One Day for … Martin Luther King, Jr.

On 12 September 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. landed on the runway of Berlin’s Tempelhof airport. On the occasion of the 14th Berliner Festwochen, which also provided the founding impulse for the Berliner Jazztage (a festival that still exists as Jazzfest Berlin today), a memorial for John F. Kennedy was held. In the summer of 1963, Kennedy – “Ich bin ein Berliner!” – had won the hearts of the divided city’s inhabitants; he was assassinated only a few months later. On 13 September 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in his memory at the Berlin Philharmonic. Later he gave a sermon in front of an audience of 20,000 at the Waldbühne and also spoke at Marienkirche and Sophienkirche in the Eastern part of the city.

To mark the 50th anniversary of his visit and this speech, the Berliner Festspiele, in cooperation with ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, celebrate “One Day for … Martin Luther King, Jr.” Together with artists, writers, students, activists and witnesses of this time, we will search for traces of this visit.

We will also explore how relevant the values which Martin Luther King, Jr. represented and lived by are for us today and how they influence current political education and the promotion of civil courage in our society.

The day will begin with a tour of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s traces in Berlin, either by bicycle or on foot. From 15:30, the Haus der Berliner Festspiele will open its doors and present an interplay of discussions and performances by Clayborne Carson, Grada Kilomba, Jocelyn B. Smith, Elke Naters, Philipp Ruch and the Label Noir theatre company. Exhibitions and a programme of films will set out leads which will be brought together onstage in the evening: With Denys Baptiste’s concert performance “Now Is the Time – Let Freedom Ring!”, we will celebrate both the 50th anniversary of this historic visit and the 50th edition of Jazzfest Berlin, which is dedicating a festival focus to Martin Luther King this year.