The City of Bonn will be celebrating this anniversary with a Democracy Festival with free admission. People will be able to experience the most stable democracy on German soil.
Together with the Federal President, the German Bundestag, the Bundesrat, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik, the City of Bonn invites you to celebrate on Saturday, May 25, 2024, from 11 am. The Democracy Festival stretches from Villa Hammerschmidt on Adenauerallee to United Nations Square at the World Conference Center Bonn.
Mayor Katja Dörner is looking forward to welcoming many guests to the city: "Democracy and the democratic rules of the game are invaluable to our society. It is the foundation of our coexistence. This becomes particularly clear in times like these, when democracy is coming under pressure worldwide and increasingly from autocratic regimes. It is precisely for this reason that we can be hopeful that Germany has developed into a stable democracy after National Socialism and the two world wars triggered by Germany. The 75th anniversary of the Basic Law is a wonderful occasion to celebrate democracy and to commit ourselves to its protection, which we cordially invite you to do."
Program on three stages
On three stages - in the park of Villa Hammerschmidt, in the garden of the BMZ and on United Nations Square - there will be a colorful program of talks, cabaret and music with guests from politics and society. A closing concert will take place on the stage in the Villa Hammerschmidt park from 7 pm.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier opens his official residence in Bonn, the Villa Hammerschmidt, and invites visitors to discover the prestigious rooms. In the park of the Villa Hammerschmidt and on the United Nations Square, more than 50 Bonn partner organizations will be presenting themselves alongside the Federal City of Bonn with entertaining activities. The main themes will be "Basic Law", "International Cooperation" and "The Future of Democracy".
Historic places are open
The German Bundestag gives visitors the opportunity to take a seat in the former plenary chamber of the German Bundestag, now part of the World Conference Center Bonn, and have their say. The German Bundestag's Infomobile is also located on United Nations Square.
The doors of the Bundesrat's Bonn office, the historic site of the promulgation of the Basic Law, are also open to visitors; interesting discussions are also planned here. In the BMZ, the rooms of the former Federal Chancellery (Cabinet Room and Chancellor's Office) can be visited, as can the newly renovated former Chancellor's Bungalow in the park. And half-hourly tours will be offered on the "Path of Democracy" between 12 noon and 6 pm. Registration is possible on site at the information stand of the City of Bonn on United Nations Square.
Festival is advertised in a variety of ways
The Democracy Festival and Bonn as the "cradle of German democracy", which can be experienced by tourists, are advertised in a variety of ways: in outdoor advertising media, with traditional newspaper inserts and online. In geographical terms, the advertising focus is on Bonn and the region as well as the "day tourism" along the Rhine from Koblenz via Cologne to Düsseldorf, in some cases extending into the Rhine-Main region.
Care is also taken to ensure that Bonn's significance for German democracy is depicted in nationally significant themed specials to mark "75 years of the Basic Law".
Translated with deepl.com (free version)