History matters! The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War was commemorated with a big European festival “Europe 14|14” in Berlin in May 2014. Focal point of this festival was the History Campus during which 400 young people between the ages of 18 to 25 from forty countries investigated the personal significance of the First World War for themselves, for their national identity and for modern day Europe as a joint peace project. For a week, Germany’s capital was made the European meeting point to “look back and think forward”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel officially opened the event on 7 May. During the following days, the young people worked together in international workshops – renegotiating historical treaties, writing scripts, shooting films, acting, researching and much more. They also had the chance to meet German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and discuss with him if lessons can be learned from history.
The results of all workshops were showcased in the workshop rooms on the last day of the festival. A few selected workshop results were presented on stage during the big closing ceremony at the Maxim Gorki Theatre. We would invite you to visit some of the often very creative workshop results online.
Europe 14|14 was a joint project by the Koerber-Foundation, the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Robert Bosch Stiftung together with numerous other sponsors and partners.
Watch some of the results of the History Campus Europe 14| 14
1. Videos
Official short trailer presented at the opening event
Official five-minute video presented at the closing event
Youthpress-documentations of the History Campus 1
Youthpress-documentations of the History Campus 2
4. Selection of Workshop Results
Exhibition Workshop “House of Peace”
Participants were asked to create a concept or model for a real or virtual place of remembrance, the so‐called ’House of Peace’ ‐ that captures different European perspectives and creates a new access to history and the political relevance of the First World War.
Audio Workshop “Dueting the Postal Army Service”
Participants developed (audio)-collages compiled of personal messages, reporting different events in history. They also compared communication in past and in today’s conflicts: Have motives to communicate changed?
Video Animation Workshop: Thinking in Pictures
How do you visualise complex topics? Participants learned the basic skills of storytelling, conceptualisation and technical implementation of videos. Watch their two animations.
Collaborative Scriptwriting Workshop: Bringing the Past to Life
Participants learned to develop plots and wrote their own scenes dealing with aspects of the First World War. Read three of the mini dramas!
Script1_About a Ring_Europe 14_14_Collaborated Scriptwriting
Script2_Back to the Roots_Europe 14-14_Collaborated Scriptwriting