Flags at the Wirth monument

Today is the anniversary of the Hambach Festival, which is regarded as the first major demonstration for freedom, national unity and popular sovereignty. From May 27 to June 1, 1832, up to 30,000 people gathered in and around Hambach Castle above Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Johann Georg August Wirth from Hof and Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer were the initiators and main speakers at the event, which lasted several days and is considered a milestone on the road to democracy in Germany.

In Hof, the large monument by Andreas Theurer in front of the Freiheitshalle commemorates Wirth and his achievements, which cannot be overestimated from today's perspective. Alongside all the important inventors and poets or other heroes of history, it was people like Wirth or Siebenpfeiffer who, under persecution and danger to life and limb, never ceased to stand up for freedom of the press and democracy. It is all too easy to forget this in our time, when personal freedom is taken for granted. Yet a glance at many other countries is enough to recognize the value of what was the main content of the Hambach Festival in 1832. To commemorate the anniversary, the City of Hof's Department of Culture has therefore had the black, red and gold flag and the flag with Wirth's portrait raised at the Wirth monument at the Freiheitshalle.