And the winner is …

This year, the date has changed from February to March, but the location of the 82nd Oscar Awards is, of course, the same: Los Angeles. When the winners are announced on March 7, Germany will be sitting on the edge of its collective chair, since the German-Austrian production "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke is in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film. Diehard fans in Germany can watch the ceremony live from select movie theaters - in the middle of the night, due to the nine-hour time difference with California.

Book worm heaven

March is book month in Germany. Europe's largest literature festival, Litcologne, taking place from March 10-20, is set to open with the presentation of the German Audio Book Prize. One of the most anticipated events during the 10-day fair is the panel discussion with Nobel Prize-winner Herta Mueller and noted Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who will address the question: How political can and should art be?

March 18 marks the start of the Leipzig Book Fair, where more than 2,100 exhibitors are expected to present their top authors and hot-off-the-press releases. There's no focus country this year, but next year will continue the fair's emphasis on south-eastern Europe, with Serbia following Slovenia (focus country in 2007) and Croatia (2009). The Leipzig Book Fair Prize will be awarded on the first day of the event. Among the nominees is 18-year-old Helene Hegemann, who has dominated the German press in recent weeks with her new novel "Axolotl Roadkill." Parallel to the fair, the largest reading festival in Europe is scheduled to take place under the motto "Leipzig reads!"

Electronic orchestra

Unusual sounds are coming to Berlin in mid-March when the ninth MaerzMusik festival for contemporary music opens on March 19. It is organized by the Berliner Festspiele and this year's motto is "Utopia [lost]." A performance by the Weimarer Staatskappelle of Swiss composer Thomas Kessler's piece "Utopia" is bound to be a highlight of the festival. For the work, each of the orchestra musicians will have a laptop and amplifier to alter the sound and volume of their instruments.

The most beautiful museum

Museum Folkwang in Essen reopened at the end of January after being revamped by star architect David Chipperfield. Prior to World War II, the museum housed a spectacular collection of modern and contemporary art and Paul J. Sachs, a co-founder of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, once called it the "most beautiful museum in the world." The superlative title has been lent to the first major exhibition in the newly reopened museum, which runs from March 20 to July 25. It is largely a first-ever reconstruction of the original collection, much of which was confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s.

Last but not least

Winter officially continues through most of March, so there's still time for a few good snowball fights! On March 6, the town of Winterberg will host the fourth Snow Ball World Championship. The rules are simple: Two teams stand across from each other and pelt each other with as many snowballs as possible. After two rounds of three minutes each, the team with the most hits wins.

Author: Petra Lambeck (kjb)

Editor: Nathan Witkop