The queer media landscape is growing poorer once again: after 16 years, the Swiss LGBTI magazine “Mannschaft” is ceasing publication. As announced by the editorial team, the 125th and final issue will be released on June 18, 2026.
The magazine was founded in 2010 by Thomas Künzi and Greg Zwygart in Bern, initially conceived as a platform for gay topics and later for the entire LGBTI community. Since 2015, “Mannschaft” has also been available in Germany, and since 2020, in Austria as well.
Growing economic pressure cited
“The decision to discontinue the magazine comes amid profound changes in the media industry,” the five-member team explained in a press release. In particular, independent publications are increasingly under financial and structural pressure: “The demands on sustainable quality journalism as well as on the financing and development of specialized media offerings have fundamentally changed in recent years.”
Over the past 16 years, the team says, they repeatedly found new ways to stay relevant. “At the same time, it is our responsibility to assess our own capabilities realistically. Therefore, we have decided to take this step in a self-determined way and at a time we choose together, consciously.”
The editors were even more explicit in an email to newsletter subscribers:
Whoever wants to keep a medium like ‘Mannschaft’ going must be prepared to reinvent itself again and again. That is exactly what we have done over the last 16 years. Today, however, we sense that the energy for another major fresh start is no longer present to the same extent. And because we believe that ‘Mannschaft’ deserves full passion, we have consciously decided to end this journey at a time of our own choosing.
“Farewell package” for 125 euros
Reporting on the website mannschaft.com is expected to continue until the end of June. The digital archive will remain accessible until the end of the year. Subscribers have already been informed, according to the editors.
At the end of the magazine, the editors are offering a “Farewell Package”: for 125 euros, interested readers will receive the final printed issue, an “exclusive swimming bag,” and the complete “Mannschaft” archive with all 125 issues as a PDF. (mize)
