One hour history: On the Barricades. The 1848 Revolution in Berlin

It was usually described as a "failure" because the goals and demands of the revolutionaries were not immediately reflected in the policies of the German Confederation. In the long run, however, the revolution achieved a lot and had a decisive influence on the history of the Germans: with the formulation of the basic rights of man and a democratic constitution, through the emergence of the workers* and women's movement, a flourishing newspaper landscape and many political parties.

The revolution in Germany was triggered by the "February Revolution" in Paris in 1848 and the Berlin "March Revolution", which this weekend marks the 175th anniversary.

The site of the uprising was Berlin's City Palace and today's Humboldt Forum, the grounds of which were also the focus of a revolution in the Spartacus Uprising in 1919 and the peaceful revolution in East Germany in 1989.

"One Hour of History" brings the past into the present and tries to explain why we have become the way we are. History is the daily politics of the past, our politics is the history of tomorrow. The innovative radio format "One Hour of History" conveys the insight that our social actions today are of decisive importance for the lives of later generations. That's why the program combines a preoccupation with one's own history with a call to take an interest in today's politics and to play an active role in shaping it.


"Learning from history" in the best sense of the word: without memorizing dates, "One Hour of History" follows the traces that point from the past into the present and future.

Moderation: Markus Dichmann
Discussants: Alexandra Bleyer, Jörg Bong, Matthias von Hellfeld, Judith Prokasky

Alexandra Bleyer holds a doctorate in history and is a freelance author. Her work focuses on propaganda, the age of Napoleon, and the Vormärz. After "Napoleon. 100 pages" and "Propaganda. 100 pages", Reclam Verlag has now published "1848. The success story of a filed revolution".

Jörg Bong, born in 1966, holds a doctorate in literary studies, is an author, freelance publicist, and former publisher of S. Fischer Verlag (until 2019). He has written for the FAZ, DIE ZEIT, and SPIEGEL, among others. He publishes crime novels under the name Jean-Luc Bannalec. Most recently, Bong edited the book "57 Interventions for Culture" together with Marion Ackermann, Gesine Schwan and Carsten Brosda.

Judith Prokasky is currently the head of the multi-year program focus "The Palace of the Republic is Present" and a staff member of the "History of the Site" department at the Humboldt Forum Foundation. She has worked as a curator and cultural manager in the museum field since 2001 and has published widely on the history of media and memory ("From Event to Myth. The Paris Commune in the Visual Media 1871-1914," "The Camera as a Weapon. Propaganda Images of the Second World War," "Myth of Revolution. Karl Liebknecht, the Berlin Palace and November 9, 1918" and others).

Markus Dichmann, born in 1987, is a freelance author, reporter and presenter on Deutschlandradio's programs. For Deutschlandfunk Nova, he hosts the weekly magazine "One Hour of History," which won the German Podcast Award in 2019 and was nominated for the German Radio Award in 2017. For his work as a writer and reporter, often on historical topics, he won the German-French Journalism Award and was nominated for the German-Polish Tadeusz-Mazowiecki Award. As a Johannes Rau fellow, he worked as a freelance correspondent in Istanbul. He did a traineeship at Deutschlandradio, studied Communication Science, Politics & Law at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, and has previously worked in print, radio and television (WAZ, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk).

Dr. Matthias von Hellfeld, born in 1954, has been a freelance journalist and historian since 1978. He works as a presenter and editor at ARD and is currently the editor in charge of the magazine "One Hour of History" at Deutschlandfunk Nova. Von Hellfeld has contributed to numerous radio features and TV documentaries. He is also a lecturer at various universities and training academies and the author of more than 25 non-fiction books on European and German history. In 1984, he won the Carl von Ossietzky Award of the city of Oldenburg, was nominated for the German Radio Award in 2017, and received the German Podcast Award in 2019.

- Price: 8,00 / 4,00 EUR
- Place: Hall 1
- from 12 years
- Wheelchair accessible