Political Feelings: Harald Welzer and Ines Geipel
13.11.2025, 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.
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.
Ines Geipel, born in 1960, is a writer and Professor of Poetics at the Berlin University of the Arts for Acting »Ernst Busch«. In 1989, after studying German literature in Jena, she fled to Darmstadt, where she went on to study philosophy and sociology. The central focus of her work as an author and editor is Germany’s history of violence, both under National Socialism and the GDR dictatorship. In 2011, Ines Geipel was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande, in 2020 the Lessingpreis für Kritik, in 2021 the Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis, and in 2023 the Erich-Loest-Preis. Most recently, her book Fabelland was published by S. Fischer and was nominated for the Deutscher Sachbuchpreis 2025.
