The Student Forum is part of the annual Wartburg Festival in Eisenach, organized by the Society for the Study of Democracy History (GEDG). The festival commemorates the assembly on October 18, 1817, at the Wartburg, where students called for German unity and civil rights. The Wartburg Festival connects to the democratic tradition of this event while not concealing its darker sides, such as the pronounced antisemitism and nationalism.
In October 2023, the Student Forum on Future Democracy took place for the first time. Since then, the Society for the Study of Democracy History (GEDG) invites 20 students to Eisenach every year. Each year, the forum is centered around a different thematic focus: In 2024, the headline was “Polarization as a Challenge for Democracy”. In workshop formats, students work on these topics together with experts. Additionally, these topics are presented to the citizens of Eisenach through public formats, such as panel discussions and school visits.
During the forum the participants also have the opportunity to present their own topics, get to know each other and explore Eisenach and its surrounding.
The forum always concludes with the publication of the Wartburg Declaration [link]: The students document the results of the week — visions, analyses, action strategies — in a position paper, which is published both digitally and in print the following year.
The Student Forum on Future Democracy is a project of the Society for the Study of Democracy History (GEDG), in cooperation with the city of Eisenach, the Wartburg Foundation Eisenach, and the international Student Network on Future Democracy (SNFD).