From independence to liberation: the Syrian flags
By Oula Mahfouz On Sunday, December 8, 2024, Syrian people around the world celebrated the fall of the Assad regime. They raised a flag with the three colors green, white and black…
The land of blackness is the land of palm trees
by Sameer Ibrahim Iraq is considered one of the countries with the most palm trees in the world, with around 22 million palm trees. Historians say that the cultivation of date palms…
The bandura: an instrument of Ukrainian identity
By Yana Rudenko The Ukrainian bandura is a lute-like instrument with up to 65 strings, including up to eight melody strings and many accompanying strings. It resembles both a lute and a…
Science in exile: An evening on the situation of Ukrainian researchers and students
By Yana Rudenko The living conditions of Ukrainian researchers and students in exile were the focus of an event in the historical reading room of Tübingen University Library at the end of…
Why Arabic calligraphy is art, culture and identity at once
By Oula Mahfouz Calligraphy or calligraphy literally means “the art of beautiful writing”. The term comes from the Greek and is made up of “kalos” for beautiful and “graphein” for writing. According…
News from LUCA, the ancestor of all living creatures
Evolutionary biology assumes that all organisms living today have a common ancestor. This is because today’s organisms have many similarities, including the fact that they use the same genetic code. An international…
Hate on the internet: Words become weapons
A young Syrian posted his joy at the fall of Assad on social media. The result: out of 635 reactions, 620 were full of hate and incitement. There are many “trolls” on…
Syrian refugees: all pending asylum procedures stopped
All asylum applications from Syrians that have not yet been decided will be suspended in Germany. This was confirmed by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) at the request of…
Contemporary history live: Assad’s fall and a tuenews workshop
by Wolfgang Sannwald They didn’t sleep at all. Or only for a short time, with their cell phones next to their pillows. The overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria and the…
Einbürgerungen: Die meisten kommen aus Syrien
Immer mehr Syrerinnen und Syrer lassen sich einbürgern. Im Jahr 2023 erhielten 75 500 Männer und Frauen aus diesem Land einen deutschen Pass. Das waren 56 Prozent mehr als im Vorjahr. Dies…
The parcel I ordered online has gone: what should I do?
I was really looking forward to receiving the goods I had ordered online. But there was no parcel at the desired drop-off point – despite the message that it had been delivered….
Footpaths must be passable in winter
In Germany, private individuals generally have to clear snow in winter and grit in icy conditions – most towns and municipalities regulate where and to what extent in their own bylaws. If…
Sednaya: The Syrian hell
By Oula Mahfouz and Youssef Kanjou Trigger warning: This text contains descriptions of physical and psychological violence. “If there had been no other reason for the revolution in Syria against the regime…
A Syrian find is the oldest alphabet in the world to date
By Youssef Kanjou Four incised clay tablets, each about four centimetres in size, could be the oldest alphabetic writing in the world to date. They are about 4400 years old and were…
Learning German: Lobna has reached C1 level
She still remembers her first German word well. „That was ‘tschüss’,“ says Lobna Alhindi. One of the volunteers from the circle of friends in Poltringen said goodbye to her like that. „He…
The oldest stone tools in Europe discovered in Ukraine
By Yana Rudenko In the Ukrainian region of Zakarpattia, stone tools around 1.4 million years old have been found at the Palaeolithic site of Korolevo near the village of the same name….
Gravestones: a global tradition that originated in the Middle East
By Youssef Kanjou It is not known exactly when and why people first began to make what is now known as a gravestone: a piece of stone on which a person’s name…
Living national history – spectacular Ukrainian finds
David Firschau and Yana Rudenko The Great State Exhibition in Stuttgart “The Hidden Land“provides a fascinating insight into the history of Baden-Württemberg in the 1st millennium AD. Finds from the state and…