Past events

The volume "Leopold Rankes Frankfurter Jahre", edited by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Blänkner, offers previously unknown insights into the life and work of Leopold Ranke in Frankfurt (Oder). The Senior Scholar of the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and the authors of the volume will present the book, which was recently published by Vergangenheitsverlag, on Tuesday, January 20, at the Frankfurt (Oder) City Archive.

The German-Polish Seniors' Academy invites you to the lecture "Falling birth rates, intergenerational family structures and language barriers on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 3 p.m. in the small lecture hall of the Collegium Polonicum: How can senior citizens contribute to the integration and support of families?" followed by a discussion. The focus: the older generation in today's society.

With a joint inaugural lecture, two professors appointed to the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina in 2025 will introduce themselves to the public: Prof. Dr. Miriam Lind, Professor of Language Practices in Media Cultures, and Prof. Dr. Sarah Speck, Professor of Comparative Cultural Sociology.

The Berlin cabaret ensemble Distel promises a weird road trip through an even weirder country at their guest performance at the Theaterhaus Kleist Forum in Frankfurt (Oder) on 18 January. In "Jenseits von Germany", the cult satirists take on the absurdities of the present with their usual sharp pen, bitter humor and live music.

The German-Polish Youth Orchestra invites you to a New Year's concert entitled "Musik ohne Grenzen – Muzyka bez Granic" on Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 2.45 pm in the Nikolaisaal Potsdam. The young musicians from Germany and Poland will be performing together under the direction of Kornela Szczepańska and Hannes Metze-Stuyven.

The stage is set for "Das NEINhorn" and his friends. On January 17, the theater version of the cult children's book, performed by the ensemble of the Uckermärkische Bühnen Schwedt, can be seen at the Frankfurt Theaterhaus Kleist Forum. The day before, the play will be shown as a morning performance for school classes and daycare groups.

For the 122nd time, cabaret artist Arnulf Rating and the Maulhelden team will present the weirdest show in town on January 14 at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum: from 7:30 p.m., "Der Blaue Mittwoch" offers an insight into what is raging on the stages of the Berlin and Brandenburg scene or flourishing in secret.

How can freedom of broadcasting be preserved when public service broadcasting is increasingly being criticized - up to and including court proceedings? The 22nd Frankfurt Media Law Days on Wednesday, January 14 and Thursday, January 15, 2026 at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) will address this key question.

The NextStepNetzwerk is moving: In 2026, the monthly regulars' tables of the NextStepNetwork #darumFrankfurtOder will take place at BLOK O in Karl-Marx-Straße 182. The first exchange of the year will take place on Tuesday, January 13 at 5 p.m.

Journalist and author Michael Thumann will be presenting his book "Eisiges Schweigen flussabwärts: Eine Reise von Moskau nach Berlin" at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) on Monday, January 12, 2026. As part of the Jerzy Giedroyc Research Colloquium, the Moscow correspondent for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit will speak on the topic of "An iron curtain in the 21st century – causes and consequences of the new division of Europe".

The German-Polish exhibition "Art and Architecture in the Diocese of Lubuskie. Searching for traces in an undiscovered cultural landscape" began its journey through the former diocese area and through the Lubusz region. The exhibition will be on display at a total of 12 locations until the end of 2026, seven of which are in Poland and five in Germany.

The theater year at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum ends in a fast-paced and fun-filled way. With "Bajazzo Invasion", a clown show at the highest level ignites a firework display of slapstick, pantomime and magic on December 31 at 3 p.m.

End the year 2025 with a musical highlight! On Wednesday, December 31, the concert hall in St. Georg, Bad Freienwalde, invites you to the traditional festive New Year's Eve concert at 3:00 p.m.

Every year, Frankfurt musicians Søren Gundermann and Thomas Strauch put us in the mood for the upcoming festive season with their program "Es ist ein Gnu entsprungen" and show that there is still a lot to discover in Christmas songs that are more than 100 years old. The mix of classics, jazz and witty performances can be experienced on December 23 at 6 p.m. in the Kleist Forum.

The Handwerker-Männerchor Bad Freienwalde e.V. is once again organizing its traditional festive Christmas concert this year. The performance promises to get the audience in the mood for the upcoming festive season with an atmospheric mix of traditional and new songs. The concert will take place on Saturday, December 21, in the Bad Freienwalde concert hall.

The "Best of Poetry Slam" is back at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum: On December 18, it will once again be about choosing perhaps the best story of all time. Top poets from German-speaking countries will give an insight into what moves them and their world.

As part of the Living Advent Calendar, the cities of Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice invite the citizens and guests of the twin city to join in Christmas caroling in an Advent atmosphere on Thursday, December 18, 2025 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at St.-Marien-Kirche, Oberkirchplatz 1.

On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, the short film "TRANSIT Frankfurt (Oder)" will be shown at the Viadrina Municipal Museum on Brandenburg Short Film Day, with the Polish language version at 3 p.m. and the German language version at 4:30 p.m. The documentary focuses on the end of the Second World War and the subsequent new beginning and recalls the fate of the city and those who returned home.

The Berlin Palace Concerts will make a guest appearance at Bad Freienwalde Palace on Saturday, December 14, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. In addition to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Peter Tchaikovsky and others, the program includes Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental 9th Symphony, performed in a piano arrangement for four hands.

Television stars Samuel Finzi and Herbert Knaup are retelling Charles Dickens' famous "Christmas Story" as a musical fairy tale for adults. Their interpretation can be experienced on December 14 at 5 p.m. at the Theaterhaus Kleist Forum in Frankfurt (Oder).

Just in time for the 200th anniversary of the operetta king Johann Strauss, television star and audience favorite Boris Aljinovic has taken on his operetta "Die Fledermaus" and reveals in his entertaining version what really happened in the box office hit and what it is actually about. The Frankfurt Theaterhaus Kleist Forum's own production will celebrate its premiere on Saturday, December 13 in the main auditorium.

This coming weekend, 12/13 December, Friederike Maria Nölting will be performing in the Advent revue "Mit ken König möcht ich tauschn" at the Theater am Rand with songs by the Erzgebirge folk poet and singer Anton Günther, christened the "Bob Dylan of the Erzgebirge" by the three exiled Erzgebirge musicians of the program as a forerunner of modern singer-songwriters.

Students of MitMachMusik Brandenburg e.V. will play river music from all over the world as well as their own compositions on Friday, December 12. Imogen Kogge will also read "Where in Frankfurt can you find the source of the sounding river?". Afterwards, a walk together to the Oder is planned.

Experience the historic ambience, festive music and beautiful Christmas atmosphere! The Advent Magic in Bad Freienwalde Castle Park opens its doors from Friday, December 12 to Sunday, December 14, 2025.

On Thursday, December 11, the current documentary film "Kein Land für Niemand – Abschottung eines Einwanderungslandes" will be shown at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). The film screening followed by a discussion is a joint event organized by the student initiatives Kritische Jurist*innen, Leftist Students and SDS Viadrina as well as the Ecumenical Student Work (ÖSAF).

Prof. Dr. em. Georg Theunissen from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg will give a lecture entitled "Understanding autism – perspectives for practice" on Thursday, December 11. The Viadrina's occupational health management team and Wichern Diakonie Frankfurt (Oder) are hosting the event.

Could thoughts be read out of the brain in the future or even stored there? What protection mechanisms are needed to ensure privacy, identity, mental integrity, autonomy and equality? On Wednesday, December 10, Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Dederer, member of the German Ethics Council, will give a public lecture at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) entitled "Neurotechnologies and international human rights protection".

On Tuesday, December 9, the German-Polish Seniors' Academy invites you to a lecture entitled "Memory and enjoyment of life in old age: what is typical, what is questionable?" by psychologist Roksana Weber. The lecture will be simultaneously interpreted into Polish. The event is open to people of all ages.

On Monday, December 8, Prof. Dr. Pierre Wat (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) will give the lecture "Paradise lost? Art facing the anthropocene". Using a selection of current works, the art historian will show how artists manage – or fail – to maintain a sense of wonder in times of predicted catastrophe, while also questioning the power of art throughout history.

The discussion format "We need to talk!" will take place for the second time on Monday, December 8. The Doppelstadtkultur association and the Institute for Conflict Management at Viadrina are inviting people to talk about the frequently perceived distance between politics and the population under the title "Die da oben?

The program for "Sternsinger und Sauerkraut" on 7 December at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum theater includes both light-hearted and contemplative pieces. Newsreel legend Dagmar Berghoff will read pre-Christmas texts by Paulo Coelho, Selma Lagerlöf and Bertolt Brecht, among others. She will be accompanied by singer Felicitas Breest and pianist Siegfried Gerlich.

The last day of the program at the Oderbruch Museum Altranft brings the annual theme of neighbourhood to a close for young and old with stories, music and puzzles. There will be guessing, playing, reading, singing and music in the castle

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The day course offers theoretical and practical basic knowledge for professional and natural fruit tree care and clarifies the following questions: Why should fruit trees be pruned at all? At what stage of the tree's age are which measures useful, for example training, maintenance or rejuvenation pruning? And what should be avoided at all costs?

In the state of Brandenburg, young farmers can receive a business start-up grant if they set up or buy an agricultural business or take over a farm as part of a transfer within or outside the family. Björn Hallmann from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Consumer Protection (MLEUV) of the state of Brandenburg will present the business start-up grant in the webinar on 4.12.2025.

"To politicize or ban? Political and legal perspectives on dealing with right-wing extremism" is the topic of a public discussion on Tuesday, December 2, at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder).

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the partnership between the Lubuskie Voivodeship and the state of Brandenburg, an exhibition has been created that shows the work of the IHK with a focus on German-Polish cooperation.

This year's Christmas fairy tale at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum is about nothing less than saving the world. "Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch" by the Hans Otto Theater Potsdam can be seen as a family performance on November 30 at 3 p.m. There are only a few tickets left for the morning performances for school classes and daycare groups from December 1 to 5.

On Saturday, November 29, 2025, more than 100 employers and technical colleges from the Oderland-Spree region will be presenting training and study opportunities in three halls at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The European University Viadrina will be represented with its trainees at the Frankfurt (Oder) training fair on Saturday, November 29, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. As one of around 100 institutions and companies, Viadrina will be presenting its apprenticeships.

On Friday, November 28, and Saturday, November 29, numerous players from Viadrina and the twin city of Frankfurt (Oder) – Słubice will be presenting at the online biennial "Arts & Edges" of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA).

On Thursday, November 27, the German-Polish conference "Neighborhood as an Economic Driver" will take place at the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice from 1:00 p.m. From 5:00 p.m., a get-together will offer space for exchange and networking. The aim of the conference is to strengthen economic dynamism on the German-Polish border.

On Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at 6:30 p.m., musician Thomas Strauch will dedicate himself to the baroque poet Johann Christian Günther at the Frankfurt City and Regional Library. Poems set to music will become songs that carefully translate Günther's poetry into the present day.

For the 121st time, cabaret artist Arnulf Rating and the Maulhelden team will present the weirdest show in town on November 26 at Frankfurt's Kleist Forum: from 7:30 p.m., "Der Blaue Mittwoch" offers an insight into what is raging on the stages of the Berlin and Brandenburg scene or flourishing in secret.

On Wednesday, November 26, the Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION invites you to a discussion entitled "Cross-border mobility. History and perspectives for rail transport in the German-Polish-Czech interlinked area".

On 26.11.2025 at 7:00 p.m., the musician, composer, arranger and producer Sven Helbig, who was born and raised in Eisenhüttenstadt, will be coming to the Friedrich-Wolf-Theater for a home performance. Together with the BSOF, he will perform his orchestral work Pocket Symphonies.

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, an event will be held in front of the town hall on 25.11.2025 at 2:30 p.m. The event will be hosted by Désirée Schrade, Chairwoman of the City Council, and Lord Mayor Dr. Axel Strasser. The members of the Victim Protection Working Group and the European University Viadrina will be holding a joint event at 9:00 a.m.

On Tuesday, 25 November 2025, the Chairwoman of the City Council, Désirée Schrade, and Lord Mayor Dr. Axel Strasser invite you to an event on the market square (in front of the town hall) at 2.30 pm to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The joint program "Christmas in the Twin City" takes place in the German-Polish twin city of Frankfurt (Oder) / Słubice during the Advent season. Various formats organized by both cities are implemented under this umbrella brand. These include markets, daily activities and other events. The program is aimed at citizens of both cities as well as guests.

The ensemble of Potsdam's Hans Otto Theater tells the story of a lovably ridiculous theater group whose members completely destroy themselves and the stage during rehearsals and the performance of a silly play in the turbulent slapstick comedy "Der nackte Wahnsinn".

The Kleist Forum in Frankfurt (Oder) is showing another performance of "Phaedra's Honor" with Sophie Rois and Campbell Caspary.