What constitutes a family today and who is actually part of it?

Angela and Erich are the parents, Simon and Katrin the children. Together they make up a family. But just listing the members doesn't mean it is a proper family. Erich and Angela have ...

An extraordinary adventure and an unforgettable hero

Bartholomew is an orphan from Bombay, he's twelve years old and speaks almost as many languages. This is why, in the year 1854, he is hired as a translator by the brothers Schlagintweit from Germany, who, with the support of ...

A beer cellar, a luxury hotel and a grandmother who dies twice over…

Resplendent with glamour but overcast by many a shadow, the story of the Salz family centres on Leipzig's up-market Fürstenhof hotel. Salz Sr. buys it in 1914, but his actress daughter Lola refuses to ...

If buildings could talk… One century, two families, and a house in the heart of Berlin packed with history

Elsa, the daughter of a shop assistant, and Bernhard, a carpenter's son, were both born in 1929 - on the opening day of the Jonass department store at 1 Torstrasse. Their ...

Many of our decisions have no major influence on our lives, while others are a matter of do or die. And some of them are so insane in retrospect that we can hardly believe we took them. A single good or bad decision can change the course of our lives forever. But what influences our decisions?

"In order to love India, I had to get to know Germany again."

Indians, Germans, and an author seeking to answer the question: What is home? Since his marriage to Indian native Saskya, Christopher Kloeble is a notarized "Person of Indian Heritage." In this insightful, ...

From ghetto to death camp - a memoir of privilege and luck

Anatol Chari was a member of the Jewish Special Police Force and his memoirs are one of the few publications to shed light on events from this particular perspective. Chari shares his reminiscences in depth in an ...

After spending twenty years in a marriage in which she primarily just "functioned," Sonja R. falls head over heels in love. As emotionally starved as she is, Frank gives her everything she has been missing for years. However, Sonja has found herself in the arms of a narcissist, a man who wants ...

The scarcity of appreciation Recognition, esteem, gratitude. These signals of social acceptance fulfill some of humanity's basic needs. We want to be seen for who we are and long for recognition for what we have done and achieved. However, if you take a look around your own private ...

Our bodies' miraculous defense system: everything we need to know about our immune systems

Millions of microorganisms have colonized us: bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites. Most of them are harmless, but some of them are malignant pathogens. Without a functioning immune system, we ...

Six Feet Under meets Adams Family

Ruby wants only two things: to be normal and inconspicuous, and to find friends. This isn't all that easy considering her eccentric family and their home on the edge of a cemetery, which happens to be where her entire family works.

Adventure on the high seas

Eight-year-old August is happily bobbing on an inflatable rubber crocodile in the middle of the sea. He wishes he had some ice cream, but instead he meets Juli, who is nonchalantly paddling around on her float. The float is her home, and it is well ...