Mirrianne Mahn

Mirrianne Mahn (* 8 June 1989 in Buea, Cameroon¹ ²) is a political activist, politician, actress and author.³

Career

Mirrianne Mahn grew up in Woppenroth in the Hunsrück region. Her mother is Cameroonian and her father German; she has a younger brother and a younger sister.⁴ Mahn studied English and American Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt. In 2016 she launched a crowdfunding campaign for her food truck project offering food inspired by West African cuisine.⁵⁶ She lives with her two children in Frankfurt am Main.⁷

Theatre project

Together with the director, author and theatre educator Hannah Schassner, Mirrianne Mahn founded the label “yellowdressproudactions” in order to work jointly on theatre projects; the first production was created in 2018 in cooperation with theaterperipherie. In addition to theaterperipherie, the label is supported by the Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Historical Museum Frankfurt), the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland Frankfurt (Initiative of Black People in Germany, Frankfurt) and the Landungsbrücken Frankfurt.⁸

Mahn is an ensemble member of theaterperipherie, the post-migrant theatre in Frankfurt am Main, where she has worked as a performer since 2018 and as a dramaturge since 2019.⁹ In 2020 Mahn took part in the performance “moved. BEWEGT. déplacé. (K)ein Spaziergang in Schwarzweiß”, which dealt with movement in public space.¹⁰

Political and social activities

Since 2016 Mahn has been a member of the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e. V. (Initiative of Black People in Germany) and campaigns against racism and discrimination and for greater diversity.¹¹

Since September 2020 she has worked at the Kinder- und Jugendtheaterzentrum der Bundesrepublik (Children’s and Youth Theatre Centre of the Federal Republic of Germany) in Frankfurt am Main as Commissioner for Diversity Development in the Performing Arts for Young Audiences.¹² She calls for all of society’s lived realities to be reflected in art and culture as well.¹³¹⁴

From activist to politician

Also in September 2020, Mahn decided to join the party DIE GRÜNEN (The Greens) in order to campaign against racism at the political level as well. She was prompted to do so by the Hanau attack, the murder of George Floyd¹⁵ and an attack on the performance “moved. BEWEGT. déplacé. (K)ein Spaziergang in Schwarzweiß”, in which Mahn had taken part.¹⁶ She also wanted to exert political influence on the action plan against racism and right-wing extremism issued by the Frankfurt city parliament after the Hanau attack,¹⁷ which Mahn criticised.¹⁸

Since March 2021 Mahn has been a Stadtverordnete (city councillor) in Frankfurt am Main,¹⁹ ²⁰ responsible for the Nordend district,²¹ a member of the presidium of the Stadtverordnetenversammlung (city council), the youngest chair of the Committee for Culture, Science and Sport²² and a member of the Committee for Education and School Construction.²³ She is currently a member of the Committee for Personnel, Security and Digitalisation and of the Special Committee for Controlling and Auditing (as of February 2025).²⁴

In March 2024 Mahn made serious accusations against the Frankfurt Greens and left the party. Since then she has been a member of the ÖkoLinX-ELF parliamentary group. According to Mahn, there had been repeated instances of insults, discrimination and racism.²⁵ ²⁶

Friedenspreis des deutschen Buchhandels (Peace Prize of the German Book Trade)

Mahn gained nationwide prominence through her appearance at the award ceremony of the Friedenspreis des deutschen Buchhandels (Peace Prize of the German Book Trade) to Tsitsi Dangarembga in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche. During the speech by Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann, Mahn went onto the stage and interrupted Feldmann to draw attention to the fact that Black women authors were cancelling their visits to the Book Fair because they felt threatened there by the presence of right-wing publishers.²⁷

Artistic productions

2018: Illegal, based on the novel of the same name by Max Annas, in a stage adaptation by Hannah Schassner with Mirrianne Mahn (theaterperipherie)²⁸
2019: Issa versus Illegal by Mirrianne Mahn and Hannah Schassner (theaterperipherie)²⁹
2020: moved. BEWEGT. déplacé. (K)ein Spaziergang in Schwarzweiß (IMPLANTIEREN2020 & theaterperipherie)³⁰
2021: Issa versus Illegal – digital and interactive as a website, by Mirrianne Mahn and Hannah Schassner (yellowdressproudactions)³¹

Publications

Mahn, Mirrianne (2021): Es war einmal … Vom Geschichtenerzählen. In: Fechner, Meike/Werner, Birte (ed.): Ohne Worte | Körper – Botschaften. IXYPSILONZETT 2021. ISBN 978-3-95749-345-3, pp. 40–41.
Mahn, Mirrianne (2023): Was es für mich bedeutet, mir Raum zu nehmen. In: Rink, Martina/Usifo, Simon (ed.): People of Deutschland. 45 Menschen, 45 Geschichten. Über Rassismus im Alltag und wie wir unser Land verändern wollen. Hamburg: Eden Books, ISBN 978-3-95910-398-5, pp. 139–144.
Mahn, Mirrianne (2024): Issa. Novel. Hamburg: Rowohlt. ISBN 978-3-498-00390-6.
Mahn, Mirrianne (2024): Die wütende Schwarze Frau, Chimamanda und ich. In: Vogt, Linda/Humbert, Anna (ed.): Unter Frauen. Geschichten vom Lesen und Verehren. Hamburg: Rowohlt. ISBN 978-3-498-00698-3, pp. 89–102.

Awards

In 2019 Mahn, together with theaterperipherie, the “most diverse off-theatre in the city”,³² was awarded the Karfunkel Children’s and Youth Theatre Prize (Kinder- und Jugendtheaterpreis Karfunkel).³³

External links

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

1
n. a. (n. d.) Stadtverordnete. In: Website of the City of Frankfurt am Main. Online at: https://frankfurt.de/personen/stadtverordnete/m/mirrianne-mahn-18366 (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
2
Joung, Frank (2024): Mirrianne Mahn (KAM): Schwanger mit 16, Corona killed the Catering & Debütroman-Draufsicht. In: Halbe Katoffl, episode of 15/07. Online at: https://halbekatoffl.de/mirrianne-mahn-kamerun/ (accessed 25/02/2025). ↩︎
3
Magel, Eva-Maria (2021): Vom Theater in die Politik. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
4
Witzeck, Elena (2020): Mirrianne Mahn: Die Aktivistin. In: EMMA, article of 26/08. Online at: https://www.emma.de/artikel/mirrianne-mahn-die-aktivistin-337975 (accessed 11/11/2021). ↩︎
5
Mahn, Mirrianne (2016): WTF? – Afrikanischer Foodtruck. In: Startnext. Online at: https://www.startnext.com/wtf/blog/beitrag/schoen-wars-p63900.html#pnav (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
6
n. a. (2016): Mein neues Leben: Mirrianne Mahn. In: ARD-Buffet, segment of 28/10. Online at: https://www.swr.de/buffet/mein-neues-leben-mirrianne-mahn/-/id=98256/did=18392628/nid=98256/1t9sd6w/index.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
7
Magel, Eva-Maria (2021): Vom Theater in die Politik. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
8
Mahn, Mirrianne/Schassner, Hannah (n. d.): Webseite von yellowdressproudactions. Online at: https://www.yellowdressproudactions.com/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
9
n. a. (n. d.): Mirrianne Mahn. In: Website of theaterperipherie. Online at: https://www.theaterperipherie.de/%C3%BCber-uns/das-ensemble/mirrianne-mahn/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
10
Schassner, Hannah/Mahn, Mirrianne (2020): moved. BEWEGT. déplacé. (K)ein Spaziergang in Schwarzweiß. In: Website of the Implantieren Festival. Online at: https://implantieren-festival.de/moved-bewegt/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
11
n. a. (n. d.): Team. In: Website of the Kinder- und Jugendtheaterzentrum in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Online at: https://www.kjtz.de/wir-ueber-uns/team/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
12
n. a. (n. d.): Team. In: Website of the Kinder- und Jugendtheaterzentrum in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Online at: https://www.kjtz.de/wir-ueber-uns/team/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
13
Scheffer, Christoph (2021): Kulturpolitikerin Mirrianne Mahn: „Bei Diversität geht es nicht nur um Hautfarbe“. In: hr-info, podcast, segment of 10/11. Online at: https://www.hessenschau.de/kultur/frankfurter-kulturpolitikerin-mirrianne-mahn-bei-diversitaet-geht-es-nicht-nur-um-die-hautfarbe-,mirrianne-mahn-110.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
14
Gerhard, Peter/Taylor, Melanie (2021): Schwarz und deutsch. Identität ist mehr als Hautfarbe. In: 3sat, report of 23/07. Online at: https://www.3sat.de/gesellschaft/politik-und-gesellschaft/schwarz-und-deutsch-identitaet-100.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
15
Witzeck, Elena (2020): Stellt die richtigen Fragen! In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 02/07. Online at: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/afrozensus-in-deutschland-stellt-die-richtigen-fragen-16841768.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
16
Magel, Eva-Maria (2021): Vom Theater in die Politik. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
17
Stadt Frankfurt am Main (2020): Frankfurt gegen Rassismus! Aktionsplan zur Bekämpfung von Rassismus und Rechtsextremismus. Online at: https://frankfurt.de/-/media/dbd09662b4d140d5aef1851e25181682.ashx (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
18
Scheffer, Christoph (2021): Kulturpolitikerin Mirrianne Mahn: „Bei Diversität geht es nicht nur um Hautfarbe“. In: hr-info, podcast, segment of 10/11. Online at: https://www.hessenschau.de/kultur/frankfurter-kulturpolitikerin-mirrianne-mahn-bei-diversitaet-geht-es-nicht-nur-um-die-hautfarbe-,mirrianne-mahn-110.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
19
Gerhard, Peter/Taylor, Melanie (2021): Schwarz und deutsch. Identität ist mehr als Hautfarbe. In: 3sat, report of 23/07. Online at: https://www.3sat.de/gesellschaft/politik-und-gesellschaft/schwarz-und-deutsch-identitaet-100.html (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
20
Olanigan, Adefunmi (2025): „Wir brauchen neue Geschichten“. In: taz, interview of 26/01/2025. Online at: https://taz.de/Progressive-Bewegungen/!6061825/ (accessed 25/02/2025). ↩︎
21
Die Grünen im Römer (n. d.): Stadtverordnete. In: Website of the Fraktion Die GRÜNEN im Römer. Online at: https://www.gruene-frankfurt.de/fraktion/personen/stadtverordnete/personendetail/?tx_wwperson_personlist%5Bperson%5D=49&tx_wwperson_personlist%5Baction%5D=showDetail&tx_wwperson_personlist%5Bcontroller%5D=Personlist&cHash=970093845f54274bf1766cbaa2c4d8c0 (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
22
Magel, Eva-Maria (2021): Vom Theater in die Politik. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
23
n. a. (n. d.) Stadtverordnete. In: Website of the City of Frankfurt am Main. Online at: https://frankfurt.de/personen/stadtverordnete/m/mirrianne-mahn-18366 (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
24
Stadt Frankfurt am Main (n. d.): Stadtverordnete. In: Website of the City of Frankfurt. Online at: https://frankfurt.de/personen/stadtverordnete/m/mirrianne-mahn-18366 (accessed 25/02/2025). ↩︎
25
Sommer, Marcel (2024): Frankfurter Stadtverordnete erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen Grüne. In: hessenschau.de, article of 27/03. Online at: https://www.hessenschau.de/politik/frankfurter-stadtverordnete-verlaesst-gruene-mirrianne-mahn-erhebt-schwere-vorwuerfe-gegen-eigene-partei-v1,mirrianne-mahn-gruene-100.html (accessed 30/03/2024). ↩︎
26
Leppert, Georg (2024): Paukenschlag im Römer: Frankfurter Stadtverordnete Mirrianne Mahn verlässt die Grünen. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 04/04. Online at: https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/verlaesst-die-gruenen-die-frankfurter-stadtverordnete-mirrianne-mahn-92915446.html (accessed 25/02/2025). ↩︎
27
n. a. (2021): Tsitsi Dangarembga mit Friedenspreis ausgezeichnet. In: hessenschau.de, segment of 24/10. Online at: https://www.hessenschau.de/tv-sendung/friedenspreis-fuer-dangarembga–hessenschau-vom-24102021,video-161320.html (accessed 09/05/2023). ↩︎
28
n. a. (n. d.): Illegal. In: Website of theaterperipherie. Online at: https://www.theaterperipherie.de/%C3%BCber-uns/alle-produktionen/illegal/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
29
n. a. (n. d.): Issa versus Illegal. In: Website of theaterperipherie. Online at: https://www.theaterperipherie.de/%C3%BCber-uns/issa-versus-illegal/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
30
Schassner, Hannah/Mahn, Mirrianne (2020): moved. BEWEGT. déplacé. (K)ein Spaziergang in Schwarzweiß. In: Website of the Implantieren Festival. Online at: https://implantieren-festival.de/moved-bewegt/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
31
Mahn, Mirrianne/Schassner, Hannah (n. d.): Webseite von yellowdressproudactions. Online at: https://www.yellowdressproudactions.com/ (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎
32
Magel, Eva-Maria (2021): Vom Theater in die Politik. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
33
n. a. (n. d.): Preise und Ehrungen. Kinder- und Jugendtheaterpreis Karfunkel. In: Website of the City of Frankfurt am Main. Online at: https://frankfurt.de/service-und-rathaus/verwaltung/preise-und-ehrungen/kinder–und-jugendtheaterpreis-karfunkel (accessed 21/11/2021). ↩︎

Activist, Actor, Black movement, Feminist, Frankfurt, Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland, Politician, Theatre, Women's movement

Empfohlene Zitierweise

Jessica Zeltner
: Mirrianne Mahn. In: Equalpedia.

Online unter:

https://www.equalpedia.org/en/mirrianne-mahn-2/

(Zugriff am 26. September 2026).

Erstellt am: 23. September 2026
Verfasser*in: Jessica Zeltner
Zuletzt bearbeitet am: 24. September 2026
Acting, Activism, Biographies, Culture, Politics, Theatre
Activist, Actor, Black movement, Feminist, Frankfurt, Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland, Politician, Theatre, Women's movement