THE MIRROR
Dear reader,
in 2021 you decide!
Depending on where you live in Germany, you can exercise your democratic right to vote up to three times: the local elections in Lower Saxony, three state elections, two elections in the city-state of Berlin and the federal elections are still pending.
Election campaign times are good times for SPIEGEL.
Great political stories are our core business, elections are our high mass.
"Say what is" was the credo of our founder Rudolf Augstein.
More than 70 years later, in the election year 2021, we would like to develop it further to “ask what is”.
Together with you, dear readers.
Republic 21 is the name of the project we are going into this super election year.
The question of which parties and people you vote for has seldom been so momentous.
Politics rarely felt so far away and yet reigned so deeply in our private lives as in these agonizing pandemic months.
And the information you can rely on when making your choice has seldom been so important.
The Merkel era is coming to an end, confidence in politics and a functioning state has suffered greatly.
These elections will therefore decisively determine how we make Germany fit for the future.
The questions we want to pursue with you are:
How do we want to talk to each other
- online or on the street, only with like-minded people or also with the enemies of democracy?
How does Germany become fairer
- in the classroom and in the office, between old and young, East and West, long-time residents and new citizens?
How do we save ourselves
- from climate change, the exploitation of our planet or the sheet metal avalanche in the cities?
How much state do we need
- a defender against the virus, a protector against the threat of terrorism or, above all, a creator of freedom?
Where is Germany's place in the world
- in a Europe that has been strengthened or weakened by Corona, as a partner or rival of China, as a friend or critic of Russia?
In which society do we want to live
- how humane and diverse, in the world of work and in private life?
We are not going to provide you with simple solutions and have developed a whole range of new formats to discuss these questions with you.
Rachelle Pouplier will host our video format for Republik 21, Marius Mestermann will host the weekly podcast “Voices Catch”, Melanie Amann, the co-manager of our capital city office, will moderate events especially for subscribers.
Republic 21 should also offer you the opportunity to get into conversation with our reporters and columnists as well as with each other as readers.
Follow our discussions live on Instagram.
Debate with us in the comments section of spiegel.de.
Visit our digital events, which we offer exclusively for our subscribers and where we offer you the opportunity to hole up politicians, scientists and other experts.
Discussions and arguments are allowed in our SPIEGEL Arena.
So it starts today, April 6th.
To start with, we will deal with the question "How do we want to talk to each other?"
If you want to join the discussion after 5 p.m., you will find an extra comment area here.
All important information can be found in our weekly »Die Lage: Super Election Year 2021« newsletter.
It will also remind you of the next SPIEGEL event in good time.
So let's start the Republic of 21 together!
Your Steffen Klusmann