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07/23/2010

Have you ever admired the British tradition of democracy and free speech at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, where Karl Marx, George Orwell and people from all walks of life have been spreading their message since 1872 and wondered why the tradition hasn't been exported elsewhere?

Well, now Berlin is about to give it a go. Theater director and rhetoric coach Peter Lüder wants to establish a German version of the public forum on the grounds of the former Tempelhof Airport, which served as the hub for the Berlin Airlift during the blockade from 1948 to 1949. The 355 hectare area has recently been converted into a giant park.

"The new park is just enormous. It rarely happens that a space the size of this just opens up in a city," Lüder says with awe. But what the gigantic open space was lacking, in his opinion, was a platform for exchange, where people could speak their minds and react to others doing the same.

"I was really surprised to learn that something like this doesn't exist already," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Especially in times where people feel more and more alienated from politicians and society, the teacher wants to import a little bit of the Londoners' ability to poke fun at themselves to the German capital -- even though he has never witnessed the colorful and bustling atmosphere on a Sunday morning in Hyde Park himself.

Opening With Spoken Word

"People here don't just climb on a shoebox and start talking," says Lüder, pointing to the sometimes rather stiff nature of his countrymen. To get them started, the organizer is opening the venue on the grounds of a beer garden with a spoken word festival next Sunday. Anyone over the age of 14 can participate, as long as they don't disseminate "racist dirt."

During the first round, speakers have two minutes to spread their message. They will be judged by a jury of professionals, who know what they are talking about. Ralf Schnell, professor for media studies at the Siegen University, Felix Römer, slam poet and Meike Herrmann, former lector at German publishing company Rowolth, will judge contributions in four categories: Content, performance, personality and audience reaction.

"Impression is very subjective, so we thought it would be better to give judges a framework they can operate within," Lüder explained. Speakers who survive the first round will move on to the final, where they have eight minutes to wow the jury and get as many of the 40 points available as possible.

Orators and visitors will not have to wonder the vast park area aimlessly to find the speaker's corner. Lüder will nail a sign to a tree nearby. And unlike the London original, potential speakers don't even have to bring their own box to preach from. A small pedestal will serve as a permanent stage.

Participants can register via e-mail at redewettbewerb@web.de until the day of the event.