Ehrentag Flemhude — 77 Years of the Basic Law

Quarnbek and the Flemhude district

Quarnbek is a municipality with around 1,700 inhabitants in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, directly west of Kiel, on the Kiel Canal. Flemhude is one of its districts — on the southern edge of the Westensee lake. The festival grounds in Flemhude are a meeting point for the village community, the venue for summer festivals, election Sundays, and smaller civic events.

May 23rd as Civic Day

The Basic Law was promulgated on May 23, 1949 — in 2026, it will be 77 years. The Bündnis Buntes Quarnbek (BBQ), a civil society initiative of the municipality, has turned the day into a civic festival together with the Freundeskreis Flüchtlingshilfe Jägerslust e.V. Instead of a ceremonial speech in the school hall, there will be live music, stands, children's games, and barbecuing on the festival grounds — an open format where the community, refugees, and all citizens come together.

What awaits you

• Live music on the Flemhude festival grounds
• Cultural stands from local associations
• Games for children
• Barbecuing and a communal buffet — contributions are welcome
• Encounter in a small North German community

A format that works

Civic festivals for Basic Law Day have become rare in Germany — most commemorative events are formal and institutional. Quarnbek-Flemhude does it differently: picnic instead of a ceremonial speech, shared acquisition of supplies instead of paid speeches. The Bündnis Buntes Quarnbek shows what honest democratic remembrance culture can look like.