Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – First the ceremony, then the celebration for the citizens: Exactly 175 years after the first session of the National Assembly in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, a four-day citizens’ festival began in the city on Thursday. Paulskirche, Römerberg and Mainufer are the locations. There is an entertainment program about democratic achievements.
If you want, you can have a “democracy stool” made – with three legs, like the three pillars of democracy; i.e. government, parliament and independent judiciary. Trees around the Paulskirche are decorated with colorful ribbons like the “freedom trees” used to be in the years of the revolution. Telephone booths invite you to make “15 minutes with the past” on the phone: historical personalities such as freedom fighter Robert Blum, pianist Clara Schumann or poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe talk about democracy and equality via video telephony. They are portrayed by actors.
On a virtual journey through time with VR glasses, the entry of the deputies to the first session of the National Assembly can be followed – with a cannon salute, excited citizens and a sea of flags in black, red and gold.
A performance entitled “The people their rights!” The Fliegen Volksbühne Frankfurt draws an arc from the past to the present at the scene of the historical events: a debate between historical figures of the Paulskirche meeting in appropriate clothing style is tapped by hecklers for current debates – for example on the subject of maintenance: “That’s the unconditional basic income!”
Until May 21, the citizens’ festival is also about the European idea, civil society and the coexistence of different ethnic groups and religions. There will also be an “Ode to Democracy” during an evening illumination.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230517-99-728632/6
2023-05-18 22:39:51
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