Berlin speech

The Berlin speech was a public address given by the then German President Roman Herzog on April 26, 1997 in Berlin . The formulation chosen by Herzog in this speech “a jolt must go through Germany” made this lecture go down in history as a jerk speech .

While in the following years the Berlin speech was given by other prominent personalities such as the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the then Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari , Duke's successor Johannes Rau took up the idea of the Berlin speech and gave the speech himself every year from now on used the speeches to deliberately address important social issues and fundamental debates. Topics covered included controversial issues in society such as the integration of foreigners , the use of genetic engineering and the effects of globalization .

Rau's successor in office, Horst Köhler , continued the tradition from 2006. In his speeches, Köhler advocated a more conscious approach to the issues of education and globalization. In 2008, Köhler called for changes in tax law and called for an “Agenda 2020”. In 2009, he addressed the global economic crisis and urged responsible behavior. Christian Wulff decided not to speak himself in 2011 and invited Polish President Bronisław Komorowski to give the Berlin speech at Humboldt University on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the German-Polish neighborhood agreement.

Bellevue Forum

Federal President Joachim Gauck continued the tradition of the Berlin speech in a different form. On February 22nd, 2013, he gave the first speech as part of the new “Bellevue Forum” at Bellevue Palace . It was a keynote address on “Perspectives on the European Idea”.

According to the Office of the Federal President, the Bellevue Forum should be a place “where Federal President Joachim Gauck would like to stimulate or promote socially important debates. The topics of the forum reflect the priorities of its presidency. The Bellevue Forum is a process, not an end result. In background discussions, forums, symposia or in speeches, the topics related to the Federal President and, conversely, the Federal President come to the subject. "

Berlin Speeches (1997-2011)

date	Speaker	title	place
April 26, 1997	Federal President Roman Herzog	Departure into the 21st century	Hotel Adlon
April 26, 1998	Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari	Challenges for Europe in the age of globalization Security and collaboration in transition	Hotel Adlon
April 26, 1999	UN Secretary General Kofi Annan	Europe's role in the world in the 21st century	Hotel Adlon
May 12, 2000	Federal President Johannes Rau	Without fear and without daydreams: Live together in Germany	House of World Cultures
May 18, 2001	Federal President Johannes Rau	Everything will be fine? For progress on a human scale	Otto-Braun-Saal of the State Library
May 13, 2002	Federal President Johannes Rau	Chance, not fate - shaping globalization politically	Museum of Communication
May 19, 2003	Federal President Johannes Rau	Acting together - Germany's responsibility in the world	Maxim Gorky Theater
May 12, 2004	Federal President Johannes Rau	Trust in Germany - an encouragement	Bellevue Palace
September 21, 2006	Federal President Horst Köhler	Education for everyone	Kepler High School, Berlin-Neukölln
October 1, 2007	Federal President Horst Köhler	Humanity's pursuit of happiness changes the world	Radial system V
June 17, 2008	Federal President Horst Köhler	Work, education, integration	Bellevue Palace
March 24, 2009	Federal President Horst Köhler	The credibility of freedom	Elisabeth Church
June 17, 2011	Polish President Bronisław Komorowski	A dynamic, open Europe that is active in the world	Humboldt University