“Those who do not speak will not be heard!” Helmut Schmidt once said. Yet whether one is even allowed to speak is often a matter of privilege. Around the world, journalists who raise their voices are silenced: they are imprisoned, threatened, defamed or even killed. Last year alone, 58 media professionals were murdered, and in Germany too, the number of attacks on journalists is rising – according to Reporters Without Borders, press freedom in this country is rated as merely “satisfactory”.

Sixty-four years ago, an attack on press freedom triggered the first government crisis in the then-young Federal Republic: the so-called SPIEGEL affair.

As this event attracted such a great deal of interest in June, we would like to invite you once again to discover Helmut Schmidt’s letters relating to this historic event. Find out what value the Helmut Schmidt-Archiv holds for our rule of law.

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As part of Hamburg Press Freedom Week, historian Franziska Zollweg puts the events into context and takes you on a fascinating journey through the archive, where the letters are preserved as silent witnesses to history. Poetry slammer Sven Kamin reads a selection of these letters aloud, bringing them to life.

Experience an evening full of history, archival discoveries and artistic interpretation. The event is free of charge.