36th Protestant Kirchentag 2017, Berlin

Coming together to celebrate faith and religious diversity: that is the idea behind the biennial Protestant Kirchentag (Church Congress). In May 2017, over 100,000 people once again took the opportunity to see their church through fresh eyes, to debate and to encourage one another to reflect. One of the highlights was surely the appearance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former US President Barack Obama at the Brandenburg Gate. In a discussion with young people, that was also broadcast on television, they spoke about "Being Involved in Democracy: Taking on Responsibility Locally and Globally".

We took care of the two large open-air stages and ensured ideal TV lighting as well as perfect sound for "Platz der Republik" – the venue for the opening church service, which was also broadcast on TV – "Platz des 18. März" and "Straße des 17. Juni"; our job was to guarantee a high level of speech intelligibility and the best possible transmission of music and song over a distance of around one kilometre. The stage by the Brandenburg Gate was also the setting for additional services, concerts and evening prayer. We realised the sound using a glass-fibre network with a redundant design; the audio signals were transmitted via a Dante audio network.  As part of the security concept, we guaranteed an uninterruptible power supply for audio so that the PA could be used as an emergency announcement system.

Photos: Ralph Larmann