In the Spirit of the Times and against the Grain

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Magazines are snapshots of the times. The magazine OSTEUROPA was founded in the Weimar Republic, continued to publish during the Nazi dictatorship, represented a typical medium of the Federal Republic during the Germany’s division, and is now produced in Berlin. Its history reflects two historical processes. One concerns German attitudes towards Eastern Europe. These move between curiosity and alienation, friendship and enmity, co-operation and confrontation. The other is the development of societies and states in Europe’s east. OSTEUROPA accompanies and analyses these societies from different perspectives. The journal understands politics and culture not in opposition to one another, but in relation to one another. As a matter of publishing policy, OSTEUROPA goes against the prevailing trend of specialisation and fragmentation of the public sphere.