BERLIN BRIEFING February 2005

News this month

Sweetened Rice

German newspapers in early February were filled with the visit of Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state. As part of a quick trip to Belgium, France and Germany, among other countries, Ms Rice visited Berlin, spending the night in a bullet-proof suite at the Intercontinental hotel. During the trip, Ms Rice worked hard to show that her attitude towards Europe had changed since the beginning of the war in Iraq, when she famously quipped “Punish France, ignore Germany, forgive Russia.”

Gerhard Schröder, Germany's chancellor, joked and laughed with Ms Rice during a surprisingly entertaining half-hour press conference on February 4th. Mr Schröder rarely speaks in English for any length of time, but he seemed happy to make an exception for his illustrious guest.

Match-fixing

A 25-year-old Berliner has threatened to bring German football to its knees. Robbie Hoyzer, a football referee, admitted to helping rig seven matches, including one German Cup game. He said a Croatian gambling syndicate paid him €60,000 ($77,000) to ensure that certain teams won unexpected victories. The syndicate, which operated from Berlin's seedy Café King, pocketed about €2m from the scam.

The tale doesn’t end with Mr Hoyzer, who was charged with eight counts of fraud and is now in jail. The disgraced referee claimed that 25 other people, including other referees and football players, were involved in the case. Some of the accused have confessed, but others, including Juergen Jansen, a well-known first-division referee, insist they are innocent. Meanwhile, police have raided the homes of players and referees across Germany in order to nail down the extent of the corruption. With Germany poised to host the World Cup finals in 2006, several sports figures have called for a lifetime ban from football for anyone involved in the case.

Lights, camera, action!

Every February, Berlin enjoys its 15 minutes of Hollywood-style fame during the Berlinale film festival. Though it has long played second fiddle to similar events at Cannes and Venice, it boasts some 400 releases this year. This is Berlin's 55th Berlinale, and activity will centre around Potsdamer Platz. Berliners may gripe about the challenge of getting tickets for the top events, but few doubt that the event is a great boost to the city. A stellar line-up of guests is promised, especially for the presentation of the Golden Bear award on February 20th. Closing time
Germans aren't drinking beer as they used to. That is the verdict following the closure of two large breweries, both owned by the Oetker Group, in early February. Berlin’s 133-year-old Berliner Kindl brewery and the Brinkhoff brewery in Dortmund both shut their doors, making 450 workers redundant.

According to official production statistics, Germans downed 94m hectolitres of beer in 2003, compared with 108m hectoliters in 1994. Waist-conscious 30 and 40-somethings are now opting for bottled water, iced tea and fruit juices over a pint of frothy brew, while younger drinkers favour fashionable “alcopops,” such as Smirnoff Ice or Bacardi Rigo. Small, family-run businesses are feeling the pinch most: many of them are being swallowed up by global brewing conglomerates, such as InBev (the firm formed by the merger of Belgium’s Interbrew and the American Beverage Corporation).

Still, Germany’s more than 1,260 breweries will not go down without a fight. Across the nation (and often in Berlin), brewers are hosting consortiums on how better to package, market and sell their product. One idea is to create drinks that mix beer with cola, juice and even trendy herbs such as ginko. Another is to drop the stodgy brown bottle in exchange for slinkier models.

Is it art?

Berlin's art world seems bent on solidifying its controversial reputation. An exhibition inspired by the Red Army Faction (RAF), a radical left-wing group active during the 1970s and 1980s, has sparked a debate about making terrorism glamorous. Critics claim the display glorifies the bloody deeds of the group, which killed more than 30 people. Some have mused on the role of Felix Ensslin, one of the show's curators, and the son of Gudrun Ensslin, a prominent RAF terrorist, who committed suicide in prison in 1977. But artists at the Kunst-Werke, where the exhibition is on view, claim their work is about the way in which images can traumatise society.

Originally scheduled to open a year ago, the show faltered when Klaus Biesenbach, the founder and former director of the Kunst-Werke, bowed to the show's controversy and withdrew an application for €100,000 ($133,000) worth of state funding. But the curators raised enough private donations to hold the show independently. It features over 100 works by over 50 artists, including portraits of RAF members and their victims.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Is the Sick Man of Europe Recovering?

February 24th 2005

Have Germany’s economic reforms started to bear fruit? Will the country have to face more painful social reforms? Wolfgang Clement (pictured), Germany’s Minister for Economics and Labour, will debate these issues, along with Alexander Dibelius of Goldman Sachs in Germany and Austria; Martin Kanngiesser of Gesamtmetall (the association of metal and electrical industry employers); and Klaus F. Zimmermann of DIW Berlin, the German Institute of Economic Research. Edward Lucas, a senior correspondent for The Economist, will moderate (in German). This event is organised by The Economist, DIW Berlin and the Alfred Herrhausen Society.

After the debate, dutiful attendees can attend a special showing of “No Limits, Just Edges”, an exhibition of works by Jackson Pollock in the adjacent Guggenheim Museum.

To attend, contact Ralf Messer at DIW, tel: +49 (0)30 8978 9569; e-mail: economist@diw.de. The debate starts at 6.30pm at Deutsche Bank AG, Unter den Linden 13-15 (entrance Charlottenstrasse 37-38), 10117 Berlin-Mitte.