Key events in the new year
From the anniversary of the Basic Law to the European Football Championship: here you can find about the topics and events Germany will be talking about in 2024.
The highlight of the year has already been decided: the European Football Championship, with matches being played in ten German cities this summer. But 2024 will also see the the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law in May and the UN Summit of the Future in September. A look at key events in Germany in 2024:
75 years of the Basic Law
It was the day the Federal Republic of Germany came into existence: the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany was adopted on 23 May 1949. Based on this legal foundation, the first election to the Bundestag – still based in Bonn at the time – took place on 14 August 1949. There was deliberately no mention of a constitution: in view of the division of Germany after the Second World War, the aim was to reflect the provisional nature of the Basic Law. Since reunification in 1990, the Grundgesetz has applied to the “entire German people”, as it says in the revised preamble.
The Basic Law was drafted by the Parliamentary Council, which was established in 1948. This constituent assembly was made up of 65 voting members – men and women who are now regarded as the “fathers and mothers of the Basic Law”. The constitution has been amended several times over the past 75 years, each time requiring a two-thirds majority in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat. Nonetheless, the liberal and democratic character of the Basic Law has remained unchanged, as evidenced by the words in Article One, which has been in force since 1949: “Human dignity shall be inviolable.”
European Football Championship
Will it be a repeat of the “summer fairytale” of 2006, when the World Cup was held in Germany? In any case, the European Football Championship kicks off on 14 June 2024 with the opening match in Munich. Everything else has yet to be decided. In the four weeks following the opening match through to the final on 14 July in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, 24 teams will compete for the European Championship title. The Euro 2024 matches will be held in ten cities throughout Germany. One advantage for the German team: as the host nation, it qualified automatically. In the preliminary round the team face Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland. Germany has won the European Championship three times to date: in 1972, in 1980 and most recently in 1996. A large number of the tickets for the European Championship have already been allocated to buyers, but there will still be opportunities to buy tickets in 2024. And if not: public viewing will be available in all German towns and cities.
UN Summit of the Future
How will the global community face the future? The United Nations is planning a “Summit of the Future” which is to be held on 22 and 23 September. The aim is to find answers to key challenges based on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015. Germany has a vital role to play because it is leading the preparations for the summit in collaboration with Namibia. Having celebrated 50 years of UN membership in 2023, Germany is now one of the organisation’s largest donors and supporters.
Elections
The year 2024 is a super election year worldwide. The US presidential election in November is of particular interest, but there are important elections coming up in Germany, too. The European elections are due to take place on 9 June: from 6 to 9 June, citizens in all 27 EU member states will vote for members of the European Parliament. And elections to the parliaments of the eastern German states of Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia will be held in late summer and autumn. The next Bundestag elections are scheduled for 2025.
