With the Demokratiedeckel, thought-provoking questions find their way under your drinks: the printed beer mats aim to spark discussions and invite people to share their diverse perspectives in pubs, cafés, or schools.

The idea for the colourful, thought-provoking beer mats originated from a scholarship project by the Junge Akademie Frankfurt. Today, the 10-member group has become a non-profit association, Demokratiedeckel e. V., and has designed various editions of the coasters. Schools, events, and initiatives use these prompts to spark discussions or bring an interactive element to their gatherings.

As part of the El Barrio Festival 2024, we collaborated with Demokratiedeckel e. V. to print a series of questions—centred on designing how we want to live—onto vibrant beer mats. Through our format, Drinks for Democracy, we travelled across Frankfurt RheinMain, engaging with you in meaningful exchanges.

Drinks for Democracy: Here’s how it works

The rules are simple: Answer one of the 6 questions on the Democracy Coasters, and you get a drink. You can find some of the responses from 2024 in the videos.

Drinks for Democracy at Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt

Drinks for Democracy at El Barrio 2024

With the Demokratiedeckel, thought-provoking questions find their way under your drinks: the printed beer mats aim to spark discussions and invite people to share their diverse perspectives in pubs, cafés, or schools.