Writing about people?

What could be more interesting than writing about people? Nothing is more fascinating, nothing is more moving. Their biographies, their ideas, their visions are the stuff that the media live on. This edition of Deutschland is devoted to stories about people. Exclusively. About people who take up challenges. About people who perform remarkable things and people whose quiet dedication to the wellbeing of others earns them public praise in these pages. We have met people who – despite their professionalism, their experience of life and political wisdom – have preserved an idealistic, almost youthful belief in being able to make the world a bit more peaceful, and a bit more just. Wherever they work, whether in Africa, Afghanistan or in the Balkans, reality is quite different from that in Munich or Hamburg. This quickly becomes clear once you hear what they have to tell.

We discovered people who push forward developments in companies and research laboratories with enthusiasm and energy, people who can act as role models, not just for the younger generation. We spoke with people who are building bridges in a global world, who mediate between cultures – and we present people who create something entirely new with their imaginative skills, develop new approaches or inspire others. Cornelia Funke, for instance, who takes millions of readers throughout the world on voyages of fantasy. And you will be introduced to people who reach for the stars, sometimes literally. One of them, to whom we have devoted an in-depth portrait, will be watching you from “up above” while you read. Thomas Reiter, the German astronaut on the International Space Station. He says: “When you’re floating around 400 kilometres above the Earth you gain an entirely new sense of common identity.”

And last, but not least, we present people who like to stimulate public debate – initiators, movers and shakers, people who make you think. How can we deal with the fact that whole nations are experiencing greater longevity than ever before? What role do the provinces play in an age of rapidacceleration and nervous restlessness? How do women see themselves in modern, post-industrial societies? Where is the journey taking us? Forward – or back to old clichés? Many questions, sometimes uncomfortable answers, but definitely interesting people.

© Deutschland magazine