Philip Oltermann
@philipoltermann.bsky.social
Culture editor for Europe, The Guardian. Ex-Berlin bureau chief. My book The Stasi Poetry Circle (Faber & Faber) is out now
Reposted by Philip Oltermann
Honestly, filth at this time in the morning
November 8, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Honestly, filth at this time in the morning
Another "special operation" or a Marx Brothers-style farce in which competing thieves tried to outwit one another? I wrote a long read about the curious disappearance of rare Russian books from European libraries www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist
The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Another "special operation" or a Marx Brothers-style farce in which competing thieves tried to outwit one another? I wrote a long read about the curious disappearance of rare Russian books from European libraries www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
One thing I still find really hard to compute about Musk endorsing the AfD as deregulation champions is that the AfD was literally the party most vocally opposed to Tesla setting up its factory in Brandenburg, citing “violations of building and environmental regulations”.
December 31, 2024 at 9:12 AM
One thing I still find really hard to compute about Musk endorsing the AfD as deregulation champions is that the AfD was literally the party most vocally opposed to Tesla setting up its factory in Brandenburg, citing “violations of building and environmental regulations”.
Here is a letter I've signed, along with 40+ other current or former correspondents, expressing our alarm and dismay at plans to sell the Observer to Tortoise media www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d...
Why foreign correspondents are alarmed and dismayed at plans to sell the Observer | Letter
Letter: Current and former contributors to the international pages of the Guardian and Observer respond to an article by Ole Jacob Sunde, chair of the Scott Trust
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2024 at 4:27 PM
Here is a letter I've signed, along with 40+ other current or former correspondents, expressing our alarm and dismay at plans to sell the Observer to Tortoise media www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d...
The most interesting thing about Angela Merkel‘s memoirs are the people and moments she declines to mention www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
November 26, 2024 at 12:15 AM
The most interesting thing about Angela Merkel‘s memoirs are the people and moments she declines to mention www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...
Reposted by Philip Oltermann
50 years ago this month, Kraftwerk’s Autobahn changed pop music forever. I drove from Bonn to Hamburg to capture the iconic road's sights and sounds – and work out why nobody in Dusseldorf seemed bothered about the band (and yes this WAS a dream commission!) www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...
‘A road trip like no other’: my epic drive on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn
Fifty years ago, the electronic legends released a 23-minute song about a road – and changed pop music for ever. Our writer hits the speed-limit-free highways of Düsseldorf and Hamburg in search of it...
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2024 at 1:04 PM
50 years ago this month, Kraftwerk’s Autobahn changed pop music forever. I drove from Bonn to Hamburg to capture the iconic road's sights and sounds – and work out why nobody in Dusseldorf seemed bothered about the band (and yes this WAS a dream commission!) www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...
I wrote an obituary of Germany's traffic-light coalition: www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Fiscal policy was a squabble too far for German coalition’s odd throuple
At times it felt like the three parties thought they were governing three completely different countries
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2024 at 11:11 AM
I wrote an obituary of Germany's traffic-light coalition: www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
It takes real determination for Anglo commentators to watch France embrace the weird and off-beat in these Olympic ceremonies and then go: “Same old French, sophisticated but sexy, Gauloises, Camembert, oh lá lá”
August 12, 2024 at 7:29 AM
It takes real determination for Anglo commentators to watch France embrace the weird and off-beat in these Olympic ceremonies and then go: “Same old French, sophisticated but sexy, Gauloises, Camembert, oh lá lá”
I’d watched Juliane Diller talk of how she survived a plane crash over the Peruvian jungle in Herzog’s Wings of Hope, but I was still absolutely riveted when she told me her story over three hours. An extraordinary human being.
August 7, 2024 at 7:55 PM
I’d watched Juliane Diller talk of how she survived a plane crash over the Peruvian jungle in Herzog’s Wings of Hope, but I was still absolutely riveted when she told me her story over three hours. An extraordinary human being.
Venice Biennale’s new, eccentrically was rightwing president has art world guessing www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Venice Biennale’s new, rightwing director has art world guessing
Meloni’s party is pleased by the appointment but Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has surprised before – not least by adopting Islam
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2023 at 7:53 AM
Venice Biennale’s new, eccentrically was rightwing president has art world guessing www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Adania Shibli says the speech she had prepared for her awards ceremony at the Frankfurt book fair before it was cancelled was on book banning www.theguardian.com/books/2023/n...
‘In the last four weeks language has deserted me’: Adania Shibli on being shut down
Speaking out for the first time since the cancellation of her award ceremony at the Frankfurt book fair, the Palestinian author sheds light on her work and the power of linguistics and erasure
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2023 at 11:06 AM
Adania Shibli says the speech she had prepared for her awards ceremony at the Frankfurt book fair before it was cancelled was on book banning www.theguardian.com/books/2023/n...
A few years ago I wrote about German-language sci-fi novels about post-Brexit Britain. But I don't think even @tomhillenbrand.bsky.social et al would have dreamt up a British PM fawningly interviewing a tech mogul who thinks AI could become your "best friend". www.theguardian.com/world/2019/j...
November 3, 2023 at 10:42 AM
A few years ago I wrote about German-language sci-fi novels about post-Brexit Britain. But I don't think even @tomhillenbrand.bsky.social et al would have dreamt up a British PM fawningly interviewing a tech mogul who thinks AI could become your "best friend". www.theguardian.com/world/2019/j...
As Europe’s energy security becomes more reliant on renewables, our relationship with the elements is changing. I spoke to four artists across the continent who try to capture the wind. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Blown, battered and bottled: the artists who catch the wind
From Barcelona breezes to blasts in Bohemia, artists are capturing and harnessing mighty winds – including a 1954 bora that blew at 100mph. Our writer grabs his cheesegrater crampons
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2023 at 8:06 AM
As Europe’s energy security becomes more reliant on renewables, our relationship with the elements is changing. I spoke to four artists across the continent who try to capture the wind. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Kosovan airport merch is pretty wild
October 17, 2023 at 5:37 AM
Kosovan airport merch is pretty wild
‘We need to tell people everything’: Portugal grapples with legacy of colonial past www.theguardian.com/world/2023/o...
‘We need to tell people everything’: Portugal grapples with legacy of colonial past
European country with longest involvement in the slave trade is coming under pressure to give ‘a real sorry’ for its role
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2023 at 1:20 PM
‘We need to tell people everything’: Portugal grapples with legacy of colonial past www.theguardian.com/world/2023/o...
“Hexa-pod, hell-cat, helter-skelter, hop-scotch!”: Marlene Marder’s memoir of Swiss punk pioneers Kleenex/Liliput www.theguardian.com/music/2023/o...
October 2, 2023 at 9:30 PM
“Hexa-pod, hell-cat, helter-skelter, hop-scotch!”: Marlene Marder’s memoir of Swiss punk pioneers Kleenex/Liliput www.theguardian.com/music/2023/o...