Germany: Memories of a Nation Podcast
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, explores 600 years of Germany's complex and often challenging history using objects, art, landmarks and literature.
Episodes to download
-
![]()
Reichstag
Fri 7 Nov 2014
Neil MacGregor ends his journey through 600 years of German history at the Reichstag.
-
![]()
Barlach's Angel
Thu 6 Nov 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on Ernst Barlach's sculpture Hovering Angel, a unique war memorial.
-
![]()
The New German Jews
Wed 5 Nov 2014
Neil MacGregor discusses why Germany has the fastest-growing Jewish population in Europe.
-
![]()
Out of the Rubble
Tue 4 Nov 2014
Neil MacGregor talks to a woman who cleared rubble from the streets of Berlin in 1945.
-
![]()
The Germans Expelled
Mon 3 Nov 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the forced movement of more than 12 million Germans after 1945.
-
![]()
At the Buchenwald Gate
Fri 31 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor visits Buchenwald, one of the earliest and largest concentration camps.
-
![]()
Purging the Degenerate
Thu 30 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on how the Nazis attacked art they viewed as degenerate.
-
![]()
Money in Crisis
Wed 29 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor on the emergency money created to replace metal coins, and hyperinflation.
-
![]()
Kathe Kollwitz: Suffering Witness
Tue 28 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the art of Kathe Kollwitz, witness to the suffering of war.
-
![]()
Bismarck the Blacksmith
Fri 24 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor charts the career of Otto von Bismarck, known as the Iron Chancellor.
-
![]()
Bauhaus: Cradle of the Modern
Thu 23 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the Bauhaus school of art and design, founded in Weimar in 1919.
-
![]()
From Clock to Car: Masters of Metal
Wed 22 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the long tradition of German metalwork, from clocks to cars.
-
![]()
Porcelain: The White Gold of Saxony
Tue 21 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on how German chemists discovered the secrets of Chinese porcelain.
-
![]()
D眉rer: An Artist for All Germans
Mon 20 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the work of D眉rer (1471-1528), the defining artist of Germany.
-
![]()
Gutenberg: In the Beginning Was the Printer
Mon 20 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor examines how Johannes Gutenberg's inventions transformed our world.
-
![]()
1848: The People's Flag and Karl Marx
Fri 17 Oct 2014
Black, red and gold become the colours of Germany, and Karl Marx publishes a manifesto.
-
![]()
Iron Nation
Thu 16 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on 19th-century uses of iron, from jewellery to the Iron Cross.
-
![]()
Holbein and the Hansa
Wed 15 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the Hansa, the great trading alliance, and the painter Holbein.
-
![]()
Riemenschneider: Sculpting the Spirit
Tue 14 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on the supreme limewood sculptures of Riemenschneider (c1460-1531).
-
![]()
The Battle for Charlemagne
Mon 13 Oct 2014
Was Charlemagne a great French ruler, or was he Charles the Great, a German?
-
![]()
One People, Many Sausages
Fri 10 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on two great emblems of Germany's national diet: beer and sausages.
-
![]()
The Walhalla: Hall of Heroes
Thu 9 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor visits the Walhalla, a 19th-century temple to German-ness, built in Bavaria
-
![]()
One Nation Under Goethe
Wed 8 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor focuses on Germany's great national poet Goethe, who was born in 1749.
-
![]()
Fairy Tales and Forests: The Grimms and Caspar David Friedrich
Tue 7 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor on how the Grimms and painter Caspar David Friedrich shaped German identity
-
![]()
Luther and a Language for All Germans
Mon 6 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor examines how Luther created the modern German language.
-
![]()
Fragments of Power
Fri 3 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor discovers how coins reveal the range and diversity of the Holy Roman Empire
-
![]()
Strasbourg - Floating City
Thu 2 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor visits Strasbourg, now in France but also a key city in German history.
-
![]()
Kafka, Kant and Lost Capitals
Wed 1 Oct 2014
Neil MacGregor visits Kaliningrad, now in Russia but formerly the German city Konigsberg.
-
![]()
Divided Heaven
Tue 30 Sep 2014
Neil MacGregor examines the story of the two Germanys, East and West, created in 1949.
-
![]()
The View from the Gate
Mon 29 Sep 2014
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neil visits the Brandenburg Gate.
Made in Germany: the stories of 10 fascinating objects
See photos and videos of this diverse collection of products and sculptures.
10 reasons we know Germans love beer and sausages
Beer riots and sausage snacks demonstrate a devotion to the national diet.
10 things you may not know about Germany
Degenerate art and other facts from this fascinating nation.
