Art and culture should be free so that creativity can emerge that enriches or harasses, stimulates or upsets and brings people into dialogue. For years, right-wing cultural campaigners have been trying to establish the dominance of "German dominant culture" in museums, theatres, independent cultural projects and cultural policy: Enemy images have been labelled, aggression stirred up and threats made to withdraw funding. This attack on artistic freedom is aimed at an open, liberal society.
The round table will examine right-wing cultural war strategies and discuss how cultural freedom can be defended.
The guests will be activist and author Jakob Springfeld, journalist Peter Laudenbach and trade unionist Lisa Mangold on 7 October 2025 at 7 pm at Weltecho. Register at: region.suedwestsachsen(at)dgb.de
Jakob Springfeld was born in Zwickau in 2002. He is a student, podcaster and fights against right-wing hatred. SPIEGEL counts him as one of the 100 hopefuls of 2025. Springfeld is the author of the books "Unter Nazis. Jung, ostdeutsch, gegen Rechts" (2022) and "Der Westen hat keine Ahnung, was im Osten passiert. Why the rise of the right is a threat to us all" (2024).
Peter Laudenbach is a journalist, theatre critic and author. He writes for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the business magazine brand eins and the taz and has published several volumes of interviews. Laudenbach has been researching right-wing attacks for years. in 2023, he published his book "Volkstheater. The right-wing attack on artistic freedom".
Lisa Mangold is head of the arts and culture department at the United Services Union ver.di. After studying philosophy and political science, she was responsible for public relations at an independent publishing house. in 2016, she and her colleagues initiated the #verlagegegenrechts action alliance against racist, anti-feminist and homophobic ideas.
