About Energiewende

Energiewende

Energiewende — the EWS Energiewende-Magazin — is the thrice-yearly magazine of the Elektrizitätswerke Schönau (EWS), Germany's pioneering green-energy cooperative. Published since 2018 with its editorial office in Berlin, it aims to provide independent, in-depth information on the energy transition and the consequences of climate change. As the journalistic voice of the "Stromrebellen" (electricity rebels) of Schönau — the citizens who took over their town's power grid after Chernobyl — the magazine combines movement history with current energy politics, climate science, and portraits of the people driving the transition.

Overview

The EWS Energiewende-Magazin appears three times a year as an independent magazine for the energy transition. Its stated ambition is to publish independent and deepening information on the Energiewende and the consequences of climate change — journalism that goes beyond the news cycle to explain the transformation of the energy system, its political battles, its technological options, and its human stories. The ISSN registrations (print 2698-9115, online 2698-9123) document its standing as a periodical publication — a small but real journalistic institution of Germany's energy transition.

The readership comprises the EWS cooperative's members and customers, the broader community of energy-transition supporters, and anyone seeking substantive reporting on climate and energy. Members of a green-energy cooperative are by definition engaged citizens — they have chosen their electricity supplier on principle — and the magazine serves them as both information source and community bond, connecting thousands of dispersed members to the cooperative's mission and to each other. The EWS — Elektrizitätswerke Schönau eG — is itself a remarkable institution: born from a citizens' initiative in the Black Forest town of Schönau that, after the Chernobyl disaster, campaigned to take over the local electricity grid and convert it to renewable energy. The cooperative today supplies green electricity nationwide and remains a symbol of citizen-owned energy.

The magazine's editorial stance reflects this heritage: pro-transition, pro-citizen-energy, critical of fossil and nuclear incumbents — but committed to journalistic depth rather than campaign rhetoric. This positioning — an advocacy magazine that insists on substance — defines its niche: it is neither a neutral trade journal nor a pure campaign organ, but the reflective voice of a movement that has matured from street protest to grid ownership. Interviews with researchers (such as MCC Berlin's Dr. Arwen Colell on the societal negotiation processes of the energy transition), guest commentaries (such as PIK sociologist Dr. Fritz Reußwig on democratic conflict culture), and portraits of energy cooperatives give the magazine its substantive profile.

History

The magazine was first published in 2018, more than three decades after the Schönau citizens' movement began. The EWS story — the "Stromrebellen" who fought the established utility for their grid — is one of the founding narratives of Germany's energy transition, and the magazine extends that narrative into journalism. The citizens' 1990s campaign — referendums, fundraising, the eventual takeover of the Schönau grid — remains a reference point for energy democracy worldwide. The Berlin editorial office (Lehrter Str. 57, Haus 1, 10557 Berlin) places the magazine in the capital's political and media landscape, close to the energy-policy decisions it covers.

The publisher is Sebastian Sladek (v.i.S.d.P.), board member of EWS Elektrizitätswerke Schönau eG (Friedrichstraße 53/55, 79677 Schönau); the editorial team includes Frank Dietsche and Werner Kiefer. The magazine has maintained its thrice-yearly rhythm since launch, building an archive of in-depth energy-transition journalism.

The magazine's public presence extends beyond print: it maintains info stands at events such as the Lange Nacht des Klimas (Long Night of the Climate) in Berlin — the fourth edition on 12 September 2026 at the Kulturfabrik Moabit, with lectures, discussions, films, music, and comedy against the climate crisis — where it appears as media partner alongside the EWS itself, Flux FM, and klimareporter. These appearances embed the magazine in the climate movement's event culture, reaching readers where the transition is debated and celebrated.

Coverage and Content

The thematic core is the energy transition in its full breadth: renewable energy expansion, grid development, sector coupling, energy storage, and the phase-out of fossil fuels and nuclear power. Climate-change coverage addresses the science of global warming and its consequences — the "Folgen des Klimawandels" of the magazine's mission statement. Energy-policy coverage follows the political battles: legislation, the coal phase-out, the heating transition, and the European dimension.

Citizen energy (Bürgerenergie) forms a signature beat: portraits of energy cooperatives, interviews with cooperative activists, and analyses of participation models — reflecting the EWS's own cooperative identity and the conviction that the energy transition must be carried jointly by citizens. As Dr. Arwen Colell of MCC Berlin put it in the magazine's pages: the Energiewende is not a technical change citizens must accept but a transformation carried together — and the shaping power of citizens is its success factor. The magazine gives voice to the movement's protagonists: researchers, activists, cooperative founders, and the "Stromrebellen" of the next generation.

The interview and portrait formats dominate: in-depth conversations with scientists, policymakers, and practitioners, guest commentaries from the research community, and reportage from the transition's front lines — such as PIK sociologist Dr. Fritz Reußwig's guest commentary on building a democratic conflict culture for the Energiewende, or the magazine's interview with chemist Michael Grätzel on photosynthesis and the chemical glass. The tone is engaged and knowledgeable — the magazine writes for readers who are already convinced of the transition's necessity and want the depth to argue for it, implement it, and understand its obstacles.

Organization and Ownership

The Energiewende-Magazin is published by the EWS Elektrizitätswerke Schönau eG, the Schönau-based green-energy cooperative. The publisher (Herausgeber, v.i.S.d.P.) is Sebastian Sladek, board member of the EWS. The editorial office sits in Berlin (Büro Berlin / Redaktion Energiewende-Magazin, Lehrter Str. 57, Haus 1, 10557 Berlin); the editorial team includes Frank Dietsche and Werner Kiefer (redaktion@energiewende-magazin.de). The cooperative's headquarters are at Friedrichstraße 53/55, 79677 Schönau.

As a cooperative-owned magazine, the title's economics differ from commercial publishing: it serves the cooperative's members, customers, and the broader transition community rather than maximizing advertising revenue. This ownership structure underwrites the editorial independence the magazine claims — independence from the fossil and nuclear industries whose transformation it covers. Circulation figures are not publicly confirmed. Financial details are not publicly confirmed.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website, energiewende-magazin.de, extends the thrice-yearly print rhythm online, while the EWS's own digital channels (ews-schoenau.de) carry magazine-related content — interviews, event announcements, and the newsblog's references to magazine features. Readers can subscribe to the print magazine through the EWS channels; editorial contact runs through the Berlin office. The online ISSN (2698-9123) documents the digital edition's periodical status.

The magazine's event presence — info stands at the Lange Nacht des Klimas and similar gatherings — complements the digital reach with physical community contact, in keeping with the cooperative movement's culture of personal engagement. As media partner of climate events, the magazine gains visibility in the movement's networks. For a cooperative-owned advocacy magazine, the digital strategy centers on community service: informing the members and supporters who own the cooperative, deepening their understanding of the transition they finance with their electricity bills, and recruiting new supporters to the citizen-energy cause — the Schönau model, scaled from one Black Forest town to a nationwide movement. In a media landscape where energy journalism is often dominated by industry voices, the EWS Energiewende-Magazin offers the distinctive perspective of the citizens who took over their grid — and never gave it back.