Lecture to mark German Unity Day, featuring
Hatice Akyün
Journalist & author
October 3 2026, 11 pm, Aula of the Osnabrück Castle
Hatice Akyün works as a journalist, columnist and author in Berlin. Her award-winning articles have appeared in publications including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Der Tagesspiegel, where she wrote a column for eleven years. Her books Einmal Hans mit scharfer Soße, Ali zum Dessert and Ich küss dich, Kismet have become bestsellers. Her book Einmal Hans mit scharfer Soße has also been adapted for the cinema.
For years, she has been one of the leading voices in the German debate on integration. Her experience, expertise and advice on successful integration policies and cultural diversity are highly valued both in the political sphere and by leading businesses. Furthermore, she is regarded as a sought-after expert on social and political developments relating to Turkey, as well as on German-Turkish relations. With analytical acuity, she contextualises current debates on politics, society and cultural change and is highly regarded for her nuanced perspective on issues between Germany and Turkey. She writes on socio-political topics relating to integration and diversity and dissects, with analytical precision, the still-prevailing clichés that shape the integration debate in Germany. Her lectures are a powerful plea to recognise and seize the opportunities offered by a multicultural society.
The Berlin Senate Department for Integration and Migration awarded Hatice Akyün the Integration Prize for her journalistic work. She was also awarded the Dietrich Oppenberg Media Prize and the German Libraries’ Journalism Prize. For her highly acclaimed article “Raus aus der Manege” (“Out of the Ring”), she was also awarded the prestigious Theodor Wolff Prize.