{{Infobox magazine |image_file = |image_size = |image_caption= |editor = Daniel Gerlach |editor_title = Editor-in-chief |publishers = |frequency = Quarterly |total_circulation = 5,000 |circulation_year = |category = Political magazine |publisher =Candid Foundation |country = Germany |founded = 1999 |based = Berlin |language = German, English, Arabic |website ={{URL|http://www.zenith.me}} |issn =1439-9660 |oclc = }} '''''Zenith''''' (stylized in lower case) is an independent German-language magazine which focuses on the Arab and Islamic world. The magazine is published quarterly and addresses politics, economics, culture, and society in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia as well as the Muslim world more generally.

==History== The magazine was founded by six students of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Hamburg in summer 1999 and was initially a non-profit project.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Alexander Bühler |title=Zeitschrift zenith Die Nahostversteher |url=https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/zeitschrift-zenith-die-nahostversteher-ld.1505041 |access-date=30 August 2020 |publisher=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |date=31 August 2019 }}</ref> The founders wanted to introduce new perspectives about the MENA region to the German media landscape, which had long been the preserve of a handful of specialists, such as Peter Scholl-Latour and Gerhard Konzelmann,<ref>{{cite web |title="Zenith"-Jubiläum: Mit Ironie und Wissen gegen "Orient"-Klischees |url=https://de.qantara.de/content/zenith-jubilaeum-mit-ironie-und-wissen-gegen-orient-klischees |website=de.qantara.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> and to challenge long-held stereotypes about the region.<ref>{{cite web |title=Keine Zerrbilder des Orients |url=https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/53305.keine-zerrbilder-des-orients.html |website=neues-deutschland.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref>

In the spring of 2000, the association "forum zenith e.V." was founded. The association was the official publisher of the magazine ''Zenith'' until 2008. In October 2012, the German language flagship magazine ''Zenith'' was relaunched with a new design and it now features an integrated business section. The ''Zenith'' editorial team carried research into the lives of Egyptians and Tunisians following the fall of dictatorial rule,<ref>{{cite web |title=Diktatur bewältigen Wie Tunesien und Ägypten mit der Vergangenheit umgehen |url=https://www.hkw.de/de/programm/projekte/veranstaltung/p_82739.php |website=hkw.de |date=10 December 2012 |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> which culminated in the publication of ''Diktatur bewältigen'' (Confronted Past) in 2013.

In July 2013, ''Zenith'' fell victim to an attack by hackers reportedly from Turkey having run a cover comprising a map of Kurdistan and devoting the issue to the topic of Kurdistan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hackerangriff auf Berliner Magazin zenith Kurdistan hat jetzt eine Landkarte |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/hackerangriff-auf-berliner-magazin-zenith-kurdistan-hat-jetzt-eine-landkarte-12305422.html |website=faz.net |access-date=30 August 2020|last1=Krüger |first1=Karen }}</ref> As of spring 2015, Candid Foundation assumed editorial responsibility for ''Zenith'' magazine, in partnership with the publishing house Deutscher Levante Verlag. In 2017, ''Zenith'' launched a new website incorporating English, German and Arabic content.

In August 2019, ''Zenith'' celebrated its 20th anniversary. Editor-in-chief Daniel Gerlach commented on the occasion by stating that ''Zenith's'' capability to survive and grow in an age of intense competition and general decline of print media was based on its ability to successfully cultivate a niche in the market and curate an approach to reporting on the Middle East that was both distant and empirical as well as empathetic.<ref>{{cite web |title= "Überleben ist alles"|url= https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/nahost-magazin-zenith-wird-20-daniel-gerlach-im-interview-a-1284116.html|website=Spiegel Online |access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref> In 2019, ''Zenith'' editors and contributors collaborated with the Federal Agency for Civic Education to produce the multimedia project, ''Atlas des Arabischen Frühlings'' (AdAF), which provides an educational guide through the revolutions of 2011 in the Arab world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlas des Arabischen Frühlings |url=https://www.bpb.de/internationales/afrika/atlas-des-arabischen-fruehlings/ |website=bpb.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> == zenith Photo Award == In 2011, ''Zenith'' ran its first photography award entitled "Muslims in Germany" in collaboration with Stiftung Mercator. The winning entries were exhibited in the Haus der Geschichte.<ref>{{cite web |title=Muslime in Deutschland |url=https://www.hdg.de/haus-der-geschichte/ausstellungen/muslime-in-deutschland |website=hdg.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> The second edition of the zenith photography award was held in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=2013 zenith Photo Award |url=https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/shop/muslime-in-d-11628.html |website=lfi-online.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> The photography award continued in 2017. again with the support of Stiftung Mercator,<ref>{{cite web |title=Kick-off for the zenith Photo Award 2017 Islam in Europe |url=https://www.stiftung-mercator.de/en/press-releases/nachricht/kick-off-for-the-zenith-photo-award-2017-islam-in-europe/ |website=stiftung-mercator.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> and an exhibition of the winners was held at the Museum in der Kulturbrauerei in Berlin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islam in Europe zenith Photo Award 2017 |url=https://www.hdg.de/en/museum-in-der-kulturbrauerei/exhibitions/islam-in-europe-zenith-photo-award-2017 |website=hdg.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> The winning entries also featured in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.<ref>{{cite news |title=Zenith-Foto Wie wir zusammenleben |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/kunst/sieger-4-zenith-fotopreis-france-keyser-und-ayse-avdic-15293854.html |website=faz.net |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref>

== Vision and structure == ''Zenith'' has been quoted in the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard as being "a contact point for people who think about the Middle East outside the mainstream media."<ref>{{cite web |title=Seit 20 Jahren im "zenith" |url=https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000108243388/seit-20-jahren-im-zenith |website=derstandard.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> On the celebration of zenith's 20th anniversary, the Berlin State Secretary Sawsan Chebli spoke of the importance of a publication like zenith to provide the much needed depth in the conversation about the Middle East and the Islamic World.<ref>{{cite web |title= Orient-ierung |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/magazin-orient-ierung-1.4581395 |website=Süddeutsche Zeitung |last=Baumstieger|first=Moritz|access-date=2 September 2019}}</ref>

''Zenith'' is independent both financially and content-wise and is published by Deutsche Levante Verlag GmbH in Berlin. Its editorial board includes Moritz Behrendt, Asiem El Difraoui, Yasemin Ergin,<ref>{{cite web |title=Yasemin Ergin |url=http://www.akademie-solitude.de/en/fellowship/fellows/yasemin-ergin~pe3588/ |website=akademie-solitude.de |access-date=30 August 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Daniel Gerlach,<ref>{{cite web |title=Daniel Gerlach "Der Nahe Osten geht nicht unter" |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/daniel-gerlach-der-nahe-osten-geht-nicht-unter.1310.de.html?dram:article_id=443025 |website=deutschlandfunk.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> Christian Meier,<ref>{{cite web|title=Christian H. Meier|url=https://www.torial.com/en/christian-h.meier/about|publisher=Torial|access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Im Land der geraubten Mütter |url=https://www.cicero.de/aussenpolitik/armenier-der-tuerkei-im-land-der-geraubten-muetter/59131 |website=cicero.de |access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref> Veit Raßhofer and Jörg Schäffer.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.zenith.me/de Website (German)] * [http://www.zenith.me/en Website (English)]

Category:1999 establishments in Germany Category:Bi-monthly magazines published in Germany Category:German-language magazines Category:Independent magazines Category:Islamic studies journals Category:Magazines established in 1999 Category:Magazines published in Berlin Category:Political magazines published in Germany Category:Multilingual magazines