The German word „Wende“ is difficult to translate. Basically it means “a change of direction”, a “turnaround”. It is very often used in politics to denote a change of government, or in economics to describe the change from a baisse to a hausse or vice versa.

Basically a “Wende” decides what paradigms will replace the old paradigms from now on. A paradigm change (like recently in the cultural politics of the Netherlands) is rarely a sudden thing. It has a preparing history and then a culmination point at which you suddenly realize that the train has left the station and will not turn back anymore.