''Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte'' is a German monthly political journal (with two double issues in January and July). As its name implies it resulted from the merger in 1985 of two magazines ''Neue Gesellschaft'' and ''Frankfurter Hefte''. It has existed in its present form since 1985, when the SPD-related journal ''Neue Gesellschaft'', founded in 1954, took over the ''Frankfurter Hefte'', which had been published since 1946 and were originally produced in the left Catholic milieu.

History

''Neue Gesellschaft'' was a theory journal in the social democratic movement founded in 1954 after the defeat of the SPD in the elections in 1953. Its founding editors were

Willi Eichler Willi Eichler (7 January 1896 – 17 October 1971) was a German journalist and politician with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Before 1945 Eichler was born in Berlin, the son of a postal worker. He attended Volksschule and then beca ...

and Carlo Schmid. ''Frankfurter Hefte'' was founded in 1946. It has a left-leaning

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

approach. Its founders included

Eugen Kogon Eugen Kogon (2 February 1903 – 24 December 1987) was a German historian and Nazi concentration camp survivor. A well-known Christian opponent of the Nazi Party, Kogon was arrested more than once and spent six years at Buchenwald concentration ...

and

Walter Dirks Walter Dirks (8 January 1901 in Hörde, North Rhine-Westphalia – 30 May 1991 in Wittnau, Baden-Württemberg), was a German political commentator, theologian, and journalist. Life and career From 1923 he wrote for the literary section of the Fra ...

. Today, the ''Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte'', sees itself as a political cultural journal that aims to provide both a diagnosis of the times and future perspectives. Since the 1990s, key subject have been the processes of

democratisation Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, civil society and communitarian models of society, the confrontation with the totalitarian past, the development of new media, the future of the

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

. Thomas Meyer has been the editor of the ''Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte'' journal, since the death of

Peter Glotz Peter Glotz (6 March 1939 – 25 August 2005) was a German social democratic politician and social scientist. Biography Peter Glotz was born in Cheb, Czechoslovakia, to a German father and a Czech mother. His father, an insurance clerk joined th ...

. In addition to Meyer, the following editors are currently (as of December 2018) acting as editors on behalf of the

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000–01. In May 2 ...

Jürgen Kocka Jürgen Kocka (born 19 April 1941 in Haindorf, Sudetenland) is a German historian. A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin (2001–2007), Kocka is a major figure in the new Social History, espe ...

, Bascha Mika,

Andrea Nahles Andrea Maria Nahles (born 20 June 1970) is a former German politician who has been the director of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) since 2022. Nahles is best known for having served as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from April ...

and

Wolfgang Thierse Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th president of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005. Early life and career Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present- ...

. Since 2012, an English-language edition with the subtitle Journal of Social Democracy has been published quarterly. It contains translations of selected articles from the German version.

Literature

* Michel Grunewald: “'Christian Socialists' in the first post-war years: The Frankfurter Hefte”, in: Michel Grunewald, Uwe Puschner (eds.), ''Le milieu intellectuel catholique en Allemagne, sa presse et ses reseaux ( 1871–1963) / The Catholic intellectual milieu in Germany, its press and its networks (1871–1963)''. Peter Lang, Bern 2006, pp. 459–481. * Josef P. Mautner: “Deconstruction of Christianity. Left-wing Catholicism and the present", in: Richard Faber (ed.): ''Catholicism in history and the present'', Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2005, pp. 227–254. * Karl Prümm: ''Walter Dirks and Eugen Kogon as Catholic journalists of the Weimar Republic.'' Heidelberg 1984. * Karl Prümm: "Designs for a second republic in the 'Frankfurter Hefte' 1946–1949", in: Thomas Koebner, Gert Sauttermeister, Sigrid Schneider (eds.): ''Germany after Hitler. Future plans in exile and from the occupation period 1939–1945.'' Opladen 1987, pp. 330–343. * Gabriel Rolfes: ''"The place of new beginnings, I said, will have to be the magazine":'' Eugen Kogon and Walter Dirks as editors of the ''Frankfurter Hefte'' in the early Federal Republic. In: Alexander Gallus, Sebastian Liebold, Frank Schale (eds.): ''Measurements of an Intellectual History of the Early Federal Republic''. Göttingen 2020, pp. 333–350, ISBN 978-3-8353-3472-4. * Benedikt Brunner, Thomas Großbölting, Klaus Große Kracht, Meik Woyke (eds.): ''"Say what is"''. Walter Dirks in the intellectual and political constellations of Germany and Europe. Bonn: JHW Dietz Nachf. 2019 (Political and Social History series; 105), ISBN 978-3-8012-4233-6.

References

External links

*
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung , Bibliothek , Die Neue Gesellschaft – Online Edition
Ausgaben der ''Neuen Gesellschaft'' bis 1984, nur aus dem Intranet der FES erreichbar (Stand Januar 2014) 1985 establishments in West Germany Catholic magazines published in Germany German-language magazines Magazines established in 1985 Mass media in Frankfurt Monthly magazines published in Germany Online magazines Political magazines published in Germany {{italic title