21.04.2023

Expert commission presents recommendations on the future of St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt am Main

On April 21, 2023, the Paulskirche Expert Commission presented its recommendations for the future development of the Paulskirche and the House of Democracy. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, Minister of State Axel Wintermeyer and the acting Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main, Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, were present at the presentation of the report at Schloss Bellevue. Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst, Director of the Research Centre for Normative Orders, is one of the members of the commission.

According to the recommendations of the expert commission, St. Paul’s Church and the House of Democracy should be turned into places where modern remembrance work and democracy education can take place. According to Volker Kauder, Chairman of the Commission, the Commission proposes that the design of St. Paul’s Church, which has been handed down since 1948, be developed in a contemporary way in order to reach as many visitors as possible. The House of Democracy should enable political discussions and social participation.

According to the recommendations of the expert commission, St. Paul’s Church and the House of Democracy should be turned into places where modern remembrance work and democracy education can take place. According to Volker Kauder, Chairman of the Commission, the Commission proposes that the design of St. Paul’s Church, which has been handed down since 1948, be developed in a contemporary way in order to reach as many visitors as possible. In order to achieve this goal, the expert commission proposes that the design of St. Paul’s Church, which was created by the reconstruction and has been handed down since 1948, be developed in a contemporary way and in compliance with the protection of historical monuments in order to reach as many visitors as possible. The House of Democracy is intended to facilitate political discussions and social participation. In this way, St. Paul’s Church is to be developed into a memorial to the history of our democracy and at the same time into a place of learning,” says Kauder.
The independent Paulskirche Expert Commission was jointly appointed in 2021 by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the State of Hesse and the City of Frankfurt. Its members are experts with networks throughout Germany and Europe who have provided scientific and museum-related advice on the project and developed the content and conceptual basis for the further process.

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