From human smuggling to forced labor, from skateboarding to the Peaceful Revolution, DW takes a closer look at the history and legacy of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), known as East Germany.
Sewing your own clothes in communist East Germany was a subtle act of resistance against the regime. Those who paid attention to fashion read the magazine Sybille - the Vogue of the East - which became a legend. (28.06.2012)
Until 1989, many Western companies manufactured their goods in East Germany, where labor was cheap, and West Germany was eager to improve ties. But a lot of the production workers were forced laborers. (06.05.2012)
During the Cold War, the West German government bought the freedom of East German political prisoners. For the West, the motive was humanitarian, for the East, economic. (11.08.2012)
GDR chief Erich Honecker was often considered unemotional and humorless. Now, 23 years after East Germany's collapse, his bodyguard and butler Lothar Herzog reveals other sides of him in a memoir and a DW interview. (23.08.2012)
For photographic artists from the GDR, it was often difficult and dangerous to take photographs or even exhibit their works. A new show honors the work of these artists, exploring 40 years of photography in East Germany. (16.10.2012)
A new exhibition in Berlin documents over four decades of art photography as it developed in the German Republic. Including works by over 34 different photographers, it is the most comprehensive show of its kind. (16.10.2012)
Communist East Germany was pretty much the exact opposite of California. But skateboards were popular in both places. A documentary on the East German skating scene is now playing in German cinemas. (16.08.2012)
The Rolling Stones are turning 50. In Germany, the band had fans from the very beginning on both sides of the Iron Curtain. In communist East Germany, though, the fans had a somewhat more difficult time. (12.07.2012)
For decades, artworks seized by East German authorities have been housed in national museum collections in the former East. Now questions are being asked over compensation and the museums' right to display the works. (08.05.2013)
A memorial to the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 is planned for Leipzig. But residents and politicians are divided over whether or not the city needs such a memorial and, if so, how it should look. (03.10.2012)
For his work smuggling East Germans out of the communist GDR, Rainer Schubert spent nine years in prison. Today, he lives in the German capital with his interrogators. He believes Germany needs 'Berlin trials.' (02.10.2012)
While the Berlin Wall remains a symbol of German division and the brutal former East German regime, a new project aims to focus attention on the many victims of the equally forbidding East-West German border zone. (12.08.2012)
The former East German states have been subsidized to the tune of billions of euros - not always successfully. Struggling regions in the west now want a share of the financial support. (02.10.2012)
The German-Russian friendship is about more than pipelines. A newly opened exhibition in Moscow looks at what else has bound the two countries over the past millennium. (22.06.2012)
Germany is to create a fund to help people who as children were placed in care homes in the former East Germany. Many report having suffered psychological and physical abuse. (26.03.2012)
For the first time ever, both Germany's chancellor and president are from the former East Germany. But otherwise, German society has been dominated by western German elites – is a sea change at hand? (23.03.2012)
Some of Germany's most valuable creative works went up in flames on May 10, 1933. The mass book burnings marked a turning point in the Nazis' ideology campaigns. And they were largely organized by university students.
The Second World War ended in May 1945 - but not for the German "Wolfskinder," or "wolf children." On their own, they made their way from East Prussia to Lithuania, a decision they'll never forget.
In 1989 East German calls for democracy reach a highpoint. When the East German government announces new travel regulations, hundreds of thousands of people gather at the Berlin Wall, and the checkpoints finally open.
French National Front leader Marine le Pen has saluted the acts of a far-right activist who shot himself dead at Notre Dame. The man had earlier called on his blog for "spectacular action" to protect France's identity.
Germany and Spain have signed a deal seeking to put 5,000 young Spaniards into German apprenticeships and other junior jobs each year. More than half of Spain's jobseekers aged 25 or younger have no work.
Police siege continues at two Ugandan newspapers+++Ten striking miners hospitalized in South Africa+++More than 2,000 Nigerian's flee as fighting between the government and Boko Haram intensifies in the north
Ugandan journalists say their right to protect the identity of their sources is under siege, as police halt work at a number of newspapers and radio stations, demanding the release of a controversial letter.
The southern city of Karachi is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. For two decades a liberal party has had control over the Pakistani city, but now it seems the party is losing its grip on the city.
Increasingly, drones and robots are being used in combat to replace soldiers in high-risk situations. Some researchers and politicians are concerned that, in future, autonomous machines may reign over life and death.