Der Freund

{{Short description|German literary magazine}}

Der Freund ("The Friend") was a literary magazine published by Axel Springer AG. It was produced by Christian Kracht (publisher) and Eckhart Nickel (editor-in-chief) in Kathmandu, Nepal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/neues-kulturmagazin-ein-freund-ein-guter-freund-a-319587.html|title=A Friend A Good Friend|date=2004-09-24|access-date=2020-03-30|website=Spiegel Culture|last=Gebauer|first=Matthias|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200330181245/https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/neues-kulturmagazin-ein-freund-ein-guter-freund-a-319587.html|archive-date=2020-03-30|url-status=live}}

Der Freund appeared every three months, with a total of eight editions between September 2004 and June 2006.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/kein-freund-fuers-leben/703070.html|title=Not A Friend For Life|date=2006-04-18|access-date=2020-03-30|website=Tagesspiegel dot De|last=Serrao|first=Marc|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191119005830/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/kein-freund-fuers-leben/703070.html|archive-date=2019-11-19|url-status=live}} Its visual style was elaborate, with artistic designs and arcane illustrations, and its range of (often light-hearted) material included essays, short stories, literary miniatures, poems, opinion columns and in-depth interviews. Most pieces were in German, but occasionally English or French. Der Freund was available for International Mailing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/souplesse-royale/549610.html|title=Souplesse Royale|date=2004-09-24|access-date=2020-03-30|website=Tagesspiegel dot De|last=Martenstein|first=Harald|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200330144403/https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/souplesse-royale/549610.html|archive-date=2020-03-30|url-status=live}}

Authors published in Der Freund included Julia Franck, David Woodard, Albert Hofmann, Ian Buruma, Eduardo Kac, Rem Koolhaas, Reinhold Messner, Ira Cohen, Momus, Ingo Niermann, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jonathan Safran Foer, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nika Scheidemandel.{{Cite web|url=http://www.waahr.de/texte/der-traum-der-maschine|title="The Dream in the Machine" Text from Der Freud reproduced|date=2013-08-02|access-date=2020-03-30|website=Waahr dot de|last=Scheidemandel|first=Nika|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190715161938/http://www.waahr.de/texte/der-traum-der-maschine|archive-date=2019-07-15|url-status=live}} Notable illustrators were Neue Slowenische Kunst and Fischli & Weiss. The magazine also reprinted pieces by major writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Truman Capote under licence. Interviewees included Albert Hofmann, Stanisław Lem, David Lynch and Nam June Paik.{{Cite web|url=http://www.derfreund.com/inhalt.php?lang=en|title=Der Freund Table of Contents|date=2020-03-30|access-date=2020-03-30|website=Der Freund|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191120212741/http://www.derfreund.com/inhalt.php?lang=en|archive-date=2019-11-20|url-status=live}}

Der Freund was critically acclaimed for its design and cover pages, and won two awards in 2006: a bronze award from the Art Directors Club of Germany for magazine design,from the ADC website (Category: Wettbewerb 2006, Bronze, Editorial: Zeitschriftengestaltung). {{in lang|de}} and the gold prize for "cover of the year"[http://leadacademy.de/2006/preistraeger.html LeadAwards2006: Die Preisträger] from the LeadAcademy website. {{in lang|de}} from the LeadAcademy in Hamburg.