Philip Oltermann

The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...

Another "special operation" or a Marx Brothers-style farce in which competing thieves tried to outwit one another? I wrote a long read about the curious disappearance of rare Russian books from European libraries www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

It‘s unclear to me how the “in Tel Aviv” bit here is crucial - am I missing something? Leaving it in would have also created some confusion since the Knesset is in Jerusalem…

My point isn’t who owned the anti-Tesla protests, though, but that Musk’s claim that the AfD are pro-deregulation should be completely at odds with his own experience

One thing I still find really hard to compute about Musk endorsing the AfD as deregulation champions is that the AfD was literally the party most vocally opposed to Tesla setting up its factory in Brandenburg, citing “violations of building and environmental regulations”.

Why foreign correspondents are alarmed and dismayed at plans to sell the Observer | Letter Letter: Current and former contributors to the international pages of the Guardian and Observer respond to an article by Ole Jacob Sunde, chair of the Scott Trust

Here is a letter I've signed, along with 40+ other current or former correspondents, expressing our alarm and dismay at plans to sell the Observer to Tortoise media www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d...

The most interesting thing about Angela Merkel‘s memoirs are the people and moments she declines to mention www.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...

‘A road trip like no other’: my epic drive on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn Fifty years ago, the electronic legends released a 23-minute song about a road – and changed pop music for ever. Our writer hits the speed-limit-free highways of Düsseldorf and Hamburg in search of it...

50 years ago this month, Kraftwerk’s Autobahn changed pop music forever. I drove from Bonn to Hamburg to capture the iconic road's sights and sounds – and work out why nobody in Dusseldorf seemed bothered about the band (and yes this WAS a dream commission!) www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...

German architecture award rescinded over British artist’s Israel boycott vow Schelling Architecture Foundation refuses to give James Bridle his €10k prize after he signed open letter

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

Fiscal policy was a squabble too far for German coalition’s odd throuple At times it felt like the three parties thought they were governing three completely different countries

I wrote an obituary of Germany's traffic-light coalition: www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

Thank you, Kasia.

It takes real determination for Anglo commentators to watch France embrace the weird and off-beat in these Olympic ceremonies and then go: “Same old French, sophisticated but sexy, Gauloises, Camembert, oh lá lá”

I’d watched Juliane Diller talk of how she survived a plane crash over the Peruvian jungle in Herzog’s Wings of Hope, but I was still absolutely riveted when she told me her story over three hours. An extraordinary human being.

Venice Biennale’s new, rightwing director has art world guessing Meloni’s party is pleased by the appointment but Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has surprised before – not least by adopting Islam

Venice Biennale’s new, eccentrically was rightwing president has art world guessing www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

‘In the last four weeks language has deserted me’: Adania Shibli on being shut down Speaking out for the first time since the cancellation of her award ceremony at the Frankfurt book fair, the Palestinian author sheds light on her work and the power of linguistics and erasure

Adania Shibli says the speech she had prepared for her awards ceremony at the Frankfurt book fair before it was cancelled was on book banning www.theguardian.com/books/2023/n...

A few years ago I wrote about German-language sci-fi novels about post-Brexit Britain. But I don't think even @tomhillenbrand.bsky.social et al would have dreamt up a British PM fawningly interviewing a tech mogul who thinks AI could become your "best friend". www.theguardian.com/world/2019/j...

Blown, battered and bottled: the artists who catch the wind From Barcelona breezes to blasts in Bohemia, artists are capturing and harnessing mighty winds – including a 1954 bora that blew at 100mph. Our writer grabs his cheesegrater crampons

As Europe’s energy security becomes more reliant on renewables, our relationship with the elements is changing. I spoke to four artists across the continent who try to capture the wind. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Kosovan airport merch is pretty wild

‘We need to tell people everything’: Portugal grapples with legacy of colonial past European country with longest involvement in the slave trade is coming under pressure to give ‘a real sorry’ for its role

‘We need to tell people everything’: Portugal grapples with legacy of colonial past www.theguardian.com/world/2023/o...

“Hexa-pod, hell-cat, helter-skelter, hop-scotch!”: Marlene Marder’s memoir of Swiss punk pioneers Kleenex/Liliput www.theguardian.com/music/2023/o...