The New York Times on Instagram: "When she says identity, he hears exclusion. When he says diversity, she hears Islamization. He accuses her of forgetting history. She accuses him of obsessing with history. He calls her a racist. She calls him a national masochist. Helmut Lethen, 79, and Caroline Sommerfeld, 42, are both writers. They represent 2 generations and 2 intellectual camps in an ever more divided #Germany. They’re political enemies. And they’re married. Their union is exceptional, incomprehensible even, but it is also a laboratory for tolerance and a rare window into how the other side thinks. Intimately and daily, they’re having the conversation their country is not. “Familiarity with the other side is good,” she said. “Talking is better than not talking,” he said. This much they can agree on. Theirs is a very German love story (though the couple reside in Vienna, Austria, where @stillerakos took this portrait). And it’s neatly pegged to the 50th anniversary of the counte...
7,324 likes, 98 comments - nytimes on May 1, 2018: "When she says identity, he hears exclusion. When he says diversity, she hears Islamization. He accuses her of forgetting history. She accuses him of obsessing with history. He calls her a racist. She calls him a national masochist. Helmut Lethen, 79, and Caroline Sommerfeld, 42, are both writers. They represent 2 generations and 2 intellectual camps in an ever more divided #Germany. They’re political enemies. And they’re married. Their union is exceptional, incomprehensible even, but it is also a laboratory for tolerance and a rare window into how the other side thinks. Intimately and daily, they’re having the conversation their country is not. “Familiarity with the other side is good,” she said. “Talking is better than not talking,” he said. This much they can agree on. Theirs is a very German love story (though the couple reside in Vienna, Austria, where @stillerakos took this portrait). And it’s neatly pegged to the 50th anniversary of the counterculture movement that remains a defining moment of global postwar history — and to the ascent of the counter-counterculture movement of today. Visit the link in our profile to read more.".
