Nachrichten – Erasmus Stiftung

online lecture

The most recent papal encyclical on the subject of „AI“

web seminar

Date: Friday, 10 July 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Speaker: Tobias Teuscher

Artificial intelligence is the new social issue of our time. This is what Pope Leo states in his encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas*. Those who possess data, control algorithms and oversee digital infrastructures wield political power. The new encyclical therefore poses an uncomfortable question: Are we building a new Tower of Babel or a just city? At the heart of the matter lie human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, solidarity and democratic responsibility. The lecture demonstrates why this encyclical can be read as a „Rerum novarum“ for the digital age. It challenges states, businesses, churches, universities and citizens not to leave the technological future in the hands of a handful of monopolies. At stake is nothing less than the political defence of what it means to be human in the age of the machine.

4 July 2026

online lecture

The Black Book of State Broadcasting

web seminar

Date: Thursday, 9 June 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Speaker: Josef Kraus

What are the billions in licence fees paid to public service broadcasters (ÖRR) in Germany used for? How balanced is the political coverage provided by ARD, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk and the other media outlets really?

4 July 2026

face-to-face lecture

The AI Revolution

lecture

Date: Monday, 6 July 2026

Time: 9.00 am – 9.30 pm (doors open from 6.30 pm)

Location: Berlin

Speaker: Prof. Dr Boris Hollas

An insight into the most fascinating topic of our time.

Can Germany and Europe still keep up?

4 July 2026

face-to-face lecture

Virtues – the invisible foundation of society

lecture
Date: Monday, 22 June 2026

Time: 7.00 pm – 9.30 pm (doors open from 6.30 pm)

Location: Berlin

Speaker: Silke Schröder

Since ancient times, many eminent thinkers have written at length on the importance of virtues for the state and society.

Seneca described virtue as „the only true good“; Friedrich Schlegel called it „reason transformed into energy“; and Frederick the Great stated, „Any state in which virtue prevails is, in the long run, superior to the others.“ The ’68 generation fought against it relentlessly, and today it seems to have fallen completely out of fashion and is no longer considered to play a prominent role in the transmission of values within society.

17 June 2026

Current issues

„Germany sovereign? vs. Europe sovereign?“

Date: Friday, 12 June 2026
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm (admission from 6.30 pm)
Location: Munich
Discussants:
- Prof Ulrike Guérot (publicist, bestselling author)
- Rüdiger Lucassen (Member of the German Bundestag, retired colonel)

On the subject:
The concept of sovereignty is experiencing a renaissance against the backdrop of global shifts in power. But can a state like Germany still be self-determined and capable of acting in today's world? How can Europe achieve strategic autonomy without relinquishing the self-determination of European nations?

Ulrike Guérot and Rüdiger Lucassen discuss the role of armed forces, the future of NATO and the question of whether Europe can compete with major powers such as the USA or China.

4 June 2026

face-to-face lecture

Why is our electricity so expensive?

Date: Friday, 12.6.2026

Time: 7 pm - 9 pm (admission from 6.30 pm)

Location: Frankfurt am Main

Speaker: Marco Pino

The energy crisis has Germany firmly in its grip. Whenever there is talk of plant closures, relocation of production and job cuts, high energy prices in general and high electricity costs in particular are at the top of the list of reasons. The fact is that Germany is one of the countries with the highest electricity prices in the world. In a multimedia presentation, journalist and film producer Marco Pino analyses the numerous factors that drive up our electricity prices and dispels the many myths.

4 June 2026

online lecture

Siegfried Lenz (*17.3.1926, †7.10.2014)

web seminar

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

Time: 7 - 9 pm

Speaker: Helmut Seifen

Siegfried Lenz could have celebrated his 100th birthday on 17 March 2026. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to a writer who has been an important intellectual voice in the Federal Republic of Germany from the very beginning and who has already been honoured with numerous awards during his lifetime.

Unlike his fellow writers Böll and Grass, for example, his stories, novels and dramas are not about political systems, but always about the individual. In concrete situations, his characters often find themselves in an almost unbearable tension between their own moral principles and beliefs and public morality, public „duty“. Lenz understands like no other how to visualise this tense inner situation in narrative images and thus reveal to his readers the underlying fundamental human and moral questions.

10 May 2026

online lecture

Are our schools capitulating to imported problems?

web seminar

Date: Thursday, 21 May

Time: 7 - 9 pm

Speaker: Josef Kraus

There are two main reasons for the decline of the former educational nation of Germany: home-made and imported. The home-grown causes include egalitarianism and a disregard for achievement. Here we are talking about imported causes: Lack of education, language deficits and disregard for school rules as well as disdain for teaching staff and also submission to Islamic rules up to and including Sharia law.

10 May 2026