Paulskirche anniversary 2023
Thinking democracy European – we were there at the Paulskirchen anniversary!
On May 18, 2023, German democracy celebrated a very special event: the 175. Anniversary of the meeting of the National Assembly in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1848/49, the members of this first all-German parliament laid the foundation for democracy in Germany, including the Weimar Constitution and the Basic Law, with the Imperial Constitution and its “Basic Rights of the German People.” Today more than ever, Frankfurt’s Paulskirche is considered a democratic landmark and was duly celebrated as such as part of the Paulskirche anniversary from May 18 to 21, 2023.
We from Pulse of Europe also made our contribution to this celebration of democracy. In doing so, we claimed no more and no less to give the celebrations a tangible European character through our involvement.
In these crisis-ridden times of war, climate change and a serious loss of democracy worldwide , democracy must withstand the numerous crises and enormous challenges to which it is exposed. Paulskirche can make a significant contribution to this if it can be experienced not only as the cradle of German democracy, but also as a symbol of peace and cohesion in Europe.
For example, on the occasion of the Paulskirchen anniversary, we ran a special edition of our “European HomeParliaments” on the topic of “Does Europe’s democracy need more citizen participation?” From spring 2023 until the anniversary weekend and beyond, we have again invited European citizens, in groups of about eight people, to to discuss current topics concerning Europe’s democracy in a small private setting and moreover in the Dialogue with European politicians for the purpose of direct participation in the major European opinion-forming process to come.
PoE at the Frankfurt Europe Festival
With the Europa-Fest, which took place on Friday, May 19, 2023, a wonderful live event is behind us. Pulse of Europe succeeded in giving the festivities a noticeably blue and thus European touch. With great participatory activities at the stand of our citizens’ movement on the banks of the Main, European HomeParliaments on site as well as a contribution to the stage program of the city of Frankfurt am Main, we were able to inspire many people for Pulse of Europe.
Stephanie Hartung (founding member and board member of Pulse of Europe) and Martin Speer (European activist and member of Pulse of Europe) announced the first interim results of the current round of European HomeParliaments on the topic of European civic participation and came together for this purpose with European politicians Nicola Beer (MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament, FDP), Niklas Nienaß (MEP, Bündnis 90/Grüne), Uwe Becker (Hessian State Secretary for Europe, CDU) and Eileen O’Sullivan (Head of European Affairs, City of Frankfurt, Volt).
The audience was able to follow a multi-faceted discussion in which all political dialogue partners backed the vote of the participants in the current round of the European House Parliaments for more citizen participation at the European level. However, different attitudes were expressed on the specific policy reform proposals.
Our contribution to the Paulskirchen anniversary calendar of events
Participate & Support
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