Moscow correspondent Michael Thumann speaks at Viadrina about the new division of Europe

Journalist and author Michael Thumann will present his book "Eisiges Schweigen flussabwärts: Eine Reise von Moskau nach Berlin" on Monday, January 12, 2026 at 6:15 pm at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). As part of the Jerzy Giedroyc Research Colloquium, the Moscow correspondent of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit will speak on the topic of "An Iron Curtain in the 21st Century – Causes and Consequences of the New Division of Europe". Interested parties are cordially invited to attend the event in the main building of the Viadrina, Große Scharrnstraße 59, room 162.

With his latest book, Michael Thumann presents a very personal travelogue in which he explores the renewed division of Europe with his own eyes. In vivid reports and eyewitness accounts, he describes his journey from Moscow across Russia's heavily guarded external borders, first eastwards towards Central Asia, then westwards via the Baltic states and Poland to Germany.

Thumann interviews Russian refugees in the neighboring states and many other people along the way. He describes both fears of Russia's revanchism and belligerence as well as hasty submission in the face of Putin's incessant expansionism. With a view to his family history and personal experiences, he also traces the reasons for the precarious German-Russian relationship in the past and present.
 

About Michael Thumann: As foreign affairs correspondent, Michael Thumann has headed the Moscow office of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit for the third time since the beginning of 2021. He already reported from there on Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union in 2014/15 and from 1996 to 2001. Previously, he had reported on the Middle East and the disintegrating Yugoslavia, among other things. In 2023, he published his bestseller "Revanche. Wie Putin das bedrohlichste Regime der Welt geschaffen hat".
Michael Thumann studied history, politics and Slavic studies in Berlin, New York and Leningrad.

When and where?

Monday, January 12, 2026 | 6:15 p.m.

Main Building of the Viadrina 
Große Scharrnstraße 59, Room 162, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)