There has been a previous attempt by Springer to provide English news online. One of those, the most ambitious project so far, was Berlinworldwide. It was staffed quite well with three full timers, yet struggled with marketing issues and eventually folded. Then there was The Free West, a goner. All good things are three: Springer is back with the fiery web column, "Entering the German sector," neatly placed into the forum space of Die Welt.

As for the competition, Spiegel International launched a fairly comprehensive news site in 2004 and has done a great job so far, thanks to strong financial resources and zero income pressure. Perlentaucher offers signandsight, which covers the cultural angle and Deutsche Welle is happily supported by German tax payers.

Media's cash cow, smelly old trees, have had their game: FAZ played with a local print magazine, Maincity, basically geared towards the international community in Germany's financial capital. It eventually shut down in 2000. In Berlin, a few print mags faced similar distinction, so far Exberliner is profitable with a solid future, albeit with mixed reviews on the editorial side.

English language publications from Germany add a much needed perspective, especially for British and American readers/writers. Both could benefit from a more diverse take on German culture and stereotypes beyond Nazis, the Holocaust and German engineering that actually portray an international German Zeitgeist. Blogs have been doing this already.