The Dutch Royal Library in The Hague publishes all newspapers dating back to the 17th century online, including National Socialist papers. In so doing it violates a ban on the publishing of such documents set down in the country's penal code. The left-liberal daily De Volkskrant applauds the library's decision: "We can only hope that the law is interpreted broadly and taking account of the changes in how we deal with our burdened past. Newspapers in particular can give us insight into the decay that made millions of people receptive to totalitarian ideologies back then. Reading with the benefit of the knowledge we have today, newspapers show us how discrimination gradually turned into mass murder. This knowledge must ... be made accessible to as many people as possible. Even if the mood is bad among many Dutch citizens at present, there is no reason to assume that the Nazi poison will have any effect on them." (27/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Science / Research, » Netherlands

Since its launch 13 years ago, the international festival Mladi levi (young lions) celebrated in Ljubljana has developed into a renowned venue for all forms of theatre. The festival organisers rely heavily on the help of volunteers and inter-generational cooperation, the daily Delo comments approvingly: "Mladi levi is a fresh, high-quality festival and provides insight into the current trends in European theatre, above all experimental theatre of movement. But the festival offers much more than just an interesting programme because it has become a unique example of a new approach to organising festivals and of responsible social action. With its new forms of cooperation ... it points out new directions for alienated modern people. With their ecological projects the organisers make an active contribution to improving life in urban centres." (26/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Stage, » Slovenia
All available articles from » Maja Megla

Michal Hvorecký praises the life work of German theatre director Christoph Schlingensief in the liberal daily Sme, and regrets that the Slovakian media made almost no mention of his death on Saturday: "Elfriede Jelinek said that one of the greatest artists of our day has passed away, as if life itself had died. ... Our theatre scene is utterly conformist and has no personalities like Schlingensief. Although he started out by making films he became a phenomenon of German-speaking theatre at a young age. He proved that there is still room for the avant-garde on stage. With his unconventional direction he found refuge in Berlin's Volksbühne, which was the hotbed of new staging trends in the 1990s. Whenever I could I'd go there to take a break from the depressing Slovakian productions. But most of all I was impressed by his Parsifal in Bayreuth. I will never forget that work." (25/08/2010)

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All available articles from » Michal Hvorecký

The economist and university professor Assen Bogdanov complains in the daily Trud of the backwardness of the Bulgarian education system: "Instead of becoming a centre for innovation, science and erudition, our universities have remained obsolete schools of the type we had under communism. Teachers and professors 'teach' obsolete and backward-looking ideas that the students are supposed to learn by heart and then repeat on command. ... But the information society demands that students arrive at knowledge by their own means, through research carried out under the guidance of their teachers. Our students don't even use the Internet to broaden and update their knowledge on the basis of what is generally known. No one teaches the students how to change knowledge through innovation and to profit by the result, or to market their knowledge as an intellectual product either at home or abroad." (22/08/2010)

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All available articles from » Assen Bogdanov

Despite the lack of qualified teachers, the new Czech government wants to introduce mandatory English classes in schools to the detriment of German. Not a good idea, writes the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "The majortiy of investors in our country come from Germany. Those who can communicate with them in German are at an advantage. Labourers looking for work abroad go to Germany. ... For practically-minded people content to live and work in the region German is the first choice. For that reason schools should offer German classes from grade three and English starting in grade six. Children who want to go further afield to English-speaking countries could make up for the delay by receiving qualified teaching. For example it would be helpful if the television finally started showing films in the original version." (17/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Languages, » Germany, » United Kingdom, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Martin Weiss

The Slovenian city of Maribor will be European Capital of Culture 2012. A new theatre and house of culture with an estimated cost of around 80 million euros is to be built for the occasion. The daily Dnevnik criticises all the secrecy surrounding the project and that the mayor of Maribor has used the project to buy the participation of Maribor-born theatre director Tomaž Pandur: "The city will no doubt benefit from having a new culture centre. But the managers of the European Capital of Culture have not made the slightest effort to gain the support of the citizens for the new centre. The idea wasn't even on the list of investments needed for 2012 previously, and there was no international architecture competition. Why bother when Pandur already had a ground plan in his pocket back in March. ... No economic analyses or studies regarding the centre have been presented to the public. The only incontrovertible fact is the director's burning desire for this centre so that he can cut himself yet another generous slice of the city's budget." (16/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » Slovenia
All available articles from » Tomaž Klipšteter

Five years ago, Denmark introduced a list of required reading for its schools. The daily paper Berlingske Tidende thinks that this canon of literature has passed the test and now calls for a comprehensive compulsory curriculum for Danish schools: "The challenge is now that everyone - pupils, parents and teachers - continue to accept that education canons are not strait jackets. On the contrary, they are guidelines that remind us of artistic, literary and historical events as well as democratic landmarks. If we wish to know who we are and what path we are on, there are certain things we must learn. It is no mistake to point out that some subjects are more important than others. It's about education and giving each pupil the possibility to form their own opinion - and therefore to shape him or herself. This is where the writers' canon and other canons have helped mark the way. They ought not be the last." (13/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Education, » Denmark

Libraries have also been hit by the general austerity measures in the Netherlands. With fewer subsidies, libraries are threatened with closure in smaller communities. This is alarming, says the daily Trouw: "The library is not losing its raison d'être, but its function is changing. The answer lies in innovation. The library has to adapt to its new role in the information society. In many places, it's already happening. We are looking for new sites that can be better operated, and new services are in development. Libraries need space for this. And this space will disappear if austerity measures are too drastic. Smaller communities are most at risk. ... A country that strives to be a knowledge economy can't want that." (12/08/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Cultural Policy, » Netherlands