Aaron Wiener

Just a typical Berlin February

Entlassener Berlin-Korrespondent der „Washington Post“: „Donald Trump gewinnt seinen Krieg gegen die Medien“ Um das Berlin-Büro der „Washington Post“ zu leiten, zog Aaron Wiener vor einem halben Jahr mit seiner Familie nach Deutschland. Nun wurde er zusammen mit 300 Kollegen entlassen.

Um das Berlin-Büro der @washingtonpost.com zu leiten, zog @aaronwiener.bsky.social vor einem halben Jahr mit seiner Familie nach Deutschland. Nun wurde er zusammen mit 300 Kollegen entlassen. Sein Gastbeitrag im @tagesspiegel.de: www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/entla...

Today is a dark day for American journalism. Some of the best reporters and editors around the globe have been laid off by the Washington Post. The news-consuming public will pay the price.

My job wasn't spared. It's been the honor of a lifetime to be Berlin bureau chief, if only for 6 months.

Politics is global now. Even a pared-down @washingtonpost focused only on politics and national security can't cover these topics without well-sourced reporters breaking news and explaining developments in Europe, China, the Middle East and beyond. #SaveThePost

This @aaronwiener.bsky.social piece captures a lot of conversations I've had with Germans lately, friends and near-strangers – they've spent their lives looking at the US as an ally and model, and now feel bereft and confused. And I don't have anything comforting to say at the moment.

Americans living in Germany:
The children caught in a divorce

After 80-year bond, Germans find breaking up with the U.S. is hard to do To many Germans, Americans were saviors after World War II, and they feel especially hurt over President Donald Trump’s disdain for Europe and traditional alliances.

America: The spouse who no longer accepts his partner as is, and insists the partner become something else.

Germany: The partner who knows it's time to leave the relationship but can't quite quit.

However you analogize the breakup, it's very hard on Germans.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

In populist split, Trump’s fans in Europe broke with him on Greenland The European far right’s pushback showed the limits of the president’s with-me-or-against-me politics, a key obstacle to cooperation among nationalist parties.

“Unacceptable.” “Intolerable.” A “hostile act.” A “mistake.”

Trump's Greenland stance has alienated even his strongest supporters in Europe: the leaders of right-wing nationalist parties.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Merz at Davos: “Democracies do not have subordinates. They have allies, partners, and trusted friends.”

“We must never forget one thing: a world where only power counts is a dangerous place: first for small states, then for the middle powers, and ultimately for the great ones.”

‘House burping’ is a cold reality in Germany. Americans are warming to it. The often mandated German practice of airing out homes no matter the season has strained and even ended relationships, but it’s gotten a boost on U.S. social media.

His German roommate marched into his bedroom early every morning and threw open his windows, even if he had company.

Her German boyfriend kept the windows open all night, even when bats were flying in.

America, meet lüften:
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Lüften, Germany’s obsession with opening windows, goes viral in U.S. The often mandated German practice of airing out homes no matter the season has strained and even ended relationships, but it’s gotten a boost on U.S. social media.

Americans on TikTok have just "discovered" the German practice of lüften, or throwing open all the windows. Except they're calling it "house burping."

And the Germans are not amused: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Germany’s nationalist AfD party hopes to take power in 2026 Since its founding, the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has stood in opposition. In 2026, it hopes to win state-level governing power and perhaps more.

For the 13 years since its founding, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has stood in opposition.

This year, for the first time, it's looking to take power.

I examine its prospects, and what it all means for Germany: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Germany eavesdropped on some Obama calls from Air Force One, book says Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, intercepted some unencrypted calls around the same time the U.S. was spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel, a new book reveals.

Germans were incensed by reports in 2013 that the NSA had spied on Merkel's calls.

But at roughly the same time, the German intelligence service was listening to Obama's calls on Air Force One, according to a new report and a senior government official.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Surging left-wing party challenges politics-as-usual in Germany The rise of the nationalist far right has alarmed many Germans, but “The Left” party is most popular with young voters, posing a challenge to the centrist establishment.

You've heard about Germany's surging far-right AfD party.

But much more quietly, a left-wing party is surging too, and is now the most popular party among young voters.

Together, they could upend German politics as we know it.

My reporting from Leipzig: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Falls Sie vom Einbruch in die Sparkasse in Gelsenkirchen betroffen waren und Ihre Frustration und Ihre Geschichte teilen möchten, kontaktieren Sie mich bitte unter aaron.wiener(at)washpost(punkt)com.

Ich sammle die Geschichten der Opfer des Einbruchs und die Wertgegenstände, die sie verloren haben.

New Egyptian museum brings fresh pressure for return of Nefertiti’s bust One of Egypt’s most famous and beautiful artifacts lies in a Berlin museum, and the calls for its return have received a renewed push with the opening of a new museum.

The bust of Nefertiti is one of Germany's most iconic artifacts, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Now two Egyptian archeologists are mounting the largest campaign to date to bring it back to Egypt.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Still need to get used to working in Europe, where you reach out to someone for a meeting and get an email back saying they're on vacation and will be back in *4 weeks.*

I've spent a lot of time in the past couple of weeks with AfD reps in the Bundestag, learning just how deep their ties to the Trump admin have grown:
-an exclusive invitation to Trump's inauguration
-a meeting at the Eisenhower Building
-a State Dept presentation
-meetings this week with Congress

Germany’s anti-immigrant AfD party finds open door in Trump’s America Some German lawmakers want to ban Alternative for Germany, but the party has been embraced in Washington, and some of its leaders see Trump’s path to power as a road map.

A member of parliament from the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) was sure his presentation to the State Department would be canceled after news broke of a Nazi-linked serenade.

Then he got a phone call from a senior State Dept. staffer...

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Germany’s gruff defense minister aims to make his country ‘war-ready’ German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius must reckon with his center-left party’s anti-militarism and the country’s need to defend Europe against Russian aggression.

His party is in freefall. His administration is deeply unpopular. He leads the defense department in a country that's been allergic to militarization for 80 years.

So how come Boris Pistorius is *by far* the most popular German politician?

Let's dig in: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

If you email the White House press office, this is the autoresponse you get:

Germany, where beer is sacred, now leads world in nonalcoholic brews Germany, long known for traditional brewing, has seen a boom in nonalcoholic beers, which are being embraced by young people and athletes as a healthy alternative.

One of the things that surprised me most when I came to Berlin is how *huge* nonalcoholic beer is in Germany.

So I went to Oktoberfest to learn more about the world leader in alcohol-free beer:

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Germans meet up to eat pudding with forks — and the trend goes global The trend, called “Pudding mit Gabel,” has taken off on German social media, and now has crossed the Atlantic.

Why are thousands of young Germans -- and now Americans too -- meeting up in parks to eat pudding with forks?

I decided this warranted a Washington Post investigation: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Europe’s high quality of life is getting hard to afford. Just ask France. The cost of Europe’s way of life — health care, affordable education and a dignified retirement for all, through high social spending — is becoming unbearably high.

A decade ago, Germany and France held things together while Europe's periphery struggled with debt.

Now France and Germany have doubts about whether they can sustain their social welfare spending. France is racking up debt, while Italy and Spain are thriving.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

In Germany, a boxing match decides fight over birthplace of bratwurst Two regions competing for bragging rights to bratwurst, Germany’s signature sausage, took their battle into a boxing ring in a ham-fisted bid to settle the matter.

Two German regions each claimed to have the oldest bratwurst.

They decided to settle it in the boxing ring.

I attended the historic fight at the German Bratwurst Museum in Thuringia.

(Did I mention that I love my job?)

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Five minutes out from Erfurt, we're still on track to arrive just on time. Deutsche Bahn, you've done it!

Incredibly, we arrived in Bamberg just two minutes behind schedule, and now, pulling out, we're projected to get to Erfurt on time. Deutsche Bahn might really get one for the win column.

Pulling out of Nürnberg, we're now four minutes behind schedule. It's gonna be tight.

Let's play this game again.

Yesterday, Deutsche Bahn lost. Now I'm on a train from Munich to Erfurt. We've made it to northern Bavaria, and so far we're still on time.

Can it hold? Stay tuned.

An hour out from Munich, we're now projected to arrive 14 minutes late. I think this one's destined for the loss column.