Henrike Meyer

Rike comes from a small village on the North Sea coast, near Bremerhaven. After finishing school in 2023, she moved to Hannover, where she now studies journalism at Hochschule Hannover.

What excites her most is getting to know people and their individual, special stories. She is also very interested in environmental topics and animals.

Stories by Henrike

Masculinity

‘I was a Hitler caricature from a bad Hollywood film’.

He used to march through the streets in a leather coat, carrying the Reich war flag, giving hate speeches and dreaming of the great revolution. Today Axel Reitz works in extremism prevention.

After dark

Hannover’s night angel: help while the city sleeps.

An interview about night-time rounds through the city, encounters on the margins – and help that gets through.

Portrait of Martina, the ‘night angel’, at a table in her flat. In the background is a large red cupboard and a pinboard with her personal photos.

Recommended by the editors

Final projects

Waiting for war

For his bachelor’s project, photographer Patrick Slesiona travelled to Armenia. For years the democratic country has had to defend itself against its authoritarian neighbour Azerbaijan.

Water

New shores: floating islands between art and ecology

Floating platforms like the ‘Zukunst’ in Hannover create green open spaces – a concept that is catching on around the world.

A houseboat floats towards the viewer on a calm river lined with green trees. In the background rises Hannover’s Ihmezentrum tower block.

After dark

Sleeping better: sleep researcher Thomas Penzel’s rules

Good sleep starts long before bedtime. An expert explains what really matters for a restful night.

Work

Juggling family and work: working, being a mother, staying human

A degree, a job and four daughters – Dalila has combined what seemed impossible. One special source of support kept her going again and again.

A woman holds her two daughters in her arms, one on each side. Both children have brown hair and, like their mother, smile happily at the camera. The daughter on the left holds a small blue school cone, the traditional gift for the first day of school; the daughter on the right holds a larger pink one.

Silence

Turkey earthquake 2023: how a bereaved man is fighting for justice

A man loses his grandmother when a hospital building collapses in the earthquake – and takes up the fight against those responsible.

Work

Arolsen Archives: when remembering becomes work

A small town in Hesse looks after one of the largest collections on Nazi persecution. There’s a specific reason why its location isn’t public.

An open grey filing cabinet at the Arolsen Archives holding several brown files. The contents of one file are spread out on top of the cabinet: a passport-sized document with the Reich eagle and swastika, reading ‘Deutsches Reich, Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer’ (German Reich, work book for foreigners). Next to it lies a yellowed, worn work card with a black-and-white prisoner photo. Further documents are partly hidden beneath the work card. More grey filing cabinets can be seen in the background.

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