Meeting Brno Festival Awarded the Human Rights Prize

At this year’s 75th Sudeten German Day in Regensburg, the Meeting Brno Festival was honored with the Human Rights Prize, awarded by the Sudeten German Homeland Association (Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft). The ceremonial event was attended by hundreds of delegates from Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, including prominent political figures – German Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt and Czech Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek.

Greater than the Prize is Friendship

The festival received the award for its long-term support of understanding and reconciliation between Czechs and Germans. The most visible act in this area is the annual Pilgrimage of Reconciliation – a march from Pohořelice to Brno, which symbolically reverses the direction of the so-called Brno death march of 1945. In his speech, festival director Petr Kalousek, initiator of the 2015 Declaration of Reconciliation, thanked for the award and emphasized that the greatest value of the entire effort is the friendship that has emerged. “We are incredibly happy about today’s recognition. But even more valuable for us is the friendship that has developed between us over the past ten years,” said Kalousek, whose words received a standing ovation.

Healing wounds together

Chairman of the Sudeten German Homeland Association Bernd Posselt appreciated that Czechs today remember not only their own victims but also those of the Sudeten Germans. “Wounds are not healed by fixating on one’s own fate. Wounds are healed together. You have returned a piece of our homeland to us,” he said, addressing the festival organizers.

From a call for apology to the Declaration of Reconciliation

The path to reconciliation, of which the Meeting Brno festival has become a symbol, has its roots in civic initiatives. Already in 2000, Ondřej Liška called on the then leadership of the city of Brno to apologize for the events of May 1945. This call was followed up by Jaroslav Ostrčilík, who began organizing marches from Brno to Pohořelice as a reminder of the violent expulsion of the city’s German-speaking population. A crucial impulse then came from literature – specifically the novel The Expulsion of Gerta Schnirch by Kateřina Tučková. It was after reading this novel that the city publicly stated: “We regret what happened in 1945.” From this stance emerged the 2015 Declaration of Reconciliation, initiated primarily by then mayor Petr Vokřál and his deputy Matěj Hollan.

The first Pilgrimage of Reconciliation and the founding of the festival

The first Pilgrimage of Reconciliation (Versöhnungsmarsch) was held in 2015. It was at this time that the organizers met for the first time in person with members of the Sudeten German community. The name of the march and the idea of symbolically reversing its direction were proposed by Jan Hanák and Tomáš Mozga. In the same year, the Meeting Brno festival itself was founded. Behind its founding were Kateřina Tučková and David Macek, with Macek bringing inspiration from the Italian festival Meeting Rimini, which is based on open encounters and respect for diversity.

An international platform for dialogue

Today, Meeting Brno is a respected international multi-genre festival that each year presents a program focused on Czech-German relations, questions of identity, memory, faith, and freedom. Festival president Martina Viktorie Kopecká and David Macek said in their speech: “Meeting Brno was born out of the need to seek understanding between Czechs and Germans… We are united by our responsibility for Europe and by our fidelity to the method that enabled great European reconciliation… We touch wounds, places marked by hatred, death, division, pain. And it is precisely from these places that, in due time and with hope, we set out on a new journey, a pilgrimage of reconciliation.”

Sudeten German Days in Brno?

Meeting Brno invited the participants in Regensburg to hold the 76th edition of the Sudeten German Days in 2026 in Brno. The invitation was met with great response and a standing ovation. Bernd Posselt later stated that the possibility of holding the event in the Czech Republic should be openly considered. According to our team, it would not only be a symbolic gesture, but also a message against growing nationalism and hatred in Europe.

Thanks to all who have been part of it

We thank everyone who has supported the festival over the years – representatives of the City of Brno and the South Moravian Region, partners, artists, and volunteers, as well as the general public. We especially thank all current and former collaborators and colleagues who have contributed to the creation and development of the festival. Without the people who were not afraid to support the idea of understanding – even in the face of doubts or criticism – we would not be standing here today. This award belongs to all of us.