In the organizer's words:

With the Friedrich Ebert Memorial Lecture, the Reichspräsident Foundation commemorates the life and work of its namesake. It addresses topics that occupied the social democrat and statesman at the time and which are still of central importance and are still being discussed today.

Leoluca Orlando will give this year's keynote speech on the topic of "European democracy between new nationalism and international integration" on February 11, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the Friedrich Ebert House. Born in Sicily, he completed part of his law studies in Heidelberg and was Mayor of Palermo from 1985 to 2000 and from 2012 to 2022. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament.

More than 100 years after the death of Friedrich Ebert, our democracies are once again in danger: states and their governments, which are characterized by nationalism, populism and right-wing extremism, reject multilateral relations and want to seal themselves off. In doing so, they are undermining not only the security and freedom of their own countries and citizens, but also our united Europe - our interdependence - the guarantor of democracy and peace.

The number of participants is limited. Registration by e-mail to friedrich@ebert-gedenkstaette.de is required.