Reception in the Federal Chancellery

Together with other selected finalists of Jugend forscht 2024, we were invited to a two-day-long visit of Berlin by the Federal Chancellery of Germany as has been tradition for 43 years. Our stay began on tuesday, 17 September 2024, with a visit of the impressive Zeiss Major Planetarium and then a delicious dinner in the Berlin pavilion next to the Reichstag. In the evening, we took a walk around Berlin and admired some of its many sights.

After a restful night, we were driven around Berlin on an interesting tour of its historic monuments, for example the remnants of the wall dividing east and west. The tour ended at the headquarters of the Federal Chancellery where we got a fascinating tour by a very experienced tourguide able to answer all of our questions - from the composition of the floors to personal insights into the visits of various dignitaries. We even saw the main entrance and red carpet used by foreign government leaders! We ended up in the Sky Lobby, waiting for Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to arrive from his visit to Kazakhstan. After his arrival and following speech, the team given the award for most original project by the chancellor’s office gave their presentation. Then the Q&A started: All participants could directly ask the chancellor their questions which ranged from highly political to personal.

More details, the speech of the chancellor and a recording of the 1-hour meeting can be found here.