Last week marked 50 years since the formation of ALDE Party, the first ever pan-European liberal party, on 26 March 1976.
To mark this important anniversary, we invited liberals to visit the Liberal House for a special exhibition displaying our liberal journey. Through pictures, themes and stories, the exhibition highlighted the unmistakable impact of liberalism across Europe.
ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn MEP cut the symbolic ribbon to honour five decades of liberal impact. She gave a few words on our shared legacy:
“Liberals have left an unmistakable mark on Europe. We’ve opened doors for those too often excluded: from pioneering legal same-sex marriage to supporting the landmark 2004 EU enlargement, which reunited our continent.
We’ve championed women in leadership, including the election of the first female President of the European Parliament, Simone Veil. We gave a voice to young people shaping policies and citizens demanding that politics solve problems, rather than deepen divisions.”
Past ALDE Party figures featured at the event, such as previous Presidents, Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP and Sir Graham Watson, who cut the ribbon alongside the current President and shared a few words of inspiration.
Watch our interview with past-President Sir Watson here.
The first ever Secretary General from 1976, Florus Wijsenbeek, also attended our exhibition alongside the other previous Secretary Generals: Mechthild von Alemann, Jacob Moroza-Rasmussen and Lex Corijn.
ALDE Party Bureau members cut a commemorative cake alongside our President to set in motion our 50th anniversary birthday and memorialise the day. The room was filled with liberal pride and reflection as we looked back on how far Europe has come – but also our ambition for the next 50 years.
If you missed this anniversary event, we will be presenting the exhibition again at our Congress in Vienna, Austria from 3-4 July 2026, with even more moments set to be a part of this special storybook of our liberal progress over 50 years.
Check out the photos from the event here.