So here we are: Christmas at our doorstep.
Tonight, we celebrate Christmas Eve — in German Heiligabend, meaning Holy Evening.
I found myself wondering: how does my 21st reflection on the year 2024 fit into this moment?
Actually, much more than I initially thought.
In 2024, we initiated something I had felt for a long time was overdue.
We turned our open office space into a room for dialogue.
With our Wendegeschichten series, followed in 2025 by the Einheitsgespräche, we transformed our Werkstatt into a regular salon — a place for listening, questioning, disagreement, and, above all, conversation.
The motivation was a serious one: as in many other parts of the world, populism has been gaining ground in Germany for quite some time now, with tangible effects on our society — to put it mildly — which even 35 years after reunification, still feels divided in many ways.
Joseph Schwartz and I felt it was time to talk about this.
And there was another concern: many witnesses of the time around the fall of the Wall and German reunification are reaching an age where they may no longer be available for such conversations.
So we began inviting people born and raised either in the former GDR or the former FRG — people who had witnessed, shaped, or been shaped by that period. We asked them what they had lived through, what they had seen, what they had felt, and how they see the future of Germany — and beyond — today.
🧐 Am I suggesting that this is something like a nativity scene?
Surely not. The magic of that moment 2025 years ago has few parallels — at least for Christian believers.
But isn’t the Christmas message also one of new beginnings and hope? Isn’t it about bringing very different people together under one small roof? Shepherds and kings?
🌟 I don’t want to claim that this was what we felt in these discussions. But I sensed a certain spirit to these talks in our Werkstatt. One of openness and appreciation for diverging opinions. One that made me think that we could all feel connected.
In any event, I am glad we did it. And although I have promised myself and everyone else to take a break after organizing and moderating nine insightful conversations over two years, I sense that this journey will somehow continue.
🙏 My gratitude goes to everyone who made these evenings what they were — our guests, our audience, and all those who engaged openly and respectfully. One person deserves a special mention, someone who spreads the Christmas message every day like few others and made the magic happen on the ground: Katharina Meyer 🫶
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. Happy holidays to everyone!
One last post is on the line. For New Year’s Eve.
🔜 Next Stop: Reflection #22 — Love
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