"We're Seeking Every Euro"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the head of the Volkswagen Group, Bernd Pischetsrieder, 56, about the group's poor results and his cost-cutting programmes, the sales problems of the most important Volkswagen car and the question of how much sense it makes having his own predecessor as an inspector on the supervisory board:

"We all have to think quite generally about personnel costs. Germany is successful as a exporting country - as yet. For instance there will and must be an alignment between old and new EU member nations in terms of wages and salaries. ... Germany can never be the world champion in terms of cost, but it certainly can be at the top in terms of performance and innovation. ... All of us are not so much in a sales crisis as in a revenue crisis. ... The main criticism is not directed at the price of the car in its standard version, but at that including various extras. We made mistakes there. ... In future, our makes - from Skoda and Seat through to Volkswagen and Audi - will differ clearly from one another in terms of their looks."

"Line Up to Do Without"

Management salaries: A debate has erupted in Germany about ethics and morals in the country's top management echelons, about self-service on the executive floors and the credibility of corporate bosses who ask their workforce to tighten their belts while themselves raking in a fortune. Now the management caste is under general suspicion. And all those who have asked their workforce to make sacrifices are finding they have a lot of explaining to do. Suddenly people are not talking so much about the "Baden Württemberg illness", as DaimlerChrysler managing directors refer to the long breaks and high shift bonuses of their assembly line workers, but about an "American illness", standing for exaggerated management salaries. In this general excitement, it is easy to miss the fact that a whole series of managers in Germany has long proved that things do not have to be that way.

"Afraid of the People"

Referendum: There has been a change of mood in post-war democracy. 71 years after the end of the Weimar Republic, politicians and citizens are pushing for more direct participation. However, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is trying to avert a referendum on the European constitution - for fear of its becoming a day of reckoning for his administration.

"Lower Your Taxes!"

SPIEGEL interview with Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al Naimi, 69, about the pressure on the oil market, the threat of terrorism and the difficulty of meeting the growing demand:

"Last November it still looked as if an increase in oil production by one million barrels a day would be sufficient this year. Now the world is suddenly claimed to need 2.3 million barrels a day more. One gets the impression that demand is increasing all the time - in China, in Europe, in the United States. ... Only a catastrophic war could put all of our production facilities, all our terminals and pipelines, all our safeguards out of action - not individual attacks like those we are seeing at the moment."

"The Jungle beneath Your Feet"

Ecology: One of Earth's most varied biotopes is being rediscovered: soil is alive. Researchers want to counteract the global loss of arable land by specifically controlling the interaction between roots, microbes and fungi. Wherever they turn, they are coming across new mysteries in the soil. Where the ground is alive, the plants above also thrive better. But, most particularly, the diversity of species is markedly increased. Of course, teeming life around the roots is not a panacea, because the interactions within the sub-soil commune are highly complex. Soil dwellers can easily turn from being beneficial to being harmful.

"The Art of the Breast"

Medicine: Microsurgeons can construct new breasts for women with cancer using their own abdominal walls and ultra-fine technologies. The reconstructions last for the rest of the women's lives and allow many women to forget their traumatic loss. But most patients only hear of this option after a long quest. In long-term comparative studies, the method has been shown to be not only safe, but also superior to other procedures for reconstructing breasts from muscles: only in one percent of cases did replacement breasts made of abdominal tissue actually die.

"I Was Treated with Great Hostility"

SPIEGEL interview with Nike Wagner, descendant of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, and new director of the art festival in Weimar, about the controversial issues of her festival, the musical genius Franz Liszt and the future of the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth:

"Weimar is, to me, a symbol of cultural transition, both a station and an experiment ... Two key approaches were important to me: on the one hand this town's traditions, particularly the forgotten one of Liszt and his years in Weimar; and on the other hand the modern-age and contemporary artists. ... I want to offer material that makes demands on people, and not cheat them. ... Breaking open things that have become stuck in a rut without interrupting the continuity, questioning the out-of-date without casting aside the works - that's a lot like what I once sketched out for Bayreuth. ... At the moment, Bayreuth only reflects the spirit of the times instead of sometimes being adversarial too."

"Calculating Disgusting Shocker"

Pop: The East German rock band Rammstein rose to fame with wild poses and loads of aggression. Lately the band and the music industry have become caught up in a crisis, now a Rammstein song is praising cannibalism: this audacious way of staging a scandal is typical for the current state of show business. In Germany, show heroes craving for attention are making fools of themselves in RTL's jungle and on alpine pastures on Pro7, while in the United States singers like Janet Jackson, Courtney Love and Britney Spears are producing cheap riots by exposing their breast on stage (Jackson), stripping on David Letterman's TV show (Love) or getting briefly married while drunk in Las Vegas (Spears). In a music industry shaken by a fatal crisis, the spirit of the times appears to call for a "shocker" - as Rammstein's singer Lindemann calls their song "Mein Teil".

"Farewell to the Mountain"

Swimming: Franziska van Almisck was the first all-German sports star; she was overstretched and failed spectacularly - yet has nevertheless found her way back to becoming an athlete without affectations. In Athens, she hopes to achieve an Olympic gold medal. The Games in Athens will be Franziska van Almsick's last great appearance; and that appearance will undoubtedly be an emotional highlight for the German viewers: the only true star on the German Olympic team in her final battle against her own past.

"A Gossip with a Mouse"

Ethnology: Xenophobia, character assassination and conspiracy? At a conference on urban myths in Aberystwyth, on the coast of Wales, researchers have been complaining about the brutalisation of legends by the Internet. But the matter is too serious to remain silent about it. Legends like these fan the flames of hatred against foreigners, for instance. Because the limits of decency and shame have vanished in the anonymity of chat rooms.