About Lift

Lift

LIFT is the city magazine of Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Published monthly with the online platform lift-online.de, it is the journalistic companion of city life in the Swabian metropolis: events, restaurants, cafés, shops, culture and the people and places that make Stuttgart what it is. In 2026 the magazine celebrated 35 years of publication, marking three and a half decades as the chronicler of the city's political struggles, legendary nights, vanished places and continuing reinvention. With its print edition, its e-paper, its event calendar and its editorial series such as "Vor Ort", LIFT remains the indispensable guide to Stuttgart for newcomers and natives alike.

Overview

LIFT is a classic German Stadtmagazin: a monthly city magazine that serves the culturally active urban public with event information, gastronomy coverage, shopping tips and city journalism. The magazine's programme combines the service functions of the city guide with the editorial ambition of the city chronicle. Each issue presents the month's highlights: concerts, theatre, exhibitions, festivals and parties, alongside the magazine's own editorial features on the city's people, debates and developments.

The October 2026 issue illustrates the mix: "Wir lieben Stuttgart", in which one hundred people from Stuttgart explain why they love the city; "Lasst uns etwas schaffen!", an appeal for the city to shape its future together rather than merely grumble; the event highlights of the month with prize draws; and a tour of Stuttgart's Besenwirtschaften, the seasonal wine taverns from Degerloch to Obertürkheim. The blend of love letter, civic appeal, service journalism and pleasure is characteristic of the city magazine genre at its best.

The "Vor Ort" series is the magazine's signature editorial format: encounters with interesting people at interesting places, photographed by LIFT photographer Ronny Schönebaum. By the summer of 2026 the series had reached its 196th episode, a remarkable run that has built a photographic archive of the city's protagonists. The "Was Stuttgart schon immer wissen wollte" format answers the city's curious questions, from the course of the subterranean Nesenbach stream to the correct pronunciation of café names, with the affectionate pedantry of the local journalist.

LIFT appears monthly in print and as an e-paper. The single print issue costs 5.90 euros plus shipping, the e-paper single issue 3.40 euros, and the annual subscription for print plus digital is 59.90 euros, including a 30-euro voucher from the Stuttgart bookseller Osiander. Print subscribers receive free access to all e-paper issues during their subscription, with the digital edition available one day before the official publication date.

History

LIFT was founded around 1991, making the 35th anniversary celebrated in 2026 the marker of three and a half decades of publication. The magazine emerged in the early 1990s, the years when the German city-magazine landscape was flourishing and every major city had its own monthly guide to urban life. In Stuttgart, LIFT became the established title of the genre.

The anniversary was marked with a conversation among four former editors-in-chief: Arne Braun, Ingmar Volkmann, Petra Xayaphoum and Kathrin Stärk, who looked back on 35 years of LIFT as 35 years of city history. Their retrospective touched on the political struggles the magazine had accompanied, the legendary nights it had documented, the vanished places it had mourned, and the fundamental question of what a city magazine should achieve. The conversation illustrates the magazine's self-understanding: not merely a listings guide, but a journalistic institution of the city.

Through the decades LIFT has documented Stuttgart's transformations: the debates around the Stuttgart 21 railway project, the changing nightlife, the gentrification of districts, the arrival of new populations, and the city's struggle with its image as both prosperous and provincial. The magazine's archive is a unique record of how Stuttgart saw itself and debated itself over 35 years.

The digital transformation brought lift-online.de, the magazine's online platform, which extends the monthly print rhythm into the daily digital flow: event listings for children and adults, restaurant and café reviews, shopping tips, and the editorial content of the current issue. The e-paper makes the complete print issue available digitally, and the subscription model integrates print and digital.

Content and Sections

Each issue of LIFT combines the city magazine's classic departments. The event calendar is the service core: concerts, theatre, exhibitions, cinema, parties and festivals, with the highlights of the month presented editorially and prize draws for readers. The gastronomy coverage reviews the city's restaurants, cafés and bars, from the literary café in Ludwigsburg to the mini-café on the Neue Weinsteige, tracking the openings and closings of the scene.

The shopping and lifestyle sections present the city's shops and services: from the analogue film laboratory in Stuttgart-Mitte to the boutiques and concept stores. The editorial features provide the journalistic depth: portraits of interesting people, reports on the city's debates, and the "Vor Ort" photo series. The children's section serves families with event tips for children, parents and schools.

The online platform lift-online.de extends the print content with daily updates: event listings, restaurant news, and the archive of editorial series. The site's tone is that of the knowledgeable local: affectionate, well-informed, and unafraid to take positions on the city's controversies. The combination of the monthly print magazine and the daily website covers the complete information need of the culturally active Stuttgarter.

Publisher and Organization

LIFT is published as Stuttgart's city magazine with its editorial office in the city. Detailed information about the current publisher and editorial leadership is not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted. The anniversary conversation of 2026 named four former editors-in-chief, Arne Braun, Ingmar Volkmann, Petra Xayaphoum and Kathrin Stärk, documenting the editorial continuity of the title across the decades.

The business model is that of the classic city magazine: copy sales at the kiosk, subscriptions, and advertising from the city's gastronomy, culture, retail and services. The subscription offer of 59.90 euros per year for print plus digital, with the Osiander voucher as an incentive, reflects the magazine's anchoring in the local economy: the bookseller, the restaurants and the event organisers are both the magazine's subjects and its advertisers. The e-paper at 3.40 euros per issue serves the digital readers.

Digital Presence

The website lift-online.de is the magazine's digital home and the city's online guide. The site presents the current issue's content, the event calendar, the restaurant and café guides, the shopping tips, and the editorial series. The e-paper makes the complete print issue available as a PDF, with the digital edition released one day before the print publication date.

The digital strategy serves the city magazine's dual function: the website provides the daily service information, the event listings and the news, while the monthly print magazine provides the curated highlights, the editorial features and the photographic series. For a city magazine, the website is also the archive: 35 years of Stuttgart's cultural life, documented issue by issue. With its print edition, its e-paper and its daily online presence, LIFT remains Stuttgart's city magazine, in print every month and online every day.

The endurance of LIFT through 35 years testifies to the continuing demand for curated local journalism. In an age of algorithm-driven event platforms, the city magazine's editorial selection, its local knowledge and its photographic documentation offer something the platforms cannot: a point of view on the city, formed by journalists who live in it and love it, issue after issue.