paradise Bird Festival. Heinz Michael Vilsmeier heeded Konstantin Wecker's appeal and went to Weitersroda to join the Paradise Birds, where he conducted the following interview with Florian Kirner, also known as Prince Chaos II.
Judith Bernstein's parents left Germany a few years after the Nazis came to power. Since emigration to the USA was denied to them, they fled to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine and settled down in Rehavia, a suburb outside Jerusalem, like many German Jews at the time. In the "garden city" of Rehavia, Judith Bernstein was born in 1945 into a world shaped by the culture of its German-born residents, the Jeckes. Judith Bernstein was socialized into this German-Jewish society – and although her grandparents had been murdered in Auschwitz two years before her birth, she was strongly drawn to her parents' old homeland. When she received a scholarship from the city of Munich, she came to Germany in 1966 to study. She experienced the Six-Day War in 1967 from the Bavarian capital, a conflict that would have far-reaching consequences for the thinking of many Israelis and thus for the policies of Israel. Judith Bernstein did return to Israel, where she married and in 1973 and 1976 gave birth to her daughters Sharon and Shelly, but eventually, she concluded that Israel had ceased to be appealing to her. At the end of 1976, she returned to Germany, this time permanently. – Judith Bernstein has now been living for decades in Munich, where through her involvement in the Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group she advocates for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between Jews and Palestinians. Her late husband Reiner Bernstein also supported her in this cause. Judith Bernstein discusses the experiences she and Reiner had to face due to their activism in the following conversation.
During the Nazi regime, people were primarily evaluated based on their economic utility to the "national community." Individuals with mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, or those labeled as "asocial" were classified by Nazi eugenicists as "hereditarily ill," forcibly sterilized, gassed in extermination centers, lethally injected in so-called healing and nursing homes, or starved to death. In an interview, the former commercial director of the Mainkofen District Hospital in Deggendorf, Lower Bavaria, answers questions about how the Nazi murder program was implemented in the clinic he managed.
With the words: "Now I have the feeling that there is a leaden weight over everything," Bodo Ramelow described the social mood in Germany on September 1, 2013, a few weeks before the federal election. At this time, Ramelow was still the parliamentary group leader of the Left Party (Die Linke) in the Thuringian State Parliament. With his "feeling," Ramelow, born on February 16, 1956 in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Lower Saxony, was not alone. The society itself seemed on the verge of being crushed by a leaden burden, not just the mood within it. In those days, the final recourse of German politics had narrowed to the dogma of inevitability, and the ruling elite, in a grotesque manner, asserted a claim to political infallibility. In various coalitions, they had subjected the actions of the state to the paradigm of neoliberalism and called for market-radical globalization. They had reduced the role of the state to ensuring the functioning of the market. They treated its social responsibility towards the individual, society, and nature as a historical footnote. This paved the way for the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Many people had begun to oppose the dictate of supposed inevitability. The disillusioned turned away from the governing parties. Not a few ended up in right-wing extremist groups. Against this background, the interviewer conducted the following conversation with Bodo Ramelow. In the lead-up to the 2013 federal election, it was intended to shed light on the extent to which the party Die Linke had a concept for how to win over those disillusioned by the politics of the governing parties for a democratic and emancipatory society. A few months after the interview, Bodo Ramelow became the first Minister President of the party Die Linke in a German state. The outcome of the 2013 federal election arithmetically would have permitted a red-red-green coalition government. – But things turned out differently.
Giora Feidman, often referred to as the "King of Klezmer", was born on March 25, 1936, in Buenos Aires. He continues to fill major concert halls worldwide with his music. This conversation provides deep insights into the creative output and influence of an extraordinary musician, remaining as a valuable and enlightening exchange in memory. In July 2012, I had the privilege of meeting the great clarinetist and instrumental soloist of Klezmer music, Giora Feidman, in Bad Staffelstein, Upper Franconia. After his impressive performance at "Songs on a Summer Evening," which had enchanted both me and about 5,000 other visitors at the festival in the meadow in front of Banz Abbey, we arranged to have breakfast the next morning at his hotel. The sound of his clarinet still resonated deeply within me, a testament to his extraordinary ability to captivate his audience.
Interview with the Singer Songwriter Cynthia Nickschas Content: Songs for my personal therapy - It's noisy in my family! - I have the music and then somehow the words fall into place. - I want to tell people to live their lives. - I'm not very good at handling criticism, but I try. - I want a band! - Generation stupid ("Generation blöd") - I serenaded the whole Frankfurt Criminal Police (Kripo) that evening!
The interview with Sissy Engl, a recognized and successful singer, actress, and choreographer, took place on July 6, 2012, in Munich. Sissy Engl is a co-founder of the "Mandolin Motions Einstein Show Academy," which she started in 1980 with Peter Mühlen. She is known for her artistic versatility. Particularly influential were her roles in theater plays by Fernando Arrabal and Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as her provocative performances in films during the sexual liberation of the 1970s. In the interview, Sissy Engl also discusses her collaborations with Munich cultural figures such as Katja Ebstein and Konstantin Wecker and provides insights into her often challenging personal experiences with colleagues in the cultural industry of the old Federal Republic. A recurring topic is her life with Peter Mühlen, who had attempted suicide the night before an interview she had arranged. The interview with Peter Mühlen, which took place under unusual and difficult circumstances, was one of his last public appearances before his death on September 15, 2012.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.