Position of the text within a table

If your table consists of multiple paragraphs and a mix of texts and pictures, the default alignment is always w.r.t. the first topmost baselines of each cell. For texts it is a bottom characters. For pictures it is a bottom edge. pfgplots also keeps baselines of its drawings at the south west or left-hand side lower corners. This is why texts in the first column is positioned at the bottom of the axes.

One way is to use anchor of each axis as an optional setting and change the point to say centre. Another way is to set baseline of the whole tikzpicture to the centre of the axis. Both approaches move the default baseline, w.r.t. which texts in the first cell will be aligned. Note, this is NOT the centre of the cell because cells also contain captions which in this case are not included. If you want a perfect middle alignment in the cell, use other solutions.

To move baseline to centre of an axis, add the following to a preamble:

\tikzset{ baseline={([yshift=-0.7ex]current axis.center)}, } 

yshift is an optional argument for further adjustment. Here, it is merely a compensation for the height of characters.

The full code:

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{article} \usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry} \usepackage{tikz} \usepackage{pgfplots} \pgfplotsset{compat=1.11} \usepackage{tabularx} \newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X} \tikzset{ baseline={([yshift=-0.7ex]current axis.center)}, } \pgfplotsset{ width=1.8\linewidth, scale only axis, axis lines = middle, ticks=none, xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}, xlabel style={right}, ylabel style={above}, xmin=-4, xmax=4, % every axis plot post/.append style={ultra thick, smooth}, } \begin{document} \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{|C|C|C|} \hline & $n$~\textbf{gerade} & $n$~\textbf{ungerade} \\ \hline $a>0$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2};% node [pos=0.7, below right] {\footnotesize{$x^2$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \par\medskip \par Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $+\infty$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; %node [pos=0.8, above right] {\footnotesize{$x^3$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \par\medskip \par Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $+\infty$ \\ \hline $a < 0$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$f(x)=-x^2$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.5,-3) {$-x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \par \medskip \par Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $-\infty$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^3} node [pos=0.9, above right] {$f(x)=-x^3$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.3,-3) {$-x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \par\medskip \par Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $-\infty$ \\ \hline $|a| > 1$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {2*x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$2x^2$}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2,2) to (1,2); \node at (2.5,2) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^2$}}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {2*x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2.2,3.456) to (1.2,3.456); \node at (2.7,3.456) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^3$}}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip \\ & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{ Dehnung in $y$-Richtung} \\ \hline $|a| < 1$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,2.25) to (1.5,2.25); \node at (2.85,2.25) {\small $x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {(1/2)*x^2}; \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2,0.5) {$\frac{1}{2}x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,3.375) to (1.5,3.375); \node at (2.85,3.375) {\small $x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {(1/2)*x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.1,1.5) {$\frac{1}{2}x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip \\ & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{ Stauchung in $y$-Richtung}\\ \hline \end{tabularx} \end{document} 

You need to run the instruction

\renewcommand{\tabularxcolumn}[1]{m{#1}} 

in the preamble, after loading the tabularx package. (The default setting is \newcommand{\tabularxcolumn}[1]{p{#1}}.) See section 4.2 of the user guide of the tabularx package for further information.

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{article} \usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} \usepackage{tikz,pgfplots} \pgfplotsset{compat=1.11} \usepackage[ngerman]{babel} \usepackage{tabularx,ragged2e} \newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X} \renewcommand{\tabularxcolumn}[1]{m{#1}} % ------------------- % Content % ------------------- \begin{document} \begin{center} \pgfplotsset{width=0.8\linewidth, scale only axis, axis lines = middle, ticks=none, xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}, xlabel style={right}, ylabel style={above}, xmin=-4, xmax=4, % every axis plot post/.append style={ultra thick, smooth}, } \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{|wc{1.5in}|C|C|} \hline & $n$ gerade & $n$ ungerade \\ \hline $a>0$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2};% node [pos=0.7, below right] {\footnotesize{$x^2$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verläuft von $+\infty$ nach $+\infty$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; %node [pos=0.8, above right] {\footnotesize{$x^3$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verläuft von $-\infty$ nach $+\infty$\\ \hline $a < 0$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$f(x)=-x^2$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.5,-3) {$-x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verläuft von $-\infty$ nach $-\infty$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^3} node [pos=0.9, above right] {$f(x)=-x^3$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.3,-3) {$-x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verläuft von $+\infty$ nach $-\infty$\\ \hline $|a| > 1$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {2*x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$2x^2$}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2,2) to (1,2); \node at (2.5,2) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^2$}}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} %\medskip & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {2*x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2.2,3.456) to (1.2,3.456); \node at (2.7,3.456) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^3$}}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} %\medskip \\ & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{ Dehnung in $y$-Richtung}\\ \hline $|a| < 1$ & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,2.25) to (1.5,2.25); \node at (2.85,2.25) {\small $x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {(1/2)*x^2}; \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2,0.5) {$\frac{1}{2}x^2$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {$\alpha>0$}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip & \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,3.375) to (1.5,3.375); \node at (2.85,3.375) {\small $x^2$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {(1/2)*x^3};% node [pos=0.9, above right] {$x^3$}; \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.1,1.5) {$\frac{1}{2}x^3$}; %node [pos=0.1, below right] {$x^2$}; \end{axis} %\node at (0.5,-0.2) {{$\alpha<0$}}; \end{tikzpicture} \medskip \\ & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{ Stauchung in $y$-Richtung}\\ \hline \end{tabularx} \end{center} \end{document} 

The answer has already been given by @Mico, but you might benefit from the powerful tabularray

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{article} \usepackage[lmargin=1in,rmargin=1in,tmargin=1in,bmargin=1in]{geometry} \usepackage{tikz} \usepackage{pgfplots} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{tabularray} \UseTblrLibrary{booktabs} \pgfplotsset{ compat=1.11, width=0.8\linewidth, scale only axis, axis lines = middle, ticks=none, xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}, xlabel style={right}, ylabel style={above}, xmin=-4, xmax=4, every axis plot post/.append style={ultra thick, smooth}, } \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture1.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^2$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture2.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.2,3) {$x^3$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture3.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$f(x)=-x^2$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.5,-3) {$-x^2$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture4.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {-x^3} node [pos=0.9, above right] {$f(x)=-x^3$}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.3,-3) {$-x^3$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture5.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {2*x^2} node [pos=0.9, below right] {$2x^2$}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2,2) to (1,2); \node at (2.5,2) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^2$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^2$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture6.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {2*x^3}; \draw [-latex,color=red] (2.2,3.456) to (1.2,3.456); \node at (2.7,3.456) {\small \textcolor{red}{$2x^3$}}; \node[color=black, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 1.5,1) {$x^3$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture7.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^2}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-4:4] {(1/2)*x^2}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,2.25) to (1.5,2.25); \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2,0.5) {$\frac{1/2}x^2$}; \node at (2.85,2.25) {\small $x^2$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \begin{filecontents*}{tikzPicture8.tex} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{axis}[ymin=-4, ymax=4] \addplot [domain=-3:3] {x^3}; \draw [-latex] (2.5,3.375) to (1.5,3.375); \node at (2.85,3.375) {\small $x^3$}; \addplot [color=red, domain=-3:3] {(1/2)*x^3}; \node[color=red, font=\footnotesize] at (axis cs: 2.1,1.5) {$\frac{1/2}x^3$}; \end{axis} \end{tikzpicture} \end{filecontents*} \newcommand{\myimage}[1]{\input{tikzPicture#1}} \begin{document} \begin{tblr}{ colspec = {X[c,m]X[c,m]X[c,m]}, width = \linewidth, row{1} = {font=\bfseries}, vlines, hline{1,2,4,6,8,10} = {solid}, } & {$n$ gerade} & {$n$ ungerade} \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$a > 0$} & \myimage{1} & \myimage{2} \\ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $+\infty$ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $+\infty$ \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$a < 0$} & \myimage{3} & \myimage{4} \\ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $-\infty$ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $-\infty$ \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$|a| > 1$} & \myimage{5} & \myimage{6} \\ & \SetCell[c=2]{c} Dehnung in $y$-Richtung \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$|a| < 1$} & \myimage{7} & \myimage{8} \\ & \SetCell[c=2]{c} Stauchung in $y$-Richtung \\ \end{tblr} \end{document} 

For a simple MWE

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{article} \usepackage[lmargin=1in,rmargin=1in,tmargin=1in,bmargin=1in]{geometry} \usepackage{tikz} \usepackage{pgfplots} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{tabularray} \UseTblrLibrary{booktabs} \pgfplotsset{ compat=1.11, width=0.8\linewidth, scale only axis, axis lines = middle, ticks=none, xlabel={$x$}, ylabel={$y$}, xlabel style={right}, ylabel style={above}, xmin=-4, xmax=4, every axis plot post/.append style={ultra thick, smooth}, } \newcommand{\myimage}{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth,height=35mm]{example-image}} \begin{document} \begin{tblr}{ colspec = {X[c,m]X[c,m]X[c,m]}, width = \linewidth, row{1} = {font=\bfseries}, vlines, hline{1,2,4,6,8,10} = {solid}, } & {$n$ gerade} & {$n$ ungerade} \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$a > 0$} & \myimage & \myimage \\ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $+\infty$ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $+\infty$ \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$a < 0$} & \myimage & \myimage \\ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $-\infty$ nach $-\infty$ & Der Graph der Potenzfunktion verl\"auft von $+\infty$ nach $-\infty$ \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$|a| > 1$} & \myimage & \myimage \\ & \SetCell[c=2]{c} Dehnung in $y$-Richtung \\ \SetCell[r=2]{c} {$|a| < 1$} & \myimage & \myimage \\ & \SetCell[c=2]{c} Stauchung in $y$-Richtung \\ \end{tblr} \end{document}