Alexander Leistner, Manja Präkels, Barbara Thériault: Extreme weather situations - reading and discussion in the "Compass: 8 Visions" series

"When did we realize that we were living in a new country? And how? And how do we learn to breathe against the wind that is brewing ominously and pressing into our lungs with sharp gusts?" With these questions in mind, cultural sociologist Alexander Leistner initiated a literary-sociological experiment: Manja Präkels, Tina Pruschmann and Barbara Thériault traveled to Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia as "Überlandschreiberinnen" - funded by the Volkswagen Foundation - in the election year 2024, spoke to local people and documented their observations on the noticeable change in the social climate that has been taking place for decades.
The literary reportages collected in the book "Extremwetterlagen" (Verbrecher Verlag, 2025) provide "explanations as to how the New Right was able to become so dominant" (taz). Alexander Leistner, Manja Präkels and Barbara Thériault talk about their findings on this pan-German phenomenon.
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Photo: Alexander Leistner © Sven Reichhold, Manja Präkels © Christoph Voy, Barbara Thériault © Wiko Maurice

Supported as part of Literatursommer 2026 - An event of the Baden-Württemberg-Stiftung, www.literatursommer.de

Co-organizer: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg, jos fritz e.V., in cooperation with the Department of History at the University campus Freiburg

Date: 16.06.2026, 19:30
Venue: Literaturhaus Freiburg, Bertoldstraße 17
Admission: 11/ 7 euros

Reading and discussion
Literaturhaus