http://www.spiegel.de Daily news, analysis and opinion from Europe's leading newsmagazine and Germany's top news Web site. en Sat, 25 May 2013 08:07:16 +0200 Sat, 25 May 2013 08:07:16 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/logo_120x61.gif http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/french-soldiers-crafted-cave-murals-in-world-war-i-a-838414.html#ref=rss Stone quarries in France sheltered thousands of troops during World War I. Amid the carnage and the fear, French soldiers showed startling artistry by making wall carvings that conveyed their patriotism, their homesickness -- and their love of red wine. A local group is cataloguing the murals and campaigning to preserve them for posterity. Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:58:00 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/french-soldiers-crafted-cave-murals-in-world-war-i-a-838414.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-pipe-smoking-buccaneer-city-frees-its-maverick-savior-from-nazi-taint-a-818449.html#ref=rss Felix Graf von Luckner was a World War I pirate hero, best-selling author and all-round character. Although the pipe-smoking daredevil saved the German city of Halle from being destroyed by Allied bombs, it never recognized him because of his alleged Nazi ties. Now, historians have concluded that Luckner may have been a rogue, but he was never an actual Nazi. Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:15:00 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-pipe-smoking-buccaneer-city-frees-its-maverick-savior-from-nazi-taint-a-818449.html Felix Graf von Luckner was a World War I pirate hero, best-selling author and all-round character. Although the pipe-smoking daredevil saved the German city of Halle from being destroyed by Allied bombs, it never recognized him because of his alleged Nazi ties. Now, historians have concluded that Luckner may have been a rogue, but he was never an actual Nazi.]]> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/pocket-books-and-prayer-beads-wwi-grave-find-tells-story-germans-want-to-forget-a-794103.html#ref=rss Archaeologists in France recently discovered the remains of 21 German soldiers from World War I in an underground shelter that hasn't been touched since the day it was destroyed by French shells 93 years ago. Pocket books and prayer beads tell stories of life in the trenches -- but Germany doesn't want to hear them. Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:27:00 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/pocket-books-and-prayer-beads-wwi-grave-find-tells-story-germans-want-to-forget-a-794103.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/listening-for-the-enemy-giant-ears-on-the-british-coast-a-765771.html#ref=rss The enormous concrete shells are as tall as a house, and they were designed to listen for enemy aircraft in the 1920s and 30s. Pre-World War II acoustic experiments led to some extraordinary architecture -- and to a remarkably effective technology which ultimately succumbed to the invention of radar. Tue, 31 May 2011 16:58:00 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/listening-for-the-enemy-giant-ears-on-the-british-coast-a-765771.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-hero-in-his-own-mind-hitler-biography-debunks-mythology-of-wartime-service-a-749906.html#ref=rss After analyzing recently found documents about Adolf Hitler's days as a soldier in World War I, historian Thomas Weber has concluded that he was not the hero he was later made out to be and that his radicalization shouldn't necessarily be attributed to his wartime experiences. Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:51:25 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-hero-in-his-own-mind-hitler-biography-debunks-mythology-of-wartime-service-a-749906.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/30-tons-of-shells-found-french-village-evacuated-to-clear-german-wwi-munitions-depot-a-730699.html#ref=rss An entire village in northern France has been evacuated for a week while bomb removal experts clear 30 tons of shells -- 1,652 in total -- discovered in a German munitions depot from World War I. Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:14:00 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/30-tons-of-shells-found-french-village-evacuated-to-clear-german-wwi-munitions-depot-a-730699.html An entire village in northern France has been evacuated for a week while bomb removal experts clear 30 tons of shells -- 1,652 in total -- discovered in a German munitions depot from World War I.]]> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-wwi-diary-of-ernst-juenger-newly-published-memoir-recalls-horror-of-western-front-a-726672.html#ref=rss One of the most graphic accounts of World War I, the diary of German author Ernst Jünger, has been published for the first time. Its dispassionate description of life and death on the Western Front is a cold indictment of war -- even though Jünger embraced the conflict throughout as a glorious test of manhood. Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:47:00 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-wwi-diary-of-ernst-juenger-newly-published-memoir-recalls-horror-of-western-front-a-726672.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/legacy-of-versailles-germany-closes-book-on-world-war-i-with-final-reparations-payment-a-720156.html#ref=rss Germany will make its last reparations payment for World War I on Oct. 3, settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty and quietly closing the final chapter of the conflict that shaped the 20th century. Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/legacy-of-versailles-germany-closes-book-on-world-war-i-with-final-reparations-payment-a-720156.html Germany will make its last reparations payment for World War I on Oct. 3, settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty and quietly closing the final chapter of the conflict that shaped the 20th century.]]> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/diving-in-scapa-flow-exploring-the-kaiser-s-sunken-world-war-i-fleet-a-598741.html#ref=rss It's a descent into history. The remains of the German Imperial Fleet still lie on the seabed at Scapa Flow off Scotland's Orkney Islands where the Germans scuttled their ships in 1919. The ice-cold, deep waters are a paradise for professional wreck divers. Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:25:20 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/diving-in-scapa-flow-exploring-the-kaiser-s-sunken-world-war-i-fleet-a-598741.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-hue-of-battle-the-world-of-trench-warfare-in-color-a-589791.html#ref=rss World War I wasn't so gray after all. A full 90 years after the end of the catastrophic conflict, a new set of spectactular color photographs are being published for the first time. Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:29:35 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-hue-of-battle-the-world-of-trench-warfare-in-color-a-589791.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/90th-anniversary-europe-mourns-its-world-war-i-dead-a-589726.html#ref=rss Europe is marking the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I with ceremonies honoring the 20 million war dead and celebrating the continent's hard-won unity. In Britain and the other victorious nations, there is growing fascination with the conflict that blighted the 20th century. Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:50:05 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/90th-anniversary-europe-mourns-its-world-war-i-dead-a-589726.html Europe is marking the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I with ceremonies honoring the 20 million war dead and celebrating the continent's hard-won unity. In Britain and the other victorious nations, there is growing fascination with the conflict that blighted the 20th century.]]> http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-s-oldest-man-passes-away-world-war-i-veteran-dies-a-555854.html#ref=rss One of the world's last surviving World War I veterans has died in Germany aged 107. Franz Künstler fought in the Austro-Hungarian army in 1918. He was the oldest man living in Germany. Tue, 27 May 2008 18:09:52 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-s-oldest-man-passes-away-world-war-i-veteran-dies-a-555854.html One of the world's last surviving World War I veterans has died in Germany aged 107. Franz Künstler fought in the Austro-Hungarian army in 1918. He was the oldest man living in Germany.]]> http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/aged-107-last-german-world-war-i-veteran-believed-to-have-died-a-530319.html#ref=rss In Britain, France and other countries, the death of a World War I veteran makes national headlines these days. Not in Germany. The man believed to have been the last surviving soldier to have fought in the Imperial German Army passed away quietly in Hanover on Jan. 1. Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:57:35 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/aged-107-last-german-world-war-i-veteran-believed-to-have-died-a-530319.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/world-war-i-battlefields-haunting-war-cemeteries-send-powerful-message-a-520037.html#ref=rss The war cemeteries of the Western Front are as well-maintained as if they had been built this year. Their poignant message of peace is equally fresh. Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:50:03 +0100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/world-war-i-battlefields-haunting-war-cemeteries-send-powerful-message-a-520037.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rediscovering-alexander-moritz-frey-eye-witness-account-of-hitler-s-wwi-years-found-a-478359.html#ref=rss Hitler's years in the German army during World War I have long been a mystery due to the lack of eyewitness accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten German author of fantastic literature has been rediscovered -- and sheds new light on the Führer. Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:09:36 +0200 http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/rediscovering-alexander-moritz-frey-eye-witness-account-of-hitler-s-wwi-years-found-a-478359.html