ZWISCHEN/MIETE DISKURSIV JULIA FRIEDRICHS »CRAZY RICH«

In the organizer's words:

Thursday, June 25, 2026, 6 p.m., bpb:medienzentrum

Moderation: Tilman Strasser

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH 1000 MILLION EUROS?

Julia Friedrichs has achieved something that has never been done before: she asks the super-rich to talk to her, and they give her a comprehensive insight into their world and answer her questions. Is wealth a private matter? Do we need a different tax system? Can it be right that extreme wealth is concentrated in the hands of very few? When have I had enough?
The author's research trip takes her to luxury yachts, family offices and tax havens. In discussions with academics and experts, she unearths exclusive new data about the country's wealthiest families. An eye-opening trip through the world of money and a multi-layered look at those who otherwise remain silent.
A super-rich person is someone who has many millions of euros at their disposal. In Germany, there are 3300 people who own 23 percent of all financial assets. But the number of super-rich people is also increasing in other countries. The money needed to maintain their super yachts for even just one year could now pay off the debts of all developing countries - in one go.
What level of inequality can a community tolerate, can a democracy tolerate, in which, at least in theory, every vote should be worth the same? How much can individuals claim for themselves in a world where resources are finite? Do we need to set limits on wealth?
Julia Friedrichs follows the trail of money. A penetrating report on the question of how we want to live together as a society.

Julia Friedrichs, born in 1979 in western Münsterland, studied journalism in Dortmund and Brussels. Since then, she has worked as an author of reports and documentaries for ARD, ZDF and Die Zeit. In 2024, she founded the production company Tell Me Why together with Jochen Breyer. Friedrichs has written several highly acclaimed books, including the bestsellers "Gestatten: Elite. On the trail of the powerful of tomorrow" (2008) and "Working Class. Why we need work we can live on" (2021). She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Axel Springer Prize for Young Journalists, the Young Talent Award of the Franco-German Journalism Prize, the Dr. Georg Schreiber Media Prize, the Grimme Prize, the Hans Matthöfer Prize for Business Journalism, the "Journalist of the Year 2022" award in the reportage category and, most recently, the Stern Prize 2024 for the ZDF documentary "Milliardenspiel". Julia Friedrichs lives with her family in Berlin.

"zwischen/miete nrw" is the name of our series for literary house visits, which organizes literary events in shared flats. As zwischen/miete diskursiv, it is a partner of the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb in Bonn. Always with a guest from journalism, activism, science, always with an idea of tomorrow.

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education

Media Center Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bundeskanzlerplatz 2, Bonn
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Free admission, registration is requested