Frankfurt, 1948: The Day Europe Found Its Voice in the Paulskirche
Updated: Sep 24
Imagine your city lies in ruins. The war ended just three years ago, and almost no one knows what the future holds. It was precisely at this time, on May 19, 1948, that many people across Europe turned their attention to Frankfurt am Main. Politicians, intellectuals, journalists, and young Europeans from many countries gathered at the Paulskirche. They wanted to discuss a question that has lost none of its significance to this day: How can Europe secure peace, freedom, and democracy in the long term?
To understand why this meeting was so important, you have to imagine the situation at the time. After World War II, Europe faced a critical crossroads: war or peace? Nationalism or cooperation? Division or unity? Many people had seen where nationalism and power politics could lead—namely, to war and destruction. And they agreed that this must never happen again. The European federalists—that is, people who advocated for the unification of European nations under a common umbrella—had a clear answer to this: cooperation instead of conflict, unity instead of division, democracy instead of dictatorship. For the participants at the Frankfurt conference, one thing was certain: Europe must grow together.
It was no coincidence that they met at the Paulskirche of all places. It was here, in 1848, that the first freely elected German National Assembly had convened. A hundred years later, the same place once again became the setting for a grand political vision—only this time, it was not just about Germany, but about all of Europe. On that day, St. Paul’s Church became the center of the European unification movement. Representatives from Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland came together to discuss the future of the continent—just three years after many of these countries had been at war with one another.
Among those present were some of the most influential voices in the pro-European movement of the time. Dr. Eugen Kogon, a journalist and political scientist, was one of the most prominent visionaries of a federal Europe. Henri Brugmans was president of the European Federalists and one of the best-known advocates of European unification of his time. Also present from France were the philosopher Alexander Marc, who championed a European federation, and the politician Robert Mangin, a staunch European. The British politician F. L. Josephy supported European cooperation with great dedication, and Dr. Bauer represented Switzerland as an advocate for a federal Europe.
The meeting did not go unnoticed. Newspapers across Germany reported on the debates in Frankfurt, and the headlines alone show just how much hope was placed in that day. “Europa-Union at Paulskirche” read one newspaper’s headline, describing the conference as an important step toward understanding in Europe. “For the Unification of Europe” was the headline elsewhere, where the call for a federal Europe took center stage. One headline posed one of the central questions of the postwar era: “What Does Europe Expect from Germany?” Other papers wrote, “Europe’s Future Lies in Unity,” making it clear that unity was seen as a prerequisite for peace and stability. Perhaps this headline summed it up best: “Only Europe Can Save Europe.” That was precisely the fundamental conviction of many who were seated in the Paulskirche that day.
Why should this still matter to us today? Because the answers formulated in Frankfurt in 1948 continue to shape our Europe to this day. Amid the rubble of war, the people gathered in the Paulskirche believed in a future in which countries would work together rather than fight against one another. And the question they asked back then is also our question: How do we secure peace, freedom, and democracy—and do so permanently? The answer from 1948 was clear: together. Perhaps it’s worth taking another closer look at it today.
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