Prof. Dr. Antonia Grunenberg

Why freedom is worth fighting for.

Democracies are constantly at risk - from outside by authoritarian state powers that attack democratic states, from within by conspiracy theorists, right-wing extremist parties, left-wing radical groups, corruption and abuse of power. Not only governments, but also citizens are responsible for the existence of a democratic system. We are currently experiencing Russia's war against Ukraine, political crises in the USA and the activities of Reich citizens and other groups here. Antonia Grunenberg analyzes the history of German democracy and that of its mirror image, the GDR, also citing the still important Hannah Arendt and passionately pleads for democracy and its preservation to be taken more seriously.

Antonia Grunenberg comes from Dresden, was a professor of political science at the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg from 1998 to 2009 and built a Hannah Arendt archive there. She is co-founder and board member of the “Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought” association. Books most recently: “Twilight of the Gods. The Rise and Fall of the German Intelligentsia 1900-1940”, “Democracy as a Promise”.