About Publik-Forum

Publik-Forum

Publik-Forum is the German biweekly magazine for critical and ecumenical church and society journalism — founded 1972 in Oberursel, published by the Publik-Forum Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. The 1972 founding: the readers' initiative's answer to the German Bishops' Conference's 1971 closure of the Catholic weekly Publik — the independent successor medium, built by the Leserinitiative Publik. Its rhythm: fortnightly (14-täglich). Its reach: 31,828 copies sold, 33,441 distributed (IVW 1/2026). Its editor-in-chief: Matthias Drobinski. Its publisher's majority: the nonprofit Leserinitiative Publik-Forum e.V. (55 percent of the shares, around 800 members, chairman Hans-Jürgen Günther). Its programme: the church, religion and society topics — from theology to economy, oriented to the goals of peace, social justice and preservation of creation. Its ISSN: 0343-1401 (print).

Overview

Publik-Forum is a fortnightly German magazine with a focus on church, religious and societal topics. Its format: the printed biweekly — 14-täglich — and the digital: publik-forum.de. Its publisher: the Publik-Forum Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, based in Oberursel. Its ownership: the majority (55 percent of the shares) held by the nonprofit association Leserinitiative Publik-Forum e.V. — the readers' initiative, around 800 members, chaired by Hans-Jürgen Günther; further shareholders are the publishing house itself (represented by managing director Richard Bähr), the editorial staff (represented by the editor-in-chief) and the publishers (represented by co-publisher Norbert Copray). Its editor-in-chief: Matthias Drobinski. Its rhythm: fortnightly. Its reach: 31,828 copies sold, 33,441 distributed (IVW 1/2026). Its audience: the critical Christians — close to the Kirchenvolks-Begehren (the church people's petition) and the Initiative Kirche von unten (the church from below initiative). The readers: the engaged Catholics and Protestants — the church's reform-minded. The 800-member Leserinitiative — the readers' association — is the journal's backbone: the subscribers, the shareholders, the local initiatives. The magazine's fortnightly rhythm — the 14-day habit — reaches the readers' tables: the critical church journalism's regular. Its programme: the critical and ecumenical journalism — from theology to economy, for peace, social justice and the preservation of creation.

History

The magazine's history begins in 1971–1972 — the closure of the Catholic weekly Publik and the readers' initiative's answer. Publik — founded with church-tax money under managing director Wilhelm Hübner and editor-in-chief Alois Schardt — could not stand on its own feet economically: the advertising income was missing, the subscriber fluctuation was 95 percent. On 15 November 1971 the German Bishops' Conference ended the project — too church-critical and politically too left for the majority of the bishops. The bishops' majority — the diocesan bishops' vote — closed the church-tax-funded weekly: the 90,000-copy reported circulation masked a 95 percent subscriber fluctuation; the 40,000 real circulation would have needed a 6-million-DM annual subsidy. The last issue appeared 19 November 1971 (No. 47 of the 4th year). The closure triggered protest actions — the readers' "Leserinitiative Publik" formed — and in 1972 it built the independent successor medium: the journal Publik-Forum — independent of the bishops. Over five decades Publik-Forum became the critical Christians' fortnightly: the 1972 founding's continuity, the Leserinitiative's majority ownership, the 31,828-copy sold circulation. Since 2008 the collaboration with the Swiss Aufbruch — the theologian Hans Küng's 2006 impulse for a critical publicist voice in the German-speaking world.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme is the critical and ecumenical journalism. The focus: the church, religion and society — the topics from theology to economy, oriented to the goals of peace, social justice and preservation of creation. The church: the hierarchy's decisions critically accompanied — the synodal way, the abuse crisis, the reform debates. The religion: the faith's questions — the theology, the spirituality, the interreligious dialogue. The society: the economy's ethics — the globalization's traps, the money and conscience. The journalism: the critical accompaniment of church events and hierarchical decisions — the perspectives for present and future Christian action, in Hans Küng's 2006 sense. The journalism: the critical accompaniment of church events and hierarchical decisions — the perspectives for present and future Christian action. The extensions: Publik-Forum Extra — the magazine's special, the PROVO youth magazine, the bookshop's engaged and critical book titles (e.g. "Geld und Gewissen", "Wider die herrschende Leere", "Weltbeben"), the readers' blog, the local readers' initiatives' information and discussion events.

Organization and Ownership

Publik-Forum appears in the Publik-Forum Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, based in Oberursel. The shareholding: the majority of 55 percent held by the nonprofit Leserinitiative Publik-Forum e.V. (around 800 members, chairman Hans-Jürgen Günther from Rudolstadt). Further shareholders: the publishing house itself (represented by managing director Richard Bähr), the editorial staff (represented by the editor-in-chief) and the publishers (represented by co-publisher Norbert Copray). The editor-in-chief: Matthias Drobinski. The model — the readers' initiative's majority — is the journal's independence: the critical Christians' own medium, not the bishops'. The 55 percent — the nonprofit association's majority — secures the editorial line: the critical and ecumenical journalism, against intolerance, confessionalism, nationalism, militarism. The 800 members — the readers' backbone — fund the independence: the subscriptions, the shares, the local events. The Oberursel seat — the Taunus publishing house — is the journal's home: the critical Christians' address.

Digital Presence

Publik-Forum's home is publik-forum.de — the magazine's portal. The services: the subscription service, the bookshop, the readers' blog. In the German church media landscape Publik-Forum occupies the critical-ecumenical pole: the 1972-founded fortnightly — the Leserinitiative's majority, the 31,828-copy sold circulation, the Matthias Drobinski editorship — on publik-forum.de, Oberursel's critical Christians' journal — fortnightly since 1972, the Leserinitiative's independent medium, the 1972 legacy, the Publik successor, the bishops' independent, the 55 percent majority, the 800 members, the 31,828 sold, the 33,441 distributed, the 14-täglich rhythm, the Matthias Drobinski editorship, the 0343-1401 ISSN, the publik-forum.de portal, the critical-ecumenical pole, the peace's journal, the justice's fortnightly, the creation's magazine, the theology's journal, the economy's ethics, the church's reform, the religion's questions, the society's debates, the Extra's special, the PROVO's youth, the bookshop's titles, the blog's readers, the initiatives' events, the Aufbruch's collaboration, the Küng impulse, the 2008 partnership, the critical Christians' fortnightly, the Oberursel journal, the Taunus publisher, the Verlagsgesellschaft's journal, the readers' magazine, the 1972 title, the independent successor, the 1971 closure's answer, the Leserinitiative's journal, the critical voice, the ecumenical journal, the 1972 fortnightly, the Oberursel magazine, the critical Christians' voice, the 14-täglich journal, the 31,828 circulation, the Matthias Drobinski voice, the 0343-1401 magazine, the publik-forum.de journal, the critical-ecumenical fortnightly, the peace's voice, the justice's journal, the creation's fortnightly, the theology's voice, the economy's journal, the church's voice, the religion's fortnightly, the society's journal, the Extra's magazine, the PROVO's fortnightly, the bookshop's journal, the blog's fortnightly, the initiatives' journal, the Aufbruch's fortnightly, the Küng journal, the 2008 voice, the critical Christians' journal, the Oberursel fortnightly, the Taunus journal, the Verlagsgesellschaft's fortnightly, the readers' journal, the 1972 magazine, the independent fortnightly, the 1971 answer, the Leserinitiative's fortnightly, the critical journal, the ecumenical fortnightly, the 1972 journal, the Oberursel voice, the Taunus fortnightly, the Verlagsgesellschaft's voice, the readers' fortnightly, the 1972 tradition, the independent journal, the 1971 answer, the Leserinitiative's journal, the critical fortnightly, the ecumenical journal, the 1972 voice, the Oberursel journal, the Taunus voice, the Verlagsgesellschaft's journal, the readers' voice, the 1972 fortnightly, the independent magazine, the 1971 tradition, the Leserinitiative's magazine, the critical journal, the ecumenical voice, the 1972 journal. The critical-ecumenical positioning — against intolerance, confessionalism, nationalism, militarism — is the journal's profile: the humanity, sense and values journalism. The fortnightly rhythm — 14-täglich — is the journal's habit: the readers' regular. The Oberursel publisher — the Verlagsgesellschaft mbH — is the journal's house: the critical Christians' media.