Latest news with #LeipzigBookFair
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Defying the scaremongers, German book fair draws record visitors
A record number of visitors have attended Germany's popular Leipzig Book Fair this year, according to figures revealed on the final day of the four-day event on Sunday. The book industry has been under economic pressure for years, amid recurring warnings that books are a dying breed, but the crowds of bookworms flocking to the eastern German city for one of Europe's largest book fairs suggest otherwise. Some 269,000 visitors attended the Leipzig Book Fair, the Leipzig Reads festival and the Manga-Comic-Con convention this year, up from 13,000 in 2024 - the highest attendance number seen in the event's history. "The great interest in the book fair shows how important the analogue experience still is," said Director Astrid Böhmisch. At the same time, the number of exhibitors this year decreased slightly to 2,040 compared to 2,085 last year. According to the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, small, independent publishers in particular are facing economic pressure. In Germany, federal and state-level support for publishers is mainly available in the form of prizes awarded for literary programmes. But the association argued that this type of funding isn't predictable enough, calling for better structural support. Book sales declined by 1.7% Germany last year, according to the association. While total turnover still increased by 0.8%, this was merely due to the fact that books have become more expensive, it said. The guest of honour at this year's Leipzig Book Fair was Norway, with some 50 authors, including Karl Ove Knausgård and Trude Teige, representing the Scandinavian country under the motto "Traum im Frühling" (Dream in spring). Next year's book fair is due to take place from March 19-22.
Local Germany
29-03-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
Inside Germany: Clock debates, controversial hedges and the sorrows of Deutsche Bahn
Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might've missed. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Will the next government tackle Germany's rail crisis? "The greatest crisis in 30 years..." That was how Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz described the state of Germany's railways on Thursday . Lutz was presenting the company's latest set of dire figures to reporters, from the €1.8 billion of losses in 2024 to anaemic sales and total debts of €32 billion. In news that's unlikely to surprise many rail passengers, Deutsche Bahn also hit a new low in punctuality last year, with just 62.5 percent of trains arriving on time. "We are far from meeting our customers' expectations," Lutz said, perfecting the art of understatement. The endless sorrows of the national rail service are well known to anyone who lives in Germany. More recently, though, the reputation of Deutsche Bahn has even started to spill across borders. In a recent article , The Local France editor Emma Pearson shared her tips for staying sane while travelling on DB's "direct" Berlin to Paris service. In it, she cautioned readers to be stoic and expect the unexpected. So, as Germany gears up to usher in a new government, will the next 'Grand Coalition' be able to finally get to grips with the railways? On first glance, the noises sound positive - but, much like a cross-country trip on DB Regio, it won't be an easy journey. According to the latest leaked plans, the CDU/CSU and SPD want to embark on a "fundamental rail reform", clearing out old management and pouring in massive investments. As part of a €500 billion infrastructure fund, tens of billions would be used to spruce up the creaking railways and modernise the busiest routes. According to Lutz, at least €150 billion will be needed to get the job done. And, given how long some of these projects can take, several more years of delays may be on the cards. Luckily, though, the government is also promising to keep the Deutschlandticket , so you can still travel to your destination on a budget - provided you're not too concerned with getting there on time. Advertisement Tweet of the week Some of us may have made the mistake of deciding to do a spot of cleaning DIY on a Sunday, forgetting about Germany's sacred Ruhetag (quiet day) rules. If your German neighbours have anything to do with it, it's not a mistake you'll make twice. When it's Sunday, and it's Germany, and you want to watch the world burn. — Nic Houghton (@40PercentGerman) March 23, 2025 Where is this? Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jan Woitas This atmospheric scene shows the MS Cospuden moored on Leipzig's Cospudener See on Thursday evening during a cosy book reading. Parallel to the Leipzig Book Fair, which runs until Sunday, more than 3,000 events are taking place at 350 different locations throughout the city for the 'Leipzig reads' reading festival - including atop the city's lakes. Advertisement Clocks go forward... again It's that time of year again. On March 30th, the clocks go forward and politicians go back to a years-long debate about when (if ever) the practice will be scrapped for good. The European Union has been eyeing an end to Daylight Saving Time since 2018 , when a public consultation revealed that millions were in favour. For the past seven years, however, the bloc has been stuck in limbo amid disagreements on how to go about it. This year Poland is in charge of the rotating EU presidency and wants to put the question of the clocks back on the agenda. Proponents of the change are pushing for a target date to end the changing of the clocks in order to speed up the process. If they're successful, it's possible the bloc could be gearing up to finally call time on the century-old practice. For now, though, we're still set to wake up one hour later on Sunday morning (or lose one hour of sleep, depending on how you think about it) - and gain an hour of sunlight in the evening. Advertisement When is a hedge too high? If you've lived in Germany for a while, you've probably realised that there are some very strict rules governing neighbourly behaviour. From grilling on your balcony to how often your guinea pigs have sex, every question imaginable can end up in the German courts . Most recently, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe was asked to rule on a highly philosophical question: when is a hedge a hedge, and how high can it be? The question was prompted by a recent dispute in Frankfurt between two neighbours. The plaintiff had demanded that his neighbour cut back her six-metre bamboo hedge, while the neighbour refused to do so. After much back and forth, the verdict was clear: there is no legal height limit for a hedge in Germany. That said, you do have to make sure it's far enough from your neighbour's property - and don't forget to trim it at the specified times of year .
Local Norway
24-03-2025
- Health
- Local Norway
Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit signed off sick due to lung disease
The 51-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon announced in October 2018 that she had been diagnosed with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable disease that causes scarring of the lungs and shortness of breath. Her latest period of sick leave will notably force her to cancel her visit to the Leipzig Book Fair in Germany. On March 6th, the palace said that Mette-Marit's condition had worsened, indicating that it may force her to reduce her official duties. The crown princess has previously been signed off sick for several weeks in September 2023 and October 2024, when she also cancelled her public engagements. Advertisement "When you get to be 50, you understand that life is not eternal," she told Norwegian daily DN in an interview published in August 2023 ahead of her 50th birthday.
