Close up 2019

Kansas City has its very own superhero. He regularly takes to the streets as a masked avenger. But Dr Moomoo isn’t out to catch crooks; he just wants to make people smile. For that, he doesn’t need super powers, magic or crazy gadgets.

Jeff Hanson is a successful artist whose works hang on the walls of Elton John and Warren Buffett. He is part of a flourishing family business and connects art with philanthropy.

Should your inability to tie shoe laces and pull shoes on and off with ease be a reason you can’t wear cool sneakers? Absolutely not, is the message of a the exhibition "Access+Aibility" at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Would you rather use public transport or take the car? As an American, AnneMarie Hunter needs to accommodate to train travel. How she tricked the train and reached her destination.

The "Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe" in Kassel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now, for the first time, it hosts the "Dachshund Walk" organized by the Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel. Why this event inspired the US journalist and dog lover AnneMarie Hunter. 

Are global news more important than those of you own city? AnneMarie Hunter asked readers and journalists this question. Why the magic of a good story can be found everywhere.

Deadlines and domino effect: US-journalist AnneMarie Hunter from Kansas City is a guest at the local editorial office of Hessisch-Nieder­sächsische Allgemeine (HNA) for four weeks. What German and American journalists have in common.

What was it like to live in East or West Germany before the fall of the Wall? 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, two Germans from Georgia remember. Close-Up journalist Malcolm Ohanwe interviewed them for WABE. 

While college students in Germany enjoy free tuition, that’s not true for students in the United States. Close-Up journalist Martha Dalton wanted to find out more about how the German system works.

Teaching children at home? It’s illegal in Germany. People from other countries often can’t believe it. Close-Up journalist Martha Dalton from the United States was one of them. She decided to take a closer look. 

Besides the USA and the UK, Germany is the most popular country for foreign students. There were 350,000 of them in the year 2017 alone, according to statistics. Martha Dalton met several exchange students and asked them why they chose Germany. 

In 1979 Günter Wetzel and Peter Strelzyk fled to West Germany with their families. A dangerous plan that almost failed. All it took was courage, science and 14,000 square feet of taffeta.

Germany is not all lederhosen and pretzels, but that’s what many of us picture before our first visit. Shara Tibken can confirm this, because she thought so, too.