{
  "id": 860105,
  "title": "Weekend Newsletter: Why happiness is often so close – Handelsblatt weekend",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/wochenend-newsletter-warum-das-gluck-oft-so-nah-liegt-das",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-14T09:50:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/wochenende/wochenend-newsletter-warum-das-glueck-oft-so-nah-liegt-das-handelsblatt-wochenende/100246291.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Dear reader, sometimes our colleagues come up with wild ideas. For example, going on vacation on foot instead of getting into a car, plane, or at least a bicycle. That's what our author Sebastian Dalkowski recently did. He simply strolled into his neighboring town in North Rhine-Westphalia to take a vacation. Now, I admit that I don't plan to do anything like that for my upcoming summer vacation. Nevertheless, I'm fascinated by my colleague's attitude: you don't have to travel far to find something beautiful. The good life can wait for us everywhere, even in Willich am Niederrhein. I like this approach. Because somehow, we all place too much value on the extraordinary. We dream about the weekend on Mondays, even though Saturdays and Sundays make up only a fraction of our lifetime. We look forward to big trips for months and forget that our lives actually take place elsewhere: at home, in the office, in everyday life. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to spoil anyone's anticipation. But why do we constantly think about how to escape our normal lives - instead of simply making it more beautiful in the here and now?\n\nAchieving this is not that difficult. For example, a few weeks ago, I decided to walk around without headphones in my ears more often. As a result, on the train or on the street, I suddenly hear snippets of conversation almost daily that make me laugh or think. I didn't have to break out of my life to do that. I just had to listen more closely. It seems that you, dear readers, also like people who see the potential in their immediate surroundings. We rarely receive as much positive feedback at Handelsblatt as we do for stories about entrepreneurs or managers who, despite the location misery, dare to do something - not somewhere else, but here in Germany.\n\nThey invest here, transform their companies, and open up new business areas. In this issue, there is again such a story, I promise. I wish you a weekend where the good things are close by.\n\nYours\nJulia Beil\nDeputy Head of Department Weekend & Report\n\nWillich? That's where I want to go\n\nI already told you about Sebastian Dalkowski's short trip. He never understood why people travel far away for vacation - after all, you can't escape yourself. How relaxing his time in Willich was and how he quickly realized that a considerable number of people with an income of one million euros live there, you can read here.\n\n\"Savvy differently\"\n\nWhen Mirko Mondan joined the Upper Palatinate-based industrial company Dorfner in 2020, there was a pandemic. And that was not the only problem: supply chains no longer worked, sustainability requirements had increased, and the raw materials the company needs are limited. Mondan met all of this with a sophisticated AI strategy - which, as Anja Müller writes, is suitable as a model for many other companies.\n\nTest yourself!\n\nHow fit are you when it comes to AI? You can take a self-test with us. A renowned headhunter has revealed to Annika Keilen which questions he asks applicants to test their AI skills - and what answers he wants to hear.\n\nGaming, gaming, gaming\n\nThe debate about a social media ban for children and adolescents has been going on worldwide for months. What is often overlooked in this debate: we adults also fall prey to the addictive technology in our smartphones. What you and I can do right now to avoid suffering from \"digital dementia\" at some point, Christine Weißenborn knows.\n\nCelebrity son with a moral compass\n\nHoward Buffett was never interested in running his famous father's investment firm, Warren's. Instead, he helps Ukraine with his own foundation: by financing mine clearance or documenting war crimes. What drives the Buffett son and what part of his inheritance his 95-year-old father has set aside for him, you can read in the article by Astrid Dörner and Carsten Volkery.\n\nFrom Broligarchy, Muskism, and the \"Homo Augmentus\"\n\nNot so long ago, Sven Prange writes, books on technology topics read differently than they do today. While the authors back then explained a lot (how does generative AI work? What are cryptocurrencies?), current works often deal with the almost dystopian consequences that technology can have on us as a society. Here you can find eight exciting book recommendations on this topic.\n\nWorking from anywhere\n\nI don't know what your office looks like, but Handelsblatt does not have a Finnish sauna at any of its locations. Nevertheless, my colleague Christian Wermke recently had the pleasure of working in a place with an integrated wellness area. This was possible because he tested the app from AT World for weeks: a company that offers its customers access to hundreds of different work environments. You can read Christian's conclusion here.\n\n\"That's comparable to a hunting trophy\"\n\nDo you remember how people camped in front of watch stores in May because of the \"Royal Pop\" created from the collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet? Joram Scher claims he has never stood in line for a watch. Why the experienced watch dealer understands the hype, when you risk being labeled a \"snob\" with certain models, and which price class is currently hardly selling, he told Markus Hinterberger.\n\nHe's on a roll\n\nThe DAX is rising and rising. But why? In recent weeks, the German benchmark index jumped from one record to the next, despite economic weakness and the ongoing instability of the geopolitical situation. What this is due to and why it has little to do with the German economic situation, Handelsblatt stock market expert Ulf Sommer knows.\n\nBillions remain untapped\n\nGreen and social investments don't work as a...",
  "summary": "Additionally: A self-test for your AI competence, a celebrity descendant in the service of Ukraine, and a recipe against digital dementia. These are our reading recommendations.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}