The German Times Online

This is the front page of our current issue, hot off the press! For a week after publication you can find its main articles here online. Thereafter, all articles from the issue's Politics, Business and Life sections are added.

Greetings from the land of ruins

Fourteen years after the end of the Balkan wars, former Yugoslavia is still a poster child for anti-war tourism – By Ruediger Rossig

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) made a three-day trip to the Balkans in late August. The European region is struggling with the political and physical legacy of conflict.

Along the Adriatic Sea, Croatia is wearing its Sunday best. The sun shines brightly, the water is a deep azure blue, and the towns and villages along the coastal road are picturesque. The majestic Dinaric Alps rise above the sea. This beautiful interplay between nature and culture captivates visitors to the EU candidate country.

The “natural disasters” of this summer show that our political and economic model has reached its limits – By Harald Welzer

Here is the good news from the summer of 2010: The economic crisis has been overcome in Germany; automobile sales are booming, especially of luxury cars; German exports are reaching high levels thanks to the weak euro, and skilled and specialized workers, especially engineers, are in demand; BP has supposedly capped the oil bubbling up from the Gulf of Mexico, the DAX and the Dow are at permanently high levels.

Ever since his return to Formula One, Michael Schumacher has been bringing up the rear – By Frank Bachner

He was received like a Messiah: The return of the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher after three years was supposed to jazz up Formula One racing. Yet half a year later, disenchantment is all there is.

The telephone switchboard simply collapsed. It was rather modern, designed to cope with a large amount of incoming calls, yet it was not up to the Michael Schumacher myth. Everybody wanted tickets for the German Formula One Grand Prix in Hockenheim to see Michael Schumacher, 41, the seven-time world champion. He had announced his comeback a few days prior to the event, after a three-year break. The return of the superstar in a silver Mercedes: a human legend in a legendary car.