Adding finish to young aristocrats’ education in centuries past, and recorded by Goethe, Sterne and others, these alluring journeys had a very dark side
January 2020
Faustus: That Damned Woman review – devilish drama is far from divine
Chris Bush’s female Faustus is original, ambitious and fantastically revisionist – but this bare-boned production fails to save its soul
November 2018
Steven Berkoff: who will dare to stage my one-man Harvey Weinstein play?
He’s played baddies in everything from Bond to Beverly Hills Cop. Now he’s tackling the disgraced movie mogul in a self-penned play. The actor-playwright explains why theatre is dying out – along with his enemies’ reputations
August 2018
Learning German is just the job for savvy millennials
Growing numbers of under-30s are attracted to the language to better their career options
July 2018
A hotline to Satan: why is the ex-CEO of Vodafone making a film version of Faust?
He used to broker billion-dollar deals with telecom giants. Now he’s making a pact with the devil. We go behind the scenes of Philipp Humm’s AI take on Goethe’s damnation epic
February 2018
Skating on thick ice: touring Sweden’s frozen lakes
Gliding over frozen rivers and lakes was once a popular winter pastime across northern Europe. A new wild skating tour of Sweden hopes to revive it, and revel in the sublime scenery, too
March 2017
How Lenin’s love of literature shaped the Russian Revolution
The father of the Soviet Union was also a Latin buff who adored Goethe and liked to compare his enemies to figures in novels
The art of colour: why Victoria Beckham is channelling Van Gogh this season
One of spring’s biggest trends is duo-toning – wearing two contrasting hues. Art critic Jonathan Jones explains how 17th-century colour theory is influencing your wardrobe
Faust x2 review – Ian McDiarmid's Goethe drama is a devil of a time
Adapted by and starring McDiarmid, this account of the Faustian pact features a fine Mephisto but doesn’t succeed in bringing the play into the 21st century
December 2016
Divided times: how literature teaches us to understand 'the other'
In an era of fear and division, fiction plays a vital role in dramatising difference and encouraging empathy
June 2016
Yves Saint Laurent co-founder to sell off remainder of rare books collection
Fashion mogul Pierre Bergé raised more than £9m from the part-sale of his famous library last year
March 2016
Scenes from Goethe's Faust review – didn't quite hit the heights
Even a top-class cast cannot hide the unevenness of Schumann’s at-times beautiful, strange choral work
September 2015
Schubert: Goethe Lieder CD review – assured delivery holds the attention throughout
Swiss tenor Mauro Peter is being nurtured by Zurich Opera, like Jonas Kaufmann before him, but he is not yet the Lieder interpreter he will be
March 2015
Germany and Greece should look to Goethe to resolve their standoff
Paul Mason
Two hundred years ago Germany’s great poet and statesman performed a U-turn that some would like to see Angela Merkel copy
October 2014
Brief letters
The reason Goethe had two left feet
Letters: Until the early 1800s shoes were made in identical pairs
Schumann: Scenes from Goethe’s Faust CD review – deeply impressive
There is never a moment’s doubt about Daniel Harding’s belief in the score, writes Andrew Clements
Bygone Germany puts 600 years of history on show in London
The Holocaust and Berlin Wall among subjects of British Museum exhibition, alongside a Volkswagen and a Brothers Grimm display
May 2014
Young people need a world of books
Letters: If the 'English' was dropped from English literature then our kids could be reading Dostoevsky, Kafka, Flaubert, Goethe and so many more
April 2014
Top 10 Easter scenes in literature
It can seem literature's second-string festival, lacking Christmas's glow. But writers from Shakespeare to Yates to Goethe to Tolstoy have often drawn inspiration from Easter. John Dugdale surveys 10 key scenes and works
November 2013
The Damnation of Faust – review
The second part of Gergiev's Berlioz series failed to capture the drama and imaginative power of the composer's take on Goethe, writes George Hall
