With only a few weeks to go before Germany's parliamentary elections, the political establishment is once again arguing over which institutions should be shared between Berlin and Bonn.

In the formerly communist East Germany, it was called Karl-Marx-Stadt ... and Gorizia (Italy) as a Cultural Capital of Europe. A good place to start is the Villa Esche, an Art Nouveau mansion ...

it was supposed to serve only until Germany was reunified and Berlin restored as the rightful capital. In fact, its provisional character became a symbol of West Germans’ refusal to acquiesce in ...