Issues

On the Road

On the Road follows writers Louise Kenn and Mücahit Türk on their travels across the United States. Their texts emerge from a space between observation and introspection, revealing how literature takes shape when one opens up to unfamiliar places, people, and perspectives.

Hannah Arendt

Fifty years after her death, the work of German-American philosopher and author Hannah Arendt remains strikingly relevant. In the face of today’s complex challenges, her work compels to revisit fundamental questions of freedom, responsibility, and judgment. In this dossier we approach Arendt’s life and work in a nuanced and insightful way and invite you to reflect on them in a contemporary context: What does it mean today to think and act in the spirit of Hannah Arendt?

On the Road: New York - Texas

Two authors from Germany – Sonali Beher and Iven Yorick Fenker, both students at the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig – traveled from New York to Texas in the fall of 2025. Follow the voices of a young generation right here – their experiences traveling through the U.S. (without a driver’s license), their reflections on American and German society, and their personal insights and philosophical musings beyond the mainstream.

Stir it up!

What to do when inner values and outer reality can no longer be reconciled? Ignore, despair, laugh at, protest? Gegenüber sheds light on the power of creativity and forms of resistance — and asks: When is the right moment to change the world? A transatlantic journey through society, history, and resistance.

150 years of Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was one of Germany's most important writers, a Nobel Prize winner and political commentator. He left behind an enduring literary legacy. On the occasion of his 150th birthday, we take a look at his life and work.

Double Exposure

In today's individualized societies, there is a tension between solidarity and universalism. The challenge is to respect diversity and individual freedom without losing a sense of shared responsibility and belonging. Only this double exposure makes it possible for people to stand up for each other in solidarity and respect universal values despite their differences.

Belonging

How far has a radically open society been realized in the face of growing nationalist narratives on both sides of the Atlantic? The issue “Belonging” of Gegenüber magazine tells of life in a different homeland to one's grandparents, of cultural reproductions and mutations from one place to another, of new roots and aspects of exclusion that should not be alien to anyone, but which weigh differently. And it asks whether the concept of “native” vs. “migrant” is still valid.

Soundtracks

(Pop) culture is closely connected with the socio-political circumstances of its time. With eight German-language songs from eight decades, music journalist Mario Lasar sheds some light on important cultural and social phenomena in (West) German post-war history.

Harbor Stories

Their seas may be the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean or the Atlantic, yet they are united by a shared love of their home harbors. Individuals from nine countries share stories that reveal what binds them to the harbors they call home. Read about storms, lugworms, colourful cargo containers and banana boats – stories of homecoming and departure from Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Yemen, Canada, Kenya, Colombia and Libya. Happy reading!

Kant Today

The philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg 300 years ago. Kant’s work is considered the pinnacle of the philosophy of the Enlightenment. What lessons can we learn from Kant? Where did Kant fall short? This is what our special edition on Kant is all about — and it is also about the philosopher himself: his companions, quirks, and surprising skills.

Why do we still find Kafka so modern and current?

Being Kafka

Why does Franz Kafka’s spell remain unbroken a hundred years after his death? Why do we still perceive Kafka as so modern and contemporary? Because Kafka wrote such beautiful letters? Because we love drama queens? Because we feel that the world has never been more Kafkaesque than it is today? Join us as we step into Kafka’s world! Be Kafka!

Synthetic Truth: The Great AI Swindle

Is truth a personal opinion in the digital age? Experts, artists, and thinkers weigh in on the ways artificial intelligence is shaping society, from enabling creative collaboration to threatening democracy as we know it. Journey into the heart of the debate in this issue of Gegenüber.

Too Much, Enough, and Next to Nothing

The world is grappling with the consequences of unbridled expansion. As continued growth becomes increasingly untenable, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Is a healthy balance between excess and scarcity possible in today’s world? This issue delves into the intertwined narratives of growth and degrowth in society. Join us as we question the notion of progress and envision a sustainable future together.