SYMPOSIUM “LAND, PROPERTY, THE COMMONS”

When people talk about land, property, and the commons today, a contrast often emerges that sounds familiar but is precisely for that reason misleading:

the contrast between private property on the one hand and state or social property on the other.

For perhaps the real question is not, first and foremost, who the owner is. Perhaps the deeper question is rather what kind of rights we attach to goods that are not ordinary goods.

Land is the clearest example of this.

For land is not a commodity like other commodities.

Land is not created by humans; it is not produced. Land is the foundation of nature, the basis of life, and the foundation of human cultural development.

Whoever controls land therefore controls not merely an asset, but an essential prerequisite for human life and economic activity.

This is precisely why the question of land ownership is so fundamental. It highlights, in a concentrated form, what may apply to the modern economic order as a whole. If land is not an ordinary commodity, if housing is not an ordinary commodity, and if perhaps productive assets, too, should not simply be a matter of pure disposal—what system of property rights does a free society then need?

Perhaps this is precisely where a central task for the coming era lies:

not to think about the question of property solely in terms of private and state ownership, but to develop forms of restricted disposal and specific configurations of property rights in which individual freedom and social responsibility work together, and certain goods are removed from the logic of pure exploitation.

Building on these keynote presentations, we want to explore these questions together in discussions and workshops.

PROGRAM

Friday, August 28, 2026 | Evening before

5:00 p.m.: Organ recital followed by a reception

• Pianist, organist, and composer Parvis Hejazi (London/Bremen) will perform works by J. S. Bach, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Messiaen, and an improvisation on a theme by Benjamin Britten.
• Venue: St. Michael, Michaelkirchplatz, 10179 Berlin-Mitte

Saturday, August 29, 2026 | Symposium

Location: Rudolf Steiner House, Bernadottestraße 90–92, 14195 Berlin

10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Morning Program: Presentations

• Helmut Woll: Reflections on Hans-Georg Schweppenhäuser’s “The Power of Property”
• Karl Goebler: Beyond Private and State Ownership: Land, the Commons, and Restricted Disposal Rights
• Tilo König: Land as a Common Good? – The Land Reform Perspective
• Ulrike von Wiesenau: The Role of Mega-Corporations in Land Grabbing

12:30 – 2:00 p.m. | Lunch break

2:00 – 5:00 p.m. | Afternoon Program: Workshops & Presentations

• Johannes Huober: The Question of Ownership in Biodynamic Agriculture: How Kulturland e.G. and ErdmannHAUSER Are Forging a New Relationship with the Earth
• Ralf Neff: Moral Development and the Perspective on Land and Property Issues
• Heidjer Reetz: Property and the Development of Consciousness in Humanity’s Relationship with Planet Earth
• Musical Accompaniment: Nino Valeria Rabius

5:00 p.m. | Closing Plenary: Reflections and Outlook

Summary of findings and shared perspectives.

Registration and inquiries: agenturweidenfeld@gmail.com