Voice · Protest · Freedom: A festival evening featuring music, readings, discussions, and film.

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Doors open at 4:00 p.m.

Salwa Houmsi will host the program.

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Part I, starting at 5:00 p.m.

• Cologne 1976: The concert that changed everything. Excerpts from the legendary 1976 Cologne concert
• “Wolf Biermann Reloaded.” Live performance featuring songs from then and now
• The Power of Voice: Artistic Freedom as Resistance. Keynote address by Dr. Angela Merkel, former Federal Chancellor
• From Germany to Germany. A conversation with Wolf Biermann and Balbina, moderated by Pinar Atalay

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INTERMISSION (approx. 45 minutes)

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Part II

• Literary and Artistic Panorama I. Poems by Biermann – Literature from Exile

Fabian Hinrichs · Julia Schoch · Volha Hapeyeva · Widad Nabi · Marko Martin · Lea Streisand · Taqi Akhlaqi · Ali Abdollahi · Bettina Wegner

• Daring to Speak Out. Young, Angry, No Longer Silent. A conversation with contemporary witnesses Gabriele Stötzer, Doris Liebermann, and Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, moderated by Pinar Atalay
• Literary and Artistic Panorama II. Poems by Biermann – Literature from Exile

Betterov · Charlotte Gneuß · Kateryna Mishchenko · Delschad Numan Khorschid · Thomas Brussig · Andrej Hermlin · Alexander Estis · Mariam Meetra · Alhierd Bacharevič · Durs Grünbein

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INTERMISSION (approx. 20 minutes)

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Part III, approx. 10:30 p.m.

• BIERMANN. Documentary film by Jens Meurer (Germany 2026)

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Detailed program available on the website of the organizing Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.

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During this event, only bags up to DIN A4 size are permitted in the hall; larger bags must be checked at the coat check. Since there's open seating, we recommend arriving early.