Lessons from Weimar: Democracy in East Germany

Traditionally associated with German cultural icons Goethe and Schiller, Weimar gave its name to the first German constitutional republic based in democratic principles after WW1. It was also a hot seat of Nazi ideology. After WW2, the east German Democratic Republic was effectively governed by one Socialist party until German reunification in 1989. Now the far-right part AfD attracts a significant share of the vote.

This talk is in English.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and writer. She grew up and was educated in former east Germany. She is the prize-winning author of three recently published books: Blood and Iron (2021), Beyond the Wall (2023) and Weimar – Life on the Edge of Catastrophe (2026).