Der Freund ("The Friend") was a literary magazine published by Axel Springer AG. It was produced by Christian Kracht (publisher) and Eckhart Nickel (editor-in-chief) in Kathmandu, Nepal. [1]
Der Freund appeared every three months, with a total of eight editions between September 2004 and June 2006. [2] Its visual style was elaborate, with artistic designs and arcane illustrations, and its range of (often light-hearted) material included essays, short stories, literary miniatures, poems, opinion columns and in-depth interviews. Most pieces were in German, but occasionally English or French. Der Freund was available for International Mailing. [3]
Authors published in Der Freund included Julia Franck, David Woodard, Albert Hofmann, Ian Buruma, Eduardo Kac, Rem Koolhaas, Reinhold Messner, Ira Cohen, Momus, Ingo Niermann, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jonathan Safran Foer, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nika Scheidemandel. [4] Notable illustrators were Neue Slowenische Kunst and Fischli & Weiss. The magazine also reprinted pieces by major writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Truman Capote under licence. Interviewees included Albert Hofmann, Stanisław Lem, David Lynch and Nam June Paik. [5]
Der Freund was critically acclaimed for its design and cover pages, and won two awards in 2006: a bronze award from the Art Directors Club of Germany for magazine design, [6] and the gold prize for "cover of the year" [7] from the LeadAcademy in Hamburg.
Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer based in Prague, who is widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include the novella The Metamorphosis and novels The Trial and The Castle. The term Kafkaesque has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin. It is considered one of the most important and innovative works of the Weimar Republic. In a 2002 poll of 100 noted writers the book was named among the top 100 books of all time.
Der Tagesspiegel is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunification. Der Tagesspiegel is a liberal newspaper that is classified as centrist media in the context of German politics.
Der Spiegel (online) is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was Spiegel Online.
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Wolfgang Dauner was a German jazz pianist who co-founded the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. He worked with Hans Koller, Albert Mangelsdorff, Volker Kriegel and Ack van Rooyen and composed for radio, television, and film.
Christian Kracht is a Swiss author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages.
Harald Martenstein is a German journalist and author.
Friede Springer is a German publisher and widow of Axel Springer. She is the main owner of the Axel Springer SE media conglomerate, and thus of Europe's largest newspaper Bild, and one of the richest people of Germany.
Eckhart Nickel is a German author and journalist.
Louis Hofmann is a German actor. He first gained attention as the lead in the 2011 German film Tom Sawyer and won the Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a teenage German prisoner of war in the 2015 Danish film Land of Mine. He is also known for playing Jonas in the 2017 German Netflix Original series Dark.
The Theodor Wolff Prize is a German journalism prize. It has been awarded annually since 1962 in five categories, equal prizes of €6,000, by the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers. In addition, at irregular intervals, journalists are awarded the Theodor Wolff Prize for their life's work.
Das große Leben is the tenth studio album by German pop duo Rosenstolz, released in 2006 by Island Records. Consisting mostly of ballads, the album topped the German and Austrian albums charts and became Rosenstolz's biggest selling album, with over one million copies sold. Five singles from the album were top 20 hits in Germany.
Die Humpty-Dumpty-Maschine der totalen Zukunft is a bronze sculpture created 2010 by Jonathan Meese, and installed at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany, during 2011–2015.
Ben Wagin was a German artist, sculptor, draughtsman, designer, performance artist, author and composer. He ran the Galerie S gallery, and founded the artists' group die Baumpaten which planted trees in cities. He created the installation The Parliament of Trees in Berlin.
The Network Enforcement Act, also known colloquially as the Facebook Act, is a German law that was passed in the Bundestag that officially aims to combat fake news, hate speech and misinformation online.
Harald Glööckler, real name Harald Glöckler, is a German fashion designer and entrepreneur, who became famous mainly for his rhinestone-studded and glittering creations. Glööckler's trademark is a crown motif, which is often supplemented by a "POMPÖÖS" lettering.