Michael Kimmelman at the NYT (and the IHT) uses the occasion of the recently opened Karl May exhibition at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin to look at the German "fetish" for Native American lore and, especially, Winnetou -- a fictional Apache chief -- who has been adopted as "the quintessential German national hero, a paragon of virtue, a nature freak, a romantic, a pacifist at heart, but in a world at war he is the best warrior, alert, strong, sure.” The Winnetou books written by May, Germany's most beloved author though almost unknown in America, were read and loved by everyone from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Albert Einstein: In Germany, Wild for Winnetou

Sanford Schwartz analyses the dreamlike paintings of Neo Rauch, fourteen of which are currently on display at the Met in New York.

Anglo versus Fritz: Australian Malcom Perry (no relation) is seeking £10m in damages from German bank Dresdner Kleinwort in London for firing him from his £2.2m job during a merger with Dresdner Bank. The bank admits it might have been unfair but not discriminatory, which is what Mr. Perry claims, that he was sacked for not being German enough. In the bank's defense, Perry did once impolitely reply to an email with the abbreviation "NFW", which apparently every German banker understands as no fucking way.

Operation Alberich: How the CIA Helped Germany Foil Terror Plot in Der Spiegel International is a must-read. In four long parts, the writers (and gifted translator, Christopher Sultan) present a blow-by-blow account of the covert operations leading up to the could-be catastrophe and explain why the US Embassy in Germany was suddenly warning Americans to lay low a few months ago: "When the Islamists wrote a message in April saying that they finally expected 'the Kurds,' the US embassy issued a warning to all Americans, saying that there was an elevated chance of an attack in Germany. But their initial suspicion that the term 'Kurds' referred to a 'hit team' -- a group of foreign commandos that would execute an attack -- was wrong. The men, who were not yet ready to launch an attack, needed until the summer to finalize their preparations."