The Path of Visionaries

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The Path of the Visionaries – a Sign for Europe is an urban art project that takes place at the southern beginning of Friedrichstraße in Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, near Hallesches Tor on Saturday, 14. Inaugurated in May 2022 together with the reopening of Mehringplatz with a street party. It consists of 1.2 m2 granite panels embedded in three rows in the floor of the pedestrian zone, with statements by outstanding personalities of the EU Member States proposed by the national cultural representatives. During her tenure, the path of visionaries was under the patronage of Irina Bukowa, former Director-General of UNESCO, and Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission. Gerhard Sabathil, former head of the European Commission in Germany, described the path of visionaries as “[...] the first landmark of the European unification process”.

On 30 March 2022, the Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey took over the patronage of the Path of Visionaries.

The Path of the Visionaries can be visited daily 24 hours a day and can be easily reached with the U1, U3 or U6 via the Hallesches Tor station. Especially attractive is the installation at dusk, when the flag elements of the tablets of the nations illuminate.

Path of Visionaries – EU

The sponsoring association of the initiative is Kunstwelt e.V. Berlin. Chairman of the Board attorney Kristijana Penava, initiator is the artist Bonger Voges.

The pure construction costs of the installation are shared by the state of Berlin, represented by the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, private sponsors and participating embassies. The expenses beyond the construction costs were borne by many dedicated helpers. Bonger Voges invited the embassies to name personalities with quotes that represent the identity, values and culture of their respective countries. The proposals were made by the respective embassies and Culture ministries submitted and evaluated by a 40-member jury composed of representatives from science, culture and politics. Among the selection criteria of the quotations was, in addition to a generally understandable statement, the mediation of tolerance and international understanding. The project sees itself as a sign of the unity and diversity of the European Union and contributes to the upgrading of the quarter at Berlin’s historic south gate, the gateway to Berlin’s Friedrichstraße. The inauguration of a temporary installation (EU) took place on 7. May 2006.

On the 1.2 m2 large granite plates there are quotes of the elected representatives, e.g. a poet or a writer of the respective country in German, English and in the respective mother tongue. Each of the panels carries a backlit flag element of about 20 cm × 40 cm in size for the respective nation. The order of the laying of the tables corresponds to the order of