Rob Schmitz Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin.
Rob Schmitz 2016 square
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Rob Schmitz

Julian de Hauteclocque Howe/NPR
Rob Schmitz 2016
Julian de Hauteclocque Howe/NPR

Rob Schmitz

International Correspondent, Berlin

Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.

Prior to covering Europe, Schmitz provided award-winning coverage of China for a decade, reporting on the country's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders took him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road (Crown/Random House 2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city. The book won several awards and has been translated into half a dozen languages. In 2018, China's government banned the Chinese version of the book after its fifth printing. The following year it was selected as a finalist for the Ryszard Kapuściński Award, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.

Schmitz has won numerous awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode. In 2011, New York's Rubin Museum of Art screened a documentary Schmitz shot in Tibetan regions of China about one of the last living Tibetans who had memorized "Gesar of Ling," an epic poem that tells of Tibet's ancient past.

From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for American Public Media's Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He also lived in Spain for two years. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Story Archive

Tuesday

Dutch election is a reminder that far-right politics are gaining support in Europe

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Thursday

A far-right party has emerged as the biggest winner in the Netherlands' election

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Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, celebrates in his party office after his party's victory in Wednesday's general election, on Nov. 23, 2023 in The Hague, Netherlands. Carl Court/Getty Images hide caption

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Monday

A proposed bill wants schools in the Netherlands to hold more classes in Dutch

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Friday

People dancing on the dance floor at Club Re:mise in Berlin on Oct. 7, 2023. Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption

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Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Can Berlin's legendary nightclubs survive?

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Friday

People dancing on the dance floor at Club Re:mise in Berlin on Oct. 7, 2023. Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption

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Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

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Tuesday

Tens of thousands of people once again hold a massive pro-Palestine rally amid intensifying attacks on Gaza, in London, United Kingdom on October 28, 2023. Burak Bir/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

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Burak Bir/Anadolu via Getty Images

How do European countries view the war between Israel and Hamas?

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Monday

Where Britain, France and Germany stand on the Israel-Hamas war

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Sunday

Saturday

Hubert Sobecki is a spokesperson for Love Does Not Exclude, an association that represents Poland's LGBTQ+ community. Sobecki says while he's encouraged that Polish voters have rejected the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party, he's not convinced that Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition represents a big change for the LGBTQ+ community in Poland. Rob Schmitz/NPR hide caption

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Rob Schmitz/NPR

As Europe applauds Poland's election results, civil rights groups prepare to fight

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Poland's civil rights activists are cautiously optimistic about the new government

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Monday

Exit polls indicate Poland's current ruling party didn't get enough votes to stay

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Poland's populist, right-wing government appears to be on its way out after 8 years

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Sunday

On election day in Poland, people express hope for voting out the ruling party

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Friday

Poland's election could steer EU member further away from democracy or closer to it

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Thursday

Poland's upcoming election could be most important in decades

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Saturday

Germany's far-right party now polls higher than the three parties in government

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Monday

Chairman of Smer party Robert Fico (center) addresses reporters in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Sunday. Darko Bandic/AP hide caption

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Darko Bandic/AP

Worry and concern follow pro-Kremlin candidate's victory in Slovakia election

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2 weekend events show how Eastern Europe is wrestling with its political future

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In the middle of Poland's Bialowieza Forest, one of Europe's oldest remaining forests, stands Europe's newest border wall: a 15-foot-high metal fence topped with razor wire and security cameras. Poland finished building this fence a year ago to try to stem an influx of migrants assisted to the border by Belarusian soldiers, whose government is trying to destabilize Europe. Rob Schmitz/NPR hide caption

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Poland's dangerous eastern border takes center stage in upcoming elections

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Friday

Slovakia's elections could have big implications for Europe and war in Ukraine

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Will Ukraine lose an ally in a consequential election in Slovakia?

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Monday

Border tensions in Poland

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