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The Week in Germany: Current Affairs

April 27, 2007

Letter from Berlin - Deutsche Welle's Monthly Take on News and Views from the German Capital

This week, TWIG continues a new feature: Excerpts of Deutsche Welle's monthly "Letter from Berlin", produced by journalist Kyle James for international radio broadcasts.

The views expressed in "Letter from Berlin" are not those of the German government or of the editors of The Week in Germany.

Happy Reading!

I'm Kyle James and this is Letter from Berlin.

Here Comes the Sun

For years, Germany appeared to have a chronic condition. It was called "the sick man of Europe" for so long - because of its underperforming economy the country seemed to have accepted that it would just live with its ailment. It did hope the disease wasn't terminal.

But that sick man has pulled through. Now words like "strong man" or "locomotive" are being used to describe the economy. Now it wasn't an easy cure. There were years of savage cost cutting, wage cutting and job cutting to try to get competitive again. But the painful therapy seems to have paid off. The country is the world's leading exporting nation again. And growth is forecast this year to be between 2 and 2.8 percent. The always-stubborn unemployment rate could fall from just over four million to three million in the near future. The budget deficit could be all but wiped out.

And for once, all the good news doesn't seem to be bypassing eastern Germany. The county's poorest region, the former East Germany has for years been an economic dead zone, a graveyard of failed companies and shrinking cities as people leave to find work in the west. But now things are picking up and the outlook is looking brighter than even.

One reason: the sun. No, Germany is not the sunniest place on the planet, but it looks like solar energy is heating up the regional economy. Thanks to a renewable energies law passed in 2000, the German solar market is booming. It's now the biggest in the world. And lots of companies are setting up shop in the east. Frankfurt an der Oder, on the Polish border, was once the symbol of eastern Germany's post-reunification blues. The city has lost a third of its population since the Berlin Wall fell. But now one of Germany's biggest solar players is building a solar module production plant. Two other solar firms, including an American one, are going to set up shop there as well.

Companies like the region because wages in the east are lower then they are in western Germany; massive investment means the infrastructure is excellent; there's already a skilled workforce there. Frankfurt/Oder was once home to East Germany's semiconductor industry. People who are used to handling silicon but have been out of work for years are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to it again, and bathe in all that sweet sunlight.

Knut is definitely cute

Politics, economics - sure they're important. But all that anyone has really been talking about is a bundle of white fur who made his debut at the Berlin Zoo and got the entire world to fall in love with him. Who? It's Knut, the baby polar bear. Now unless you've been living in a cave, you probably have heard of the little guy who was born last December, but whose mother rejected him. So he was given to human handlers and made it through the touch and go phase.

Then he made his debut and the public fell for him at once. Zoo attendance has doubled since he was brought out to frolic with his handler, who's become something of a minor celebrity himself. But he can't match Knut. Fifteen thousand people visit the baby bear each day and he's set off a merchandising frenzy. Toy maker Steiff has a special edition stuffed bear modeled on him. Gummibear maker Haribo is putting out a Knut candy. He's even on a new ATM card issued by one bank. He's a presence in the tabloids every day. And he got a solo cover photo in the German edition of Vanity Fair. He graces the American version of the magazine as well, sharing the stage with Leonardo DiCaprio. And the pictures were taken by none other star photographer Annie Leibovitz. So that little bear has really made it. Let's hope all the fame doesn't go to his cute, fuzzy little head.

Deutsche Welle, or DW, is a German international broadcaster. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio in more than two dozen languages (DW-RADIO). It has a satellite television service (DW-TV) that is available in four languages, and produces DW-WORLD.DE, a 30-language online news site in both Bonn and Berlin. Deutsche Welle, which in English means "German Wave", is similar to international broadcasters such as the BBC World Service, Voice of America, and Radio France Internationale.

Deutsche Welle Links:

Deutsche Welle (DW-WORLD.DE)

Letter from Berlin (TWIG, March 16, 2007)

Letter from Berlin (TWIG, Feb. 26, 2007)

Letter from Berlin (TWIG, Jan. 26, 2007)

Everybody Loves Cute Knut Links:

Knut the Polar Bear is Celebrity and Environmental Symbol (Germany.info)

Panda Yan Yan Passes Away as Knut Mania Continues (TWIG, March 30, 2007)

Celebrity Polar Bear Makes Debut at Berlin Zoo (TWIG, March 23, 2007)

Hockey, and a Baby Polar Bear: Can Knut be a Mascot? (TWIG, Feb. 16, 2007)

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