Collage © Holtzbrinck Berlin & Lausitz Festival

About the production

Start

7 p.m.

End

9 p.m.

»Streit & Zuversicht« is a successful and popular debate series organised by the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS and Holtzbrinck Berlin. Following its debut at the Lausitz Festival in 2025, the series is returning to the festival this year. This time, it will explore the following questions: How can upheaval be turned into an opportunity for renewal – and when does change lead to decline?

The changing face of Lusatia will be discussed here. How can a region shape its own transformation? Which conflicts are productive, and which are destructive? What role do a sense of belonging, justice and cultural self-image play when a region reinvents itself? And how can we prevent transformation from turning into a creeping loss of control?

As always, the audience will have the final say: do come along, bring your questions and help shape the evening!

Foyer of Gerhart Hauptmann Theatre, Görlitz-Zittau, Zittau

With:

ZEIT journalist and author Cornelius Pollmer,

Author Heike Geißler,

Theatre director, stage director and artistic director of the Lausitz Festival Daniel Kühnel,

Cultural studies scholar & programme director of the Zukunftszentrum in Halle Dr Uta Bretschneider

Moderation: Shelly Kupferberg

Free entrance

To register

An event organised by ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS and Holtzbrinck Berlin.

By bus & train to the event

Why don't you leave your car at home and come to the event by public transport? Click on this link to calculate your route: www.sachsenauskunft.de/en

We owe this service for the Lausitz Festival to the transport associations VVO, VBB und ZVON.

Alternative Option: Your Journey with PriMa+ÖV

An offer by ZVON for the regions of Weißwasser, Niesky, Görlitz, and Zittau.
When no bus is running, a public transport taxi or a private ride-share will comfortably take you to your destination – at almost the standard public transport fare. Everything on one platform, everything from a single source. You can find further important information on the PriMa+ÖV website.

Telephone bookings are also possible via customer service: 0049 (0)3591/326969.

Guest

Cornelius Pollmer

Cornelius Pollmer was born in Dresden in 1984 and studied economics there. After training at the German School of Journalism, he joined the Süddeutsche Zeitung, where he most recently wrote for the arts and culture section. He has been editor-in-chief of »ZEIT im Osten« since 2025.

Guest

Heike Geißler

Heike Geißler, born in Riesa in 1977, is an author. Her latest work, the novel »Michaela Kohlhaas«, was published by Suhrkamp in May. She has received numerous awards, most recently the Klopstock Prize, the Heinrich Böll Prize, the Bavarian Book Prize and the Saxon Literature Prize 2026. She lives in Leipzig.

Guest

Daniel Kühnel

Daniel Kühnel, born in Jerusalem in 1973, graduated with honours in piano from the conservatory there. After completing his studies in law and musicology at the FU Berlin, he worked as an assessor and began his professional theatre career as an assistant opera director before serving as a consultant to the artistic director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2001.

Full bio

Dr. Uta Bretschneider

Uta Bretschneider has been Director of the Centre for the Future of German Unity and European Transformation since 1 May 2026. From 2020 to 2026, she was Director of the Leipzig Forum for Contemporary History, and from 2016 to 2020 she headed the Henneberg Museum at Kloster Veßra, an open-air museum in southern Thuringia.

Prior to this, she had worked, amongst other roles, as a research assistant at the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore in Dresden. Between 2011 and 2014, she completed her PhD on the topic »›Vom Ich zum Wir‹? Flüchtlinge und Vertriebene als Neubauern in der LPG« (»› From I to We?‹ Refugees and Displaced Persons as New Farmers in the LPG«). From 2009 to 2011, she worked at the Henneberg Museum at Veßra Monastery. In 2008, she completed her degree in Folklore/Cultural History and Sociology at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

Shelly Kupferberg

Shelly Kupferberg, born in Tel Aviv in 1974, grew up in West Berlin. She studied journalism, theatre studies and musicology in Berlin. As well as contributing to numerous programmes for ARD, she has been presenting cultural, literary and current affairs programmes (DLF Kultur and radio3/rbb) for 30 years.

As well as her regular live radio programmes, she hosts concerts, readings and conferences, as well as events for cultural institutions and festivals. In autumn 2022, her literary debut, »Isidor«, was published by Diogenes and featured on the SPIEGEL bestseller list; it has been translated into several languages and is being staged as a theatre adaptation at the BURG Theatre in Vienna. In spring 2026, her novel »Stunden wie Tage« was published (Diogenes).