It will be a week of celebration – for democracy, but also for Frankfurt. On Thursday at the latest, when Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD), Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD), Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) and several others will give their speeches and greetings in St. Paul's Church, the republic will look to the city on the Main. The meeting of the first all-German parliament, the National Assembly, in St. Paul's Church and thus 175 years of German democratic history – with all its fractures and setbacks – will then come into focus.

Alexander Jürgs

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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For four days, over the extended Ascension weekend, Frankfurt celebrates the democratic awakening with a large civic festival, almost 160 events are on the program. The city is investing two million euros in St. Paul's Church Festival, plus contributions to numerous other projects related to the anniversary year. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, the State of Hesse and sponsors from the business community are also supporting the Frankfurt celebrations.

Putting memories on a new footing

Starting on Tuesday, participants in a congress will debate the "Modernity of 1848/49" at the Historical Museum, and activists from all over the world fighting for democracy and human rights will gather at a "Global Assembly" at the Evangelical Academy. On Thursday and Friday, a multimedia spectacle entitled "Ode to Democracy" will be performed on the Main, with Frankfurt rapper Chima Onyele bringing a "Choir of Freedom" to the stage.

Actors will try to "re-enact" the atmosphere during the debates in the National Assembly, pop stars will perform on two open-air stages on the Römerberg and on the banks of the Main, and several special exhibitions on the turn of the century of 1848 can be visited in the city's museums – usually with free admission during the Paulskirchenfest. The city's tourism company is hoping for around 300,000 visitors over the four days of the festival.

But in Frankfurt, but also in state and federal politics, there is a consensus that the memory of Frankfurt's Paulskirche parliament should continue to play an important role afterwards. The significance of the democratic awakening is still often underestimated in Germany, and many are hardly aware of the liberal revolution of 1848/49. There is no doubt that putting the memory of the National Assembly on a new footing will be a challenging task.

In the hands of the Lord Mayor

A commission of experts chaired by CDU politician Volker Kauder has developed proposals on how the St. Paul's Church memorial should change. She recommends building a House of Democracy on St. Paul's Square, right next to St. Paul's Church. St. Paul's Church and the new museum are to have a common entrance. This proposal, however, stands in contrast to the coalition agreement of the coalition of Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt, which is currently reacting in Frankfurt. There, a development of Paulsplatz was explicitly rejected. There is also potential for conflict with the question of the character of the exhibition in St. Paul's Church and the House of Democracy, which is still to be planned: Will it focus on historical events or current debates?

The new mayor of Frankfurt, Mike Josef (SPD), made the development of St. Paul's Church a "top priority" on Friday. In his department, all questions on the subject are to be dealt with in the future, Josef wants to lead the negotiations with the state and federal government, which will probably not be easy. He will have to deal with a lot of conflicts and a lot of work. First, however, there will be celebrations in Frankfurt.