About Psychologie Heute

Psychologie Heute

Psychologie Heute is the German-language popular-science monthly for psychology — published since September 1974 by the Beltz Verlagsgruppe in Weinheim, inspired by the American Psychology Today. It is one of the German-speaking world's best-known psychology magazines: monthly, with a sold circulation of 44,949 copies (IVW 2/2026), ISSN 0340-1677, and editor-in-chief Dorothea Siegle. The founding story: the Max Planck Institute's Franz Emanuel Weinert returned from a 1973 USA trip, told publisher Manfred Beltz Rübelmann about Psychology Today — the first issue followed in September 1974 with founding editor Siegfried Brockert. The milestones: the 500th issue in April 2017 (5/2017), the 50th year celebrated in October 2024 — with a poster showing all 600 covers. The companion: Psychologie Heute Compact, quarterly since 1996, each issue on a single psychology topic.

Overview

Psychologie Heute is a popular-science monthly magazine for psychology. Its positioning: the psychology made accessible — for specialists and the psychology-interested public alike — covering work, relationships, self-development, society, body and soul. Its audience: the specialists and the psychology-interested public — the professionals and the curious. The psychologists read the research's translation: the studies made applicable. The therapists read the practice's reflection: the relationships, the self-development. The managers read the work psychology: the leadership, the teams. The general readers read the everyday illuminated: the body and soul, the society. The magazine's dual address — the specialists and the public — is its popular-science contract: the science's rigour, the journalism's accessibility. Its rhythm: monthly since September 1974, the psychologists' and the public's magazine, the popular-science classic, the 600 covers' magazine, the psychology's German voice, the "Psychologisierung" chronicler, the society's psychology mirror, Weinheim's monthly, the Beltz psychology flagship, the popular-science institution, the 50th year's celebrant, the psychology's public home, the research's translator, the everyday's illuminator, the Compact's quarterly depth, the blog's digital voice, the 44,949-copy monthly, the psychology's German classic, still monthly, the popular-science pioneer, Psychology Today's German heir, the 1974 original, the Weinert-Rübelmann idea, the September 1974 first issue, the Brockert founding, the Ernst 35 years, the Siegle present, the psychology's public future, the popular-science mission, the 1974 promise kept, the psychology made public, the 50 years' achievement, the monthly's endurance, the science's accessibility, the public's psychology, the magazine's mission, the 1974 idea alive, the psychology's public conversation, still monthly, the German psychology's voice, the popular-science classic, the 50 years' magazine, the psychology made public. Its reach: 44,949 copies sold, 45,449 distributed (IVW 2/2026). Its publisher's seat: Weinheim — Werderstraße 10, 69469 Weinheim. Its editor-in-chief: Dorothea Siegle (Chefredaktion). Its editorial team: Susanne Ackermann, Katrin Brenner-Becker, Anke Bruder, Anne Kratzer, Thomas Saum-Aldehoff, Eva-Maria Träger (per the imprint). Its companion: Psychologie Heute Compact — quarterly since 1996, the single-topic deep dives. Its website: psychologie-heute.de, with the editorial email redaktion@psychologie-heute.de.

History

The magazine's history begins in 1973 — Franz Emanuel Weinert, the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for psychological research, returned from a USA trip and told publisher Manfred Beltz Rübelmann about the American Psychology Today, which had impressed him. The 1974 context: Germany's psychology still in its public "stone age" — the prejudices about psychologists, the science's narrow academic confines — and the American model's demonstration that psychology could be a public conversation. The first issue appeared in September 1974 — the founding editor Siegfried Brockert, the graphic designer Klaus Linke (from the start until 2015). In 1975 Heiko Ernst joined the editorial team; in 1979 he became editor-in-chief — a 35-year stewardship until his 2014 retirement, with Ursula Nuber as his deputy. The Ernst era: the magazine's shaping of the "Psychologisierung der Gesellschaft" — the society's psychologisation — and psychology's public establishment (the psychologists consulted at hostage-takings and terror attacks as a matter of course). The 35-year stewardship (1979–2014): Heiko Ernst joined the editorial team in 1975, became editor-in-chief in 1979, retired at the end of 2014 — and continued as author and blog co-supervisor. The era's arc: from the 1970s' prejudices (the people fleeing the room at the word "psychologist") to the 2010s' ubiquity (the psychologists' expertise on every field). The magazine's influence: not just reporting psychology's rise but shaping it — the "mit der Zeitschrift sogar Einfluss darauf genommen". The 500th issue: April 2017 (5/2017, 44th year). The 50th year: October 2024 — the publisher and editorial team celebrated with a poster showing all 600 covers on one side and psychology's history on the other. The poster's 600 covers — the 1974 lowercase "psychologie heute" to the 2024 "PSYCHOLOGIE HEUTE" — are the magazine's visual biography: the design's evolution, Klaus Linke's 1974–2015 hand. The poster's reverse — psychology's history — is the science's timeline: the magazine's subject celebrated. The 50th year — the golden anniversary — confirmed the title's institution: the German-speaking world's psychology magazine. The current editor-in-chief: Dorothea Siegle.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme is psychology's full public spectrum. The topics: work, relationships, self-development, society, body and soul — the psychology's everyday relevance. The work: the leadership, the teams, the burnout — the occupational psychology. The relationships: the partnerships, the families, the friendships — the social psychology. The self-development: the resilience, the habits, the meaning — the positive psychology. The society: the prejudices, the crises, the cohesion — the collective psyche. The body and soul: the health, the stress, the sleep — the psychosomatics. The magazine's spectrum — the "Wege einer immer noch jungen Wissenschaft" — follows the science's paths: the 40 years' deepening, the position's consolidation, the terrain's expansion. The formats: the articles, the essays, the practical materials — the science made readable. The Compact: the quarterly single-topic issues since 1996 — the deep dives, the special editions. The Compact's concept — one psychology topic per quarter, the focused exploration — complements the monthly's breadth: the depth against the variety. The 1996 launch — the special-interest publishing's wave — extended the brand: the newsstand's companion. The blog: the editorial blog (co-supervised by Heiko Ernst after his retirement) — the magazine's digital voice, the psychology's current commentary. The books: the Beltz psychology programme's synergy. The journalism is the popular-science magazine's: the research translated, the experts interviewed, the everyday illuminated — for the specialists and the interested public, since September 1974.

Organization and Ownership

Psychologie Heute is published by the Beltz Verlagsgruppe (Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG), Weinheim — the publishing group founded in the 19th century, re-founded in Weinheim in 1949, with the psychology added in the 1970s. The managing director of Beltz GmbH (per the imprint): Marianne Rübelmann. The editor-in-chief: Dorothea Siegle. The earlier editors-in-chief: Siegfried Brockert (founding), Heiko Ernst (1979–2014), Ursula Nuber. The graphic designer: Klaus Linke (1974–2015).

Digital Presence

Psychologie Heute's home is psychologie-heute.de — the magazine's website with the editorial blog and the subscription service (the subscription cancellable after 6 months). The newsletter and the social channels extend the monthly. In the German psychology media landscape Psychologie Heute occupies the popular-science pole: the 1974-founded monthly — the 44,949-copy IVW circulation, the 500th issue 2017, the 50th year 2024 — on psychologie-heute.de, Weinheim's psychology magazine — since September 1974, the German-speaking world's popular psychology voice, Beltz's monthly since 1974, the 500th issue's and the 50th year's magazine, the psychology's public conversation, since September 1974. The popular-science positioning — the Psychology Today inspiration — is the title's accessibility: the science for the public. The Beltz imprint — the Weinheim publishing group's psychology programme — is the title's continuity: the five decades' stewardship. The 50th year — the 600 covers' poster — is the title's institution: the German-speaking world's psychology magazine.