

ELASTE
1980 – 1986
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Editor(s) | Thomas Elsner und Michael Reinboth |
Author(s) | Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Maxim Biller, Diedrich Diederichsen, Jon Savage, Thomas Meinecke, Klaus Walter, Max Dax, Florian Langenscheidt, Michael Reinboth, Larissa Beham, Thomas Elsner a.m.o. |
Design | Thomas Elsner in cooperation with Moritz Wiegand, Sophie von Hartmann, Maya Bendel |
Cover | Softcover with flaps |
Size | 24,6 x 33 cm |
Pages | 560 |
Illustrations | 900 |
Language(s) | German, English |
ISBN | 978-3-96912-265-5 | Release November 2025 |
The story of ELASTE is the story of a movement – that of the New Wave generation in West Germany. Founded in 1980 in Hanover, the magazine was a beacon of cultural revolt and the first glossy indie magazine of the Federal Republic: self-published, a statement somewhere between pop avant-garde, subversion, and a sharp sense of style. Among those who shaped the look and spirit of the magazine were Jon Savage, Ellen von Unwerth, and Diedrich Diederichsen. No other magazine operated at the intersection of music, fashion, and society quite like ELASTE — with headliners such as Warhol, The Rolling Stones, and Kraftwerk. This book by the magazine’s editors Thomas Elsner and Michael Reinboth, looks back — at the pioneering spirit, the minds, and the stories behind the magazine.
Release November 2025
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Philip Loersch
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with free download link on the inside
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The “Renteninformation”—an official letter on cheap paper informing the recipient about their expected future retirement benefits—makes many cultural workers, and others, crack up or break out in tears: arriving unexpectedly, it launches us on an emotional roller coaster between excitement, fascination, resignation, and sheer madness.
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