The City of Freedom, Berlin, Celebrates 'Freedom Week' for the First Time, November 8-15, 2025
Berlin, more than 35 years after the fall of the SED dictatorship and the collapse of Soviet communism, is celebrating 'Freedom Week' for the first time. As autocrats and dictatorships once again dominate global headlines, Berlin, the city of freedom, is taking a stand against this with Berlin Freedom Week, providing a platform for freedom fighters and prominent democrats from around the world. Berlin Freedom Week takes place in the capital for the first time between November 8 and 15 - with more than 70 events at more than 30 locations throughout Berlin. The Berlin Freedom Conference on November 10 at the Gasometer on the EUREF campus will be at the center of the event. Many international guests are expected to attend, including civil rights activists, researchers, media personalities and politicians.
Berlin Freedom Week is an offer and an invitation to all Berliners and visitors from around the globe who are interested in the city. Museums, embassies, theaters and historical sites offer a variety of formats. The emphasis is on the special significance of freedom for Berlin, as well as the topic in the current global context. The Berlin Freedom Conference is a joint initiative of visitBerlin, the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation and the World Liberty Congress. It is supported by the LOTTO Foundation in Berlin and funded by Airbnb and Berliner Sparkasse. The patron of the event is the Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner.
Central highlight: Berlin Freedom Conference
A highlight of Freedom Week is the Berlin Freedom Conference on November 10. Stakeholders from politics, business, civil society and the media will gather at the Schöneberg Gasometer. In keynotes and panels, they will discuss how freedom and democracy can be protected and strengthened in times of increasing autocracy. Among the guests: Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ukrainian Oleksandra Matviichuk; Russian journalist and civil rights activist Vladimir Kara-Murza; Ben Hodges, former Supreme Commander of the United States Armed Forces in Europe; Director of the German Economic Institute, Professor Dr. Michael Hüther, and others. Speakers from the World Liberty Congress include: President and renowned Iranian journalist and human rights activist, Masih Alinejad; Venezuelan politician and freedom activist Leopoldo López, and others.
Journey across Berlin: Berlin Freedom Bell
Speakers of Berlin Freedom Week will be at the Berlin Freedom Bell in public spaces. Between November 8 and 15, the mobile stage will stop for around five hours a day at central and symbolic locations. Guests can look forward to a varied program, including stage performances, film screenings, sound installations and interactive elements. The center of the project is a 1:1 scale replica of the Freedom Bell, which was donated to West Berlin by 16 million US citizens in 1950 and hung in a ceremony in the Schöneberg Town Hall. The project is curated and designed by Beier+Wellach, in cooperation with the Ernst Reuter Archive, the Airlift Donation Foundation and the American Jewish Committee. It is funded by the German postcode lottery. All stations and speakers will be published on the website in time.
Number for the film
The program ranges from cinema and literature, theater and art to workshops and dialogues: "Freedom Stories" at the Colosseum cinema will present ten films and panels with international regime opponents. The focus here is on "Women as the Voice of Freedom". "Who, if not us?" is a screening of a documentary about three women who are tirelessly fighting for a democratic Belarus after the 2020 protests. At the Future Freedom Lab in the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, young people will find workshops, dialogues and creative formats that enable them to experience and shape democracy. The presentation of the book "Two, Three Blue Eyes" by Viktor Schpe in the Tränenpalast provides a literary reference to freedom. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk will read from his book "Freedom Shock" in the conference room of the DDR Museum. The exiled Chinese artist Badiucao and the American journalist Melissa Chan will talk about art, activism and censorship at the Literaturhaus in "You Have to Take Part in the Revolution". Theater also plays a role in Freedom Week, including at Pfefferberg with the historical drama. "The Trial of Hans Litten" about freedom, justice and dictatorship. Berlin and its history can be experienced firsthand during Berlin Freedom Week, for example on a multimedia tour of the former border strip. In "Autumn 89'", the German Historical Museum invites visitors to share their personal experiences during the fall of the Wall.
Messages in embassies
A number of embassies are hosting information and dialogue events: at the French Embassy, leaders from politics and the technology industry will meet at the "Technology Forum for Freedom and Protection". At the Polish Embassy, the discussion panel "Security is Freedom" will focus on the role of women as security policy players. "Nordic Freedom": Guided tours of the Nordic embassies and through an interactive exhibition show how democracy exists in Danish community culture. The letter workshop in Lieberose in the bed aims to send messages of hope and solidarity: the participants write postcards together with former political prisoners from Belarus to people currently imprisoned there.
Especially for journalists
An international press roundtable of the German Collector brings together journalists from all over the world, with diverse points of view, to discuss freedom of the press and journalistic work in times of eroding democracy.
Media representatives and members of parliament are invited to a roundtable discussion by the SED Victims Commissioner in the German Bundestag. Former opposition members from the GDR and international regime opponents will enter into a dialogue about the (health) consequences of political repression.
A world-recognized congress as a starting point for Freedom Week
The two-day general assembly of the World Liberty Congress begins on November 8. The initiative for Berlin Freedom Week came from this congress. Some of the congress participants will also be guests at the Berlin Freedom Conference. The Congress will bring together around 200 regime opponents and democracy activists from more than 60 countries ruled by autocracy in the Berlin House of Representatives. In doing so, the city is sending a strong message to the world: those who are oppressed and persecuted elsewhere will be granted a parliament in Berlin.
The full program of events for Berlin Freedom Week is available on the website:
https://berlin-freedom-week.com/
Photo = German Parliament Building (Reichstag), Berlin. Photo Shosh Lahav
