Exquisite pigments were luxury goods even in antiquity. They were traded across great distances and were a driver of ancient globalization. Modern synthetic dyes are cheap for the most part. Now many people can afford colorful clothing.

Half the world's cars have a coat of paint in black, grey, silver or white made by German chemicals group BASF. We visited the company to find out why sobriety dominates the palette, when so many wild and crazy colors are just waiting to be applied.

How three graffiti artists who decorated other people's property without permission morphed into a legit art agency that gets commissions for murals. Xi-Design, a Berlin story.

If all German adults received €1,000 a month no strings attached, they would live happier lives. That's the theory at least. But opponents say universal basic income would only encourage laziness. We hear both sides of the argument.

South Korea's education system is notorious for the pressure it places on school students. Often they have little time for hobbies or friends. One start-up wants to make learning more fun.

If you work hard, it’ll pay off. Is that really true? In many countries, income inequality is growing. While movie stars and top bank executives are paid millions, back-breaking work is often poorly remunerated.

Top athletes are under considerable pressure to succeed. And only those who can deal with that constant pressure have a chance of getting funding. Speed skater and Olympic participant Bente Pflug tells her story.

Germany has a sizeable low-wage sector. Many people need to do several jobs to get by. And their efforts are not only poorly remunerated. Often their work is underappreciated, too.

In 1280, the Hanseatic League was formed in Lübeck. It was a confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Germany and elsewhere in northern Europe, and a kind of forerunner to modern free-trade associations.

The mountain village of Samnaun in the Swiss Alps used to be poor. But it’s turned into an up-scale shopping paradise for tourists. That change is down to a special exemption that makes the village a duty-free zone.