Due to the Corona pandemic, the 2021 event will be held as a virtual conference. Nevertheless, the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin is hosting the event. A small circle of speakers and ministers will broadcast directly from Berlin – in compliance with hygiene rules.

Every year the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue takes place at the Berlin headquarters of the Federal Foreign Office. With its unusual history the building reminds us of the importance of international relations. Hardly any other building in Berlin has experienced the low points and high points of recent German history as this building has. It was built from 1934 to 1940 as an extension to the Reichsbank. As the seat of the SED Central Committee, it was later the control centre of the GDR for three decades. But the first freely elected People’s Chamber of the GDR also met here where it approved the Treaty on the Establishment of German Unity allowing Europe to grow together. Once a year for the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue the same building becomes the headquarter of the Global Energiewende where stakeholders of the energy sector come together to advance the energy transition.

Here you can find out more about the building of the Federal Foreign Office.