You are cordially invited to virtually attend a symposium with the title 75 years of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany – success story and challenges, taking place on October 10, 2024, at 1 PM (PDT) / 10 PM (CEST).

Please register by October 7, 2024, by email to info@vanc.diplo.de. The Webex meeting link will be provided shortly before the event to those who have registered.

Speakers will be Professor Hans Vorländer, Professor Maxwell A. Cameron, Professor Felix Ekardt, Professor Kurt Hübner and Professor Oliver Schmidtke. For details, see below.

For 75 years, the “Grundgesetz” (Basic Law) has formed the foundation of democracy in Germany. When it was signed and proclaimed on the 23^rd of May 1949, no one thought it would last that long, as it was meant only for a transitional period until the day when all Germans would give themselves a constitution for a united Germany. No one at that time expected that the division of Germany would last 40 years and over these long decades, the “Grundgesetz” grew into a de-facto constitution for West Germany. However, the sentence in the preamble that the creators of the “Grundgesetz” acted also as representatives of these Germans who were denied to participate, was still standing.

When the Berlin Wall came down on the 9^th of November 1989 and during the turbulent months until the reunification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, the question arose whether the “Grundgesetz” should be valid for the reunited Germany as a whole or whether a new constitution should be created. The discussions about the political and legal pros and cons fill volumes of juristic and historic literature. In the end, for many reasons, the decision was made unanimously among the two German states as well as the three western allied powers and the Soviet Union that the “Grundgesetz” should serve as a constitution for the reunited Germany.

So, the “Grundgesetz” became not only the actual German constitution; it has also been in effect for the longest time of all constitutions Germany ever had, despite its original provisional design. It has shown a remarkable resilience over time and successfully integrated a whole country with a very different political, social and economic structure into the political system of the old Federal Republic of (West)Germany.

Therefore, 75 years of the “Grundgesetz” is, indeed, a reason to celebrate; but is it also fit for the challenges ahead, inside and outside of Germany? Democracy is under threat, internationally by the shake-up of the Post-Cold-War world order; nationally by political groups which aim to overthrow the democratic system in Germany and its firm embeddedness in the family of liberal democratic nations. Can it withstand these challenges and what has to be done to make it equipped and resilient for the decades to come? Important questions this symposium will discuss.