'Enough': Alice Schwarzer to close feminist magazine Emma after nearly 50 years
The final issue will appear on Dec. 8, double the usual length. Money is not the reason, the magazine's 83-year-old founder says.
Archive image · Photo: Superbass / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
German feminist Alice Schwarzer is closing Emma, the magazine she founded almost 50 years ago. The final issue is due on Dec. 8, 2026, at twice the usual length, looking back at the "50 most important topics." The archive will go to the German Literature Archive in Marbach. The first issue appeared in January 1977.
Schwarzer, 83, said finances were not the reason. "Sure, our circulation is falling too. But our revenue still covers our expenses," she said. "No, we are leaving because we think: enough!" The magazine had held its ground across three generations, she said.
Emma shaped debates on sexual abuse, pornography and breast cancer screening; its campaign is credited with helping pave the way for Germany's nationwide mammography screening in 2005. It also drew criticism, including over its coverage of Islamism, Schwarzer's views on what she calls trans ideology, and her calls since 2022 for swift peace talks with Russia. She has said one in five readers cancelled their subscriptions over that in 2024.