The Thinker Hannah Arendt and Her Century

Hannah Arendt is regarded as one of the most significant thinkers of the 20th century. Her life and work reflect the major upheavals of her time: totalitarianism, exile, loss, and new beginnings. But Arendt did not merely want to bear witness—she wanted to understand.


Grit Straßenberger presents her biography of Hannah Arendt, published in 2025. In it, she paints a vivid and personal portrait of the philosopher that goes far beyond her well-known writings. Through the recollections of friends, colleagues, and students, Arendt emerges as an extraordinary thinker and, at the same time, a “master of friendship”—a woman whose ideas continue to inspire us today.