Germany

How Germans Turned Trains Into Massive Artillery in WWII

Railway guns like the German WWII K5 gun had a very narrow aim. To get around that problem, Germans developed a circular track, allowing the gun to rotate

Otto von Bismarck addressing the Reichstag

Bismarck Tried to End Socialism’s Grip—By Offering Government Healthcare

The 1883 law was the first of its kind to institute mandatory, government-monitored health insurance

The flea-market Enigma machine

WWII Enigma Machine Found at Flea Market Sells for $51,000

The legendary coding machine was first unearthed by a mathematician with a careful eye who purchased it for roughly $114

A painting of Martin Luther.

Trace Martin Luther's Footsteps Through Germany

It’s 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation—here’s what you can still see today

President John F. Kennedy sits in the Oval Office with West Berlin's Mayor Willy Brandt in 1961.  The Berlin Wall would be erected only a few months later.

Where the Myth of JFK's 'Jelly Donut' Mistake Came From

The misinterpretation didn't arise until years after his death

This moving bowl will soon commemorate German reunification in Berlin.

Germany Moves Forward with Controversial Monument to Reunification

The German Memorial to Freedom and Unity has a fraught history

This memorial to the victims of Nazi Germany's "euthanasia" program was erected in Berlin in 2000.

German Scientists Will Study Brain Samples of Nazi Victims

A research society is still coming to grips with its past—and learning more about how the Third Reich targeted people with disabilities

The courtyard at St. Ermin's Hotel in London.

This Luxury Hotel in London Was Once a Secret Spy Base

St. Ermin’s Hotel has sat at the middle of British secret intelligence since the 1930s

A reproduction of the "Tower of Blue Horses," which hasn't been spotted since the late 1940s.

Two New Exhibitions Celebrate a Long-Lost Painting

The "Tower of the Blue Horses" is gone, but not forgotten

Furano, Japan

12 Mesmerizing Places to Watch Flowers Bloom

Because there's no better way exalt the end of winter than with millions of tulips, poppies and roses

Dachau's gate had a chilling message for its inmates.

Stolen ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ Gate Returns to Dachau

The identity of the thieves remains a mystery

Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst (pictured, left to right, in 1942) resisted the Nazis as members of the White Rose, a secret student group.

The Secret Student Group That Stood Up to the Nazis

The White Rose was short-lived, but its words were hard to ignore

Tens of Thousands of Plastic Eggs Washed Up on a German Beach

It was an eggstravaganza

The Institute for Contemporary History's reissued version of Mein Kampf is an anonymous-looking doorstop packed with footnotes and historical context.

Germany’s Controversial New Version of ‘Mein Kampf’ Is Now a Bestseller

Once kept under lock and key, the book is now available in a critical edition

Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler

How Journalists Covered the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler

Reports on the rise of fascism in Europe were not the American media's finest hour

Rudolf Hess and Adolf Hitler during the Reichstag session at which Hitler gave his last warning to the British Empire.

The First Moments of Hitler's Final Solution

When Hitler solidified his plan to exterminate Jews – and why it matters 75 years later

Archival image of one of the U-Bahn's "Dora" trains in service.

See the Cold War-Era Trains Berlin Is Bringing Back Into Service

The “Dora” is returning to the tracks of the U-Bahn

Argentinians look on as Marta Minují's 1983 Parthenon of books is removed with a crane. The artist will recreate her installation on a grander scale in Germany next year.

An Artist Is Building a Parthenon of Banned Books

More than 100,000 books will become a monument to intellectual freedom in Germany next year

The German town of Oppenheim is honeycombed with underground tunnels and cellars.

Beneath This Medieval German Town Lie Over 25 Miles of Forgotten Tunnels

Go beneath the surface of Oppenheim

Berlin's Reichstag

Germany Is Reworking the Commission That Handles Restitution for Nazi-Looted Art

A lackluster track record and controversial comments led to a shift

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