Tag Archives: Soviet Union
Wait, when was World War II again?
Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. A strange questions, it seems, especially coming from someone studying history. But the more you travel in the post-Soviet world, i.e. in the countries that became independent after the end of the Soviet Union, the … Continue reading
How Climate Change will end
Many big issues are at their heart debates between optimists and pessimists – with some pretentious self-declared realists thrown into the mix. This is also true about climate change. Will we develop carbon-neutral technologies? Or can we capture the carbon … Continue reading
Uman: Communism or Cheesy Story?
Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. There is really no reason to visit Uman. It is a small city like hundreds of others in Ukraine. But because it lies halfway between Kyiv and Odessa, I decided to break the journey and … Continue reading
Kyiv – Day 19/21 – Communism and Capitalism
Capitalism’s triumph over communism most certainly wasn’t due to aesthetics. Links: More about Ukraine. More about economics, some of it more profound than merely a photo. Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Blogs.
Our Prisoner of War
Recently, I stayed with my father in Bavaria, where life is informal and one can put the feet on the table and smoke inside the house. We were both preoccupied with reading, my father with the newspaper and me with … Continue reading
Film review: “Blue Mountains”
Maybe you have to be as old and wise as me to realize it, but movies made in the last century are really better than today’s animation/superhero/sequel/prequel crap. Actually, the difference is so stark that even Soviet films from the … Continue reading
An unexpected find
I am trying to get rid of most stuff and have been quite successful already. I have no car, only one hat, and I am even letting go of books. But one thing is piling up: notebooks, full of memories, … Continue reading
A Walk around Tbilisi
Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. Each year for my birthday, I like to explore a new country, preferably alone. In July 2017, I treated myself to a trip to the Caucasus (and ended up celebrating my 42nd birthday with the … Continue reading
Random Thoughts (12)
If you have doubts about humanity, listen to this podcast about a hospital in Israel treating wounded and sick Syrians. I wouldn’t have thought that many people read articles as long as the one about my decision to return to … Continue reading
Random Thoughts (9)
In Bolivia, I spoke with a lawyer about feminicidios, the killing of women by their partners, which carries a higher sentence than a “regular” homicide. Out of curiosity, I looked up the figure for Germany – and was shocked: 331 … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 