Ralf Barthelmes
Retail renewal
Storied department store Engelhorn has clothed generations of Mannheim shoppers. Its top-drawer displays are enticing new visitors – and offering them an all-round experience.
Child’s play?
Being a toy company head might seem like a dream job but it’s not all fun and games. Monocle visits the inner children in charge in Japan, Canada and Germany.
Fertile markets
As rural depopulation accelerates, firms are finding ways to ensure city-dwellers maintain their connection to the soil. Here are three businesses ploughing their own furrows to get the countryside growing again.
Fashion
This month's style round-up, including hand-stitched shoes from London, chinos from Copenhagen and bags from Vienna.
Taps and tales
From toilets and baths to energy-efficient heating systems, the world’s biggest sanitation trade fair is where you’ll first see the technology that eventually makes it into our bathrooms. Monocle pays a visit.
Seasonal change
The biannual Pitti Uomo menswear show is a fashion calendar highlight, but Italy's waning influence has brands looking abroad. This has necessitated an unfamiliar focus on expansion, with Japan first in line.
Monocle travel guide
From a three-Michelin star restaurant to a new mobile kitchen in Berlin, we take a quick tour of what’s new and noteworthy for a trip to Germany.
Ethics work
Germany’s economic status exceeds its place in the world power order. With a touching lack of marketing sophistication and sturdy business values, Europe’s powerhouse has achieved soft power almost by accident.
The digital scramble
In the rush to go digital, US media giants abandoned their core values, says a veteran journalist. Elsewhere, old-fashioned values are thriving and we meet the players with successful business models.
Floor fillers
Deutsche Börse operates Germany’s biggest stock exchange in Frankfurt. Valued at €26bn, it's one of the world's largest exchange organisations. Its Frankfurt trading floor was recently updated with state-of-the-art technology.
