Pfingstseminar 2026: a milestone for Marxism in the German-speaking world

With 350 participants, this year’s Pfingstseminar was by far the biggest ever. And with over 100 comrades from the RKP in Germany in attendance, it was a truly internationalist school. Under the motto “Down with Imperialism!”, the event served as a powerful impetus for building the forces of revolutionary communism in the German speaking world. We also welcomed comrades from Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Hungary.

[Originally published in German at derfunke.at]

The first plenary session on world perspectives was introduced by Jorge Martín from the International Secretariat of the RCI. Jorge explained that we live in an epoch of crises and wars, of revolution and counter-revolution.

2026 started with a bang. On the one hand, US President Donald Trump is adding fuel to the fire of the capitalist crisis and laying bare the ugly face of US imperialism: in Venezuela they kidnapped the president, they have strengthened their stranglehold on Cuba with their oil embargo, and they are bombing Iran alongside Israel. On the other hand, we are seeing movements against imperialism all over the world: the Gen Z revolutions, the general strikes by the working class in Italy in support of Palestine and in Minneapolis against ICE, the school strikes against conscription in Germany.

To understand these developments, we need a deep understanding of imperialism, which we explored in depth across 21 workshops covering a wide range of topics: from ‘Austrian Imperialism and the Lie of Neutrality’, ‘The Rise of Chinese Imperialism’, ‘The USA and Communism’ and ‘Militarism and Conscription’ to ‘The Myth of Red Vienna’, ‘Cromwell & the English Revolution’ and ‘The Cuban Revolution’.

We also recorded important messages of solidarity in support of the Cuban Revolution against US imperialism and calling for the release of our comrade Ehsan Ali, a leading member of the RCP in Pakistan and chairman of the Awami Action Committee (AAC) in Gilgit-Baltistan.

“The rich want war, the youth wants a future”

In the second plenary session on school strikes and student movements, Der Funke editor-in-chief Emanuel Tomaselli highlighted how militarisation and state racism are politicising young people and fuelling social movements.

In Austria, the façade of reformism is showing its first cracks, as seen in the reactions against the racist hijab ban in schools. University administrations are also calling for mass demonstrations against the austerity imposed by the Austrian government. Our German comrades added to the discussion with their experiences from the broad school strike movement against conscription which emerged earlier this year.

Let’s build the RKP!

Everyone pitched in to make this self-organised and self-funded seminar a great success: by cooking huge quantities of delicious stew for the hungry crowd, manning the BBQ, tidying up after themselves, and serving drinks at the bar. The great appetite for theory was also evident in the books and leaflets sold; in total, almost €8,000 worth of political material and merchandise was sold!

The strong enthusiasm and determination to build the RKP was also evident at the financial appeal. Right off the bat, we managed to exceed our target of €60,000! We received pledges totalling €71,000 for the Revolutionary Communist International and the building of 1917 Verlag, the German-language publishing house for Marxist literature.

Sports and culture were not neglected either. Alongside the traditional Funke football tournament and the loudest workers’ songs ever heard in Klaffer, there was also a theatre workshop this year.

The school laid the foundations for the next round of growth for the forces of communism. 38 people who are interested in joining the RKP attended the school, six of whom joined on the spot on the final day!

After this intensive weekend of study, we head out, refreshed and reinvigorated, to build the party the working class needs to win. Onwards to 400 revolutionary communists in Austria, and 500 in Germany!