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Portrait photograph of Angela Merkel on blue background
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Angela Merkel

Photo: Urban Zintel

Thought Leadership Stage: Angela Merkel (DE) in conversation with Marc-Christoph Wagner

Waiting list - Germany's former Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel visits The Black Diamond on the occasion of the memoir Freedom.

It is one of the most significant political figures of our time who will come to the country when Angela Merkel visits Denmark in December. For 16 years, she was at the helm of Europe's largest economy, led Germany through numerous crises and influenced politics and social conditions with her actions and stances. In Germany and internationally.
On December 18, she can be seen in an interview at Royal Danish Library's Thought Leadership Stage in The Black Diamond. The reason for the visit is Angela Merkel's current memoir Freedom, which has been sold to more than 30 countries and is published in Denmark by Gutkind Forlag. The event will be the only one in the Nordics.

A defence of freedom

In her memoirs, which Merkel has written together with her long-time political adviser Beate Baumann, Angela Merkel looks back on her life in two German states – 35 years in the GDR, 35 years in the reunified Germany. As personal as never before, she talks about her childhood and youth, about her studies in the GDR and the dramatic year 1989, when the Wall came down and her political life began. She lets us into meetings and conversations with the most powerful people in the world and clearly and precisely highlights how decisions were made in decisive national, European and international moments that came to shape our time. Her book gives a unique insight into the inner workings of power - and is a resolute defence of freedom.

Contributors

Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2005 to 2021, and the first woman ever to contest the country's most powerful office.
She was born in Hamburg in 1954, but grew up in the GDR, where she studied physics and obtained a doctorate. In 1990, she was elected to the German Bundestag. From 1991 to 1994 Merkel was Minister for Women and Youth, from 1994 to 1998 Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and from 2000 to 2018 leader of the CDU, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. She ended her active political career in 2021.

Marc-Christoph Wagner

Marc-Christoph Wagner, born in 1970 in West Berlin, studied political science and worked as a political journalist for many years. Today he is the head of Louisiana Channel and host of Louisiana LIVE. Recipient of the Academy Council's N.L. Høyen Medal in 2023 and the same year included in Krak's Blue Book.

Part of the series Thought Leadership Stage

Photo of the audience in the Queen's Hall

Photo: Malthe Ivarsson Det Kgl. Bibliotek

Royal Danish Library's series of events on economics, politics, philosophy and management.

On Thought Leadership Stage, Royal Danish Library addresses the state of the world and places the philosophical and educational questions in relation to leadership and development in a broad sense on the agenda.

Part of the series Thought Leadership Stage

Flere arrangementer

Wednesday 28 October 2026 at 16:30
Talk events

BookTalks: Hiromi Kawakami

Experience Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami in a conversation about the novel Under the Eye of the Big Bird at BookTalks on 28 October.

Indsigten, Victor Albecks Vej, Aarhus 
Sold out
Wednesday 28 October 2026 at 20:00
Talk events, Other

Diary concert

Come to a diary concert in atmospheric surroundings in The Old Reading Room. Record your thoughts in a brand new diary, while the hall is filled with beautiful tones from violin and cello.

The Black Diamond, Old Reading Room 
Monday 2 November 2026 at 17:00
Talk events

"Speechless": Film Screening and run-up to the mid-term election – Ric Esther Bienstock (CA) in conversation with Lucia Odoom

As a prelude to the mid-term election in the United States, you can experience the sensational film Speechless in the Queen's Hall for this special event.

The Black Diamond, The Queen's Hall 
Monday 9 November 2026 at 16:30
Talk events

BookTalks: Nikolai Torgersen

Experience the Norwegian author Nikolai Torgersen behind the novel Streets I Have Lived at BookTalks on 9 November.

Indsigten, Victor Albecks Vej, Aarhus 
Wednesday 11 November 2026 at 16:30
Talk events, Other

Reading Salon 5:6

Shh...now it's reading time. Turn off your phone, find your best book and enjoy a quiet moment. The beautiful Old Reading Room forms the setting, and the soundscape is quiet baroque music.

The Black Diamond, Old Reading Room 
Thursday 12 November 2026 at 17:00
Talk events

The Author and His Source

Meet author Rasmus Daugbjerg in conversation with senior researcher Peter Zeeberg and author Harald Voetmann about his new book, Rasmus Nielsøn, and discover the Renaissance poem that inspired it.

The Black Diamond, Copenhagen 
Monday 16 November 2026 at 19:00
Talk events, Other

Drama in The Diamond III: Matador

Experience Matador in a whole new way as some of Denmark’s finest actors perform selected scenes from the work in a staged reading, placing them in context alongside newly written drama.

The Black Diamond, The Queen's Hall 
Wednesday 18 November 2026 at 16:30
Talk events

BETWEEN VOICES: Author conversation with Dean Butt and Thomas Bach – 'Social Class, Abuse and Pattern Breaking'

Experience the two Danish authors Dean Butt (Vi er rigtige engle, 2026) and Thomas Bach (Bunker, 2025) in conversation about their works based on the themes 'social class, abuse and pattern breaking'.

Indsigten, Victor Albecks Vej, Aarhus 
Thursday 3 December 2026 at 20:00
Talk events, Other

Letter Writing Concert - Christmas Cards

Turn off your phone, turn on your senses and indulge in the quiet, intimate space of letter writing. In the warm light of the green lamps, we invite you to write the final letter of the year.

The Black Diamond, Old Reading Room 
Wednesday 9 December 2026 at 16:30
Talk events, Other

Reading Salon 6:6

Shh...now it's reading time. Turn off your phone, find your best book and enjoy a quiet moment. The beautiful Old Reading Room forms the setting, and the soundscape is quiet baroque music.

The Black Diamond, Old Reading Room