120 years ago, on October 14, 1906, Hannah Arendt was born in Hannover-Linden. As a German-American Jewish thinker, she combined political judgment with philosophical reflection and passionately engaged in contemporary social debates. Hannah Arendt died on December 4, 1975, in New York. A selection of events in 2026 will commemorate the internationally renowned political theorist.
Salon talk
Prof. Dr. Grit Straßenberger, Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn,
, and Dr. Ulrich Kühn
Welcome Message
Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck, Executive and Artistic Director of Villa Seligmann
Hannah Arendt is considered one of the most significant political theorists of the 20th century. Her ideas are more relevant than ever, particularly her inclusive understanding of democratic participation: Every person should be able to help shape the shared public sphere. It is therefore not surprising that interest in her life and work remains undiminished. Grit Straßenberger’s book *Die Denkerin: Hannah Arendt und ihr Jahrhundert* (The Thinker: Hannah Arendt and Her Century), published in 2025, has already reached its fourth printing this year.
Arendt’s writings and biography reflect the upheavals of flight, exile, statelessness, and the rise and fall of totalitarian regimes. But she did not merely want to recount these events; above all, she wanted to understand them.
Grit Straßenberger paints a vivid portrait of Arendt the thinker, focusing, among other things, on the memories and stories shared by Arendt’s friends, colleagues, and students. After all, Arendt’s circle of acquaintances is, so to speak, a “Who’s Who” of 20th-century transatlantic intellectual history. For Arendt, friendship became a political virtue, and plurality a fundamental principle of human coexistence. 120 years after her birth, this salon discussion explores the relevance, fascination, and influence of Hannah Arendt’s intellectual world.
Admission is free, but registration is required at anmeldung@villa-seligmann.de.