The re:publica makes a detour to Vienna
For two days in October, re:publica will be held in Vienna for the first time – and, as is well known, with it debates and keynotes on net policy.
(Image: re-publica.com)
It is intended to be a new yet familiar event with "European appeal". Together with Austrian partners, re:publica will take place for two days in October at Vienna's Brotfabrik. Thematically, the Vienna edition is oriented towards the Berlin original and also the Hamburg offshoot, which now belongs to the Reeperbahn Festival. It's about net policy and digital society.
Partners are the Momentum Institute and the magazine Moment.at. Together, they want to create a "lighthouse event" in the German-speaking world that is "democratic, progressive, digitally feminist and socio-politically relevant". This means it is by no means intended to be a one-off excursion, but a permanent, annual institution. Hundreds of participants are expected, write the organizers. The re:publica in Berlin had more than 30.000 visitors over three days in 2025.
The managing director is Andreas Gebhard, Markus Beckedahl is co-founder and curatorial director. He says: "Since 2007, we have been asking the question in Berlin: How do we shape the digital society? We are delighted to also conduct these debates with our community in Vienna. Because we are convinced: a better digital (and analog) world is possible." Leonhard Dobusch, scientific director and co-founder of the Momentum Institute, says: "Moment.at and re:publica share the conviction that it is worth fighting for an open digital society."
Core topics will include: how platforms, AI and algorithms are changing political opinion formation, who actually owns digital infrastructure and who benefits from it, and what political rules we actually need.
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In Vienna, parties and concerts are also intended to round off the program. Who will appear as a speaker is not yet known. It starts on October 2nd. The Berlin re:publica will take place from May 18th to 20th, 2026 at Station. The Call for Participation has already expired. So the first program points should be announced soon. It is quite possible that lectures from Berlin will be imported to Vienna.
(emw)
