Loneliness and Politics: Harald Welzer and Diana Kinnert
27.11.2025, 19:30
As part of the exhibition Anatomy of Fragility, the Frankfurter Kunstverein, in cooperation with S. Fischer Verlag, is hosting a series of events with Harald Welzer: The House of Feelings. A Conversation Series on the Inner Politics of Our Emotions. The four-part series is being held in media partnership with hr2-Kultur.
Much of the political disillusionment, daily irritation, general irritability and diffuse unease emerging in Germany today has to do with the disappearance of those taken-for-granted certainties that for a long time provided the framework for people’s sense of direction and their way of life. This does not take the form of conscious reflection; rather, it amounts to a political structure of feeling—something no longer fits, something feels wrong.
When ingrained habits and a once-taken-for-granted world disappear, people are deeply unsettled without quite knowing why. This underlying feeling shades how reality is perceived, without allowing one to name specific causes and effects or to connect them with one another. When both the complexity and the rapidity of change increase at the same time, the secure grounding of everyday life is gradually eroded.
What arises is a political feeling that seeks affiliation without knowing why. Yet it is precisely this lack of grounding that makes it perfectly susceptible to narratives eager to exploit it.
The four-part discussion series explores the inner politics of feelings from psychological, sociological, political and aesthetic perspectives.
Bodies and emotions are inseparable. In public spaces, bodies are political actors. The Frankfurter Kunstverein has invited Harald Welzer to hold his four-part discussion series Innenpolitik unserer Emotionen (Inner Politics of Our Emotions) as part of the exhibition Anatomy of Fragility – Body Images in Art and Science.
Tickets can be purchased in advance via Eventbrite. The price is €13 (plus booking fee). Special conditions apply for members of the Frankfurter Kunstverein: €5 (plus booking fee). Member tickets can also be purchased on Eventbrite. Please bring your membership card with you on the evening of the event.
The ticket price already includes entry to the exhibition Anatomy of Fragility. Admission to the event is possible between 5:00 pm and 7:10 pm. Please note that after 7:10 pm no further entry will be permitted. Should you arrive later, your seat may be released for sale at the evening box office. In addition, there will be an evening box office, subject to availability. As places are limited, we recommend arriving in good time.
Please note: The event will take place in German.
Harald Welzer, born in 1958, is a social psychologist. He is director of FUTURZWEI. Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit and of the Norbert Elias Center for Transformation Design at the Europa-Universität Flensburg. At Fischer Verlage he has published, among others: Täter. Wie aus ganz normalen Menschen Massenmörder werden, Klimakriege. Wofür im 21. Jahrhundert getötet wird, Alles könnte anders sein. Eine Gesellschaftsutopie für freie Menschen, Nachruf auf mich selbst. Die Kultur des Aufhörens and – together with Richard David Precht – Die vierte Gewalt. Wie Mehrheitsmeinung gemacht wird, auch wenn sie keine ist. His books have been published in 21 countries.
Diana Kinnert, born in 1991 in Wuppertal, studied political science, philosophy, and social sciences at the universities of Göttingen, Amsterdam (NL), and Berlin. Since 2015, she has headed the office of Bundestag Vice President Peter Hintze MdB (CDU). Kinnert is an entrepreneur who has founded companies in the fields of sustainable technologies and municipal strategy. She advises foreign governments and German government agencies on digitalization and participation. For former British Prime Minister Theresa May, she worked on the concept of the world’s first Ministry for Loneliness. She advised the CDU under party chairman Friedrich Merz in the Grundwertekommission. She is a member of the interdisciplinary Council for Digital Ecology and host of the technology podcast AFK. Together with social psychologist Harald Welzer, she has published a weekly audio column since October 2020 under the title Denken mit Kinnert und Welzer on phoenix. In December 2025, her book Die Achtsamkeitsfalle. Angriff auf Körper, Geist und Seele will be published.
