Literatur auf der Parkbank — Reading Festival Cottbus

Literature as a Shared Urban Space

Few festival formats are as unusual and at the same time as intuitive as „Literatur auf der Parkbank“. Instead of a classic reading room with a microphone and audience, the festival offers a series of park benches in Cottbus's Goethepark, where an author reads at the same time. Up to 40 voices simultaneously, for several hours. Visitors stroll through the park, stop, listen to an excerpt, sit down, and move on. It's a reading festival, a city walk, and a literary geocache all in one.

The Concept — Born in Berlin, Perfected in Cottbus

The idea comes from the association Raumeroberer e.V., which first implemented the festival in Berlin's Großer Tiergarten in 2019. Since 2021, it has been a regular guest in Cottbus — and has established itself there as an annual cultural highlight. The choice of venues is programmatic: Goethepark by the Amtsteich is a classically designed city park in Cottbus, and the nearby Dieselkraftwerk houses the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst (BLMK) — the festival's main partner, with its own spaces on the premises.

Theme 2026: „Blickpunkt Brandenburg & Berlin“

As every year, the festival has a geographical-literary focus. In 2026, the organizers are looking at the duo Brandenburg & Berlin — at authors who are rooted in or tell stories from Lusatia, Spreewald, Uckermark, or the capital city. Novelists, poets, essayists, and representatives of the younger generation will read from current or upcoming works. The exact lineup of authors will be published in spring 2026.

Goethepark and Dieselkraftwerk — A Special Setting

Goethepark stretches around the Amtsteich near Cottbus city center. Old tree-lined avenues, a small body of water, well-kept green spaces — a classic 19th-century city park. Right next door, in a former power station building from the 1920s, the BLMK houses its collection and special exhibitions of modern art from the GDR and the contemporary East German scene. Together, these two spaces — the park and the industrial architecture — give the festival a character that is rarely found elsewhere.

Cottbus as a Literary Location

Cottbus may not immediately come to mind as a literary city on a national level. However, the city has a vibrant literary scene, two universities, a dedicated theater, and growing bookselling. The reading festival „Literatur auf der Parkbank“ fits perfectly into this landscape: accessible, free, open to any passerby who happens to be there — and at the same time, artistically ambitious, with a curated program and renowned authors. Admission is free, making the festival financially accessible to an audience that might shy away from typical high-culture ticket prices.

In Partnership with BLMK and the Brandenburgische Gesellschaft für Kultur und Geschichte

The main partner is the Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst (BLMK), which also offers indoor alternatives in case of rain in its spaces at the Dieselkraftwerk. The co-organizer is the Brandenburgische Gesellschaft für Kultur und Geschichte. The association Raumeroberer e.V. has been organizing the festival since its first edition.