Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 9 2025

The current American president is characterised by his thirst for revenge – Zelensky refused to deliver Biden to the knife because there was nothing to deliver; and suddenly he is a dictator who lacks legitimacy. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian constitution prohibits an election in times of war – but what does a person of the calibre of the chosen one care about that? The world as a deal even if it means making common cause with the worst war criminals. Warrants of arrest issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague do not seem to interest him. The winner takes it all is the principle of the elections in America and England. The majority vote, as practised in Germany, including the 5% hurdle, is more difficult and exhausting. In the end, it demands compromises and the willingness to make them.

The 2025 election to the Bundestag in Germany does not produce any resounding victors – many a loser acts as if it is all not true. The defender of freedom and the debt brake is the first to draw conclusions. Those for whom he actually had his back have defected to the left because their social media presence was more appealing. Risen from the ashes, the left could now claim. The majority of the country seems rather conservative and the east of Germany is splitting off. In the commuter belt around Berlin and in the other eastern federal states, the AfD is polling at almost 40%. The Brandenburgers are closest to the meat pots, receiving huge investments in infrastructure, with airports being relocated there, creating jobs and prosperity – no matter the dull moments at the top. In the former GDR, the guilt from the Nazi era was not dealt with – after all, the class enemy in the West was to blame. Could that be one of the reasons why the brothers and sisters in the East are not horrified by the striking slogans of the AfD? Or are we dealing with multiple organ failure? Education policy, economic policy, security policy, ... We remember: shortly after the fall of the Wall, apartment buildings in Rostock in which Vietnamese people lived were set on fire – Rostock Lichtenhagen is the keyword. What was kept secret back then is now coming to light and no longer seems open to rational argument. Difficult times for the friends of freedom, whose political leaders managed to leave with dignity. But who follows?

Cultural policy is trying to find its bearings. Claudia Roth will probably have to resign soon. In the large public museum institutions (Berlin, Dresden), some of which have only partially tendered their services for decades, a change of heart might occur. This could even interest the insurance industry.

Aleppo is in Syria – that's right. It's just stupid when damaged works of art are also named after this city. We recently had a case in which a bank (ah, we love these highly competent clearing banks) blocked a foreign payment to an injured party just because the work of art was called Aleppo. There could be connections with Syria and money laundering and who knows what else?

Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, is not only an emerging industrial metropolis but has also been the centre of art forgery for years. A large proportion of the quasi-originals by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Monet that can be bought in souvenir shops come from this city, where they are produced by artists working on a piecework basis. They are paid around €3 per painting, which are then sold for several thousand in the Western world.

We wish everyone a reflective start to the week – in the Rhineland, the street carnival begins on Thursday and with it the suspension of the administration of justice.

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Brokers in Cologne and Solothurn