On Monday, March 25, Ina Hartwig, Head of the Department of Culture and Science, launched the "Frankfurt - Capital of Democracy" campaign in the presence of Lord Mayor Mike Josef. With posters in public spaces, information in social networks, a conference in St. Paul's Church and, as a highlight, the "Run for Democracy", Frankfurt is commemorating its special history of democracy.
Lord Mayor Josef says: "Frankfurt am Main stands for democracy like no other city, St. Paul's Church in the center is even considered the cradle of German democracy. It is important that Frankfurters are constantly aware of this, because we must stand up for our democratic values and fight for them together."
Thursday, March 28, marks the anniversary of an important event in the history of German democracy: 175 years ago, the members of the first German National Assembly signed the Reich Constitution in St. Paul's Church. Despite its failure, it is a milestone in German parliamentarianism and our democracy. "A fact," says the Head of Culture and Science, "that is almost only known to experts. Yet the basic rights laid down in the Paulskirche Constitution can be found almost one-to-one in the Basic Law. You could probably make a game out of putting one or two passages of text next to each other and having people guess which year they come from: 1849 or 1949." The poster slogan is fitting: "Celebrating 175 years of the Paulskirche constitution. Conceived in Frankfurt. Anchored in the Basic Law."
In 1848/1849, a constitutional text was formulated in Frankfurt within a year that is still largely valid today. German constitutional history begins in Frankfurt. 100 years later, after tyranny and crimes against humanity - a new beginning. The second poster in the campaign picks up on this fact: "Celebrating 75 years of the Basic Law. Discussed in Frankfurt. Lived in Germany."
Frankfurt was the place where, on the one hand, the order was given to draw up a constitution, laid down in the Frankfurt Documents on July 1, 1948, and where, on the other hand, on May 12, 1949, 75 years ago, this text, the Basic Law, was approved by the (Western) Allied military governors - in what was then the I.G.-Farben-Haus (today's Goethe University). The Basic Law had been passed four days earlier in Bonn. It came into force on May 23, 1949, and the Federal Republic of Germany was founded. How do we commemorate this decisive date for our country?
The "Run for Democracy" on Thursday, 23 May, is planned as a decentralized sporting event with a joint finish, for which runners can register free of charge. Lord Mayor Josef says: "The run adds the unifying element of sport, which I am particularly pleased about as head of our city's sports department." The historical model is the 1948 Star Run, in which thousands of active athletes made their way to St. Paul's Church. At this first united manifestation of sport after the Second World War, German athletics champions handed messages of greeting from those cities and countries to Lord Mayor Dr. h.c. Walter Kolb and made the reconstruction of the site of the first German parliament possible with their donations.
Registration and further information will be available online at paulskirche.de from Monday, April 1. Further information on the planned events can also be found here.
On Sunday, May 5, there will be a panel discussion in St. Paul's Church to mark the anniversary of the Basic Law. Together with the Foundation Places of German Democratic History and the Protestant Academy, the City of Frankfurt is hosting the event. Peter Müller, former constitutional judge in Karlsruhe, historian Prof. Dieter Langewiesche, a renowned expert on nationalism and liberalism, Frankfurt political scientist Prof. Nicole Deitelhoff, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Peace and Conflict Research, and writer Daniela Danz, director of the federal competition "Demokratisch Handeln" (Acting Democratically), among others, will be taking part in the discussion entitled "In bester Verfassung? Afterwards, St. Paul's Church will become the stage for a staged reading by the Commission for the History of Parliamentarianism and Political Parties (KGParl). Actress Ulrike Folkerts and actor Moritz Heidelbach will read from correspondence between members of the Paulskirche and their wives.
