Germany

Rent prices in Germany are skyrocketing. But one place hasn’t increased its rent in five centuries. The Fuggerei helps people who are poor to live a life of dignity.

David Bliss grew up hearing stories about his great-aunt Bertha, a once-energetic woman who ran her own shop in the small German town of Husen. But he knew very little else about her until he found a high school in Husen, which for decades has had students research the lives of Holocaust victims. Bliss’ journey to memorialize his great-aunt unearthed debates about such memorials in Germany, including those over the Stolperstein, or “Stumbling Stone” project. Rebecca Rosman traveled to Husen and Munich to tell this story.

The Fehmarn Belt Link is set to connect Germany and Denmark through the Baltic Sea by car and train. Developers say the project will fundamentally reshape travel in the EU for the better, cutting the time it takes to get from Hamburg to Copenhagen in half. But German advocates aren’t so sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

Our partners at Deutsche Welle took a walking tour of the problem of light pollution in Cologne, Germany, for the “Living Planet” program with journalist Kathleen Schuster.

Germany heads to the polls on Sunday, with the country’s stagnant economy and heated rows over immigration policy dominating conversations on the campaign trail.