To mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin is hosting a "Freedom Week" as a new format. (Archive image)
© dpa
Berlin celebrates the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, for the first time with a "Freedom Week."
According to the state-owned company Visit Berlin, a diverse program with around 130 events is planned at around 80 locations from Saturday until November 15—including conferences, workshops, concerts, plays, exhibitions, city tours, eyewitness talks, film screenings, and digital events.
The event kicks off on Saturday with a World Liberty Congress, which is expected to be attended by 200 dissidents from around 60 autocratic states at the Berlin House of Representatives. Over two days, they will discuss freedom, democracy, and human rights. On Sunday, the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event will take place at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, which Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) is also expected to attend.
On Monday, Wegner will attend the Berlin Freedom Conference. At the Schöneberg Gasometer, representatives from politics, business, civil society, and the media will discuss how freedom and democracy can be protected and strengthened in times of growing autocracy. Among those expected to attend are Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU), Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matviychuk — whose organization, the Center for Civil Liberties, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 — Russian opposition figure and civil rights activist Vladimir Kara-Mursa, who was released from prison in a prisoner exchange in 2024, and former commander of U.S. forces in Europe Ben Hodges.
According to Governing Mayor and patron Wegner, Berlin wants to use Freedom Week to send a message of freedom, peace, and democracy. The event is set to take place every year going forward. Numerous partners are involved, including the Robert Havemann Society, the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, the World Liberty Congress, and Berlin's Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, Frank Ebert.