Office of the Public Realm
6 Oct 2026, 7 pm

In light of growing social and political polarisation, the Office of the Public Realm is focusing on the question of what cultural and institutional conditions a democratic society requires to ensure that public discourse, critical thinking and democratic debate can flourish.

For this series of public events, individuals from various fields – politics, art and culture, business, the media, the church, sport, the military, etc. – are invited to discuss, alongside one or two people of their choice, a topic on which they hold explicitly differing views.

At the opening event on 6 October, Monika Grütters, former Minister of State for Culture and the Media, discusses with Petra Pau, former Vice-President of the Bundestag, as well as Anh-Linh Ngo, Vice-President of the Akademie der Künste and architectural publicist, and Manos Tsangaris, President of the Akademie der Künste and composer.