»Freiheitsaufgaben« - Lesung und Gespräch mit dem Autor Marko Martin

In the organizer's words:

A shift to the right in the East, despondency in the West. 37 years after unification, German democracy is at a crossroads: are we facing up to the challenges of freedom or are we giving up our freedom? Marko Martin takes a look beyond the inner-German debates to the great European voices such as Manès Sperber and André Glucksmann. An appeal against the lure of autocratic disenfranchisement and for a categorical rejection of despondency.

Born in Saxony and a conscientious objector before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Marko Martin has been socialized in both East and West. From this special position, he is one of the few to have an eye for the excuses and hypocrisies on both sides. His speech in November 2024 in Bellevue Palace on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall generated a broad response and went viral. Approachable and cosmopolitan, Marko Martin encourages us to review our understanding of freedom. Many people have the misconception that freedom automatically means happiness. But freedom means responsibility and, according to Manés Sperber, is "the categorical rejection of despondency". Couldn't something like happiness arise from this?

Marko Martin will be presenting his new book "Freiheitsaufgaben" (Tasks of Freedom) - an absolute must-read in times of crisis, especially after the huge debate surrounding his speech to Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier. Clever, worldly and not without humor.

A joint event by the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Foundation, Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit Düsseldorf e. V. and Düsseldorfer Beiträge "Respekt und Mut".