On 30 April 1825, 101 booksellers and publishers created the Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhändler zu Leipzig (German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association of Leipzig). Today’s IPA member, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, based in Frankfurt, is a continuation of the Leipzig association and they marked their 200th birthday in Berlin on 5-6 June with a two-day celebration ‘Neue Kapitel’ (New Chapters), including panels, speeches, workshops and discussions.

IPA President, Gvantsa Jobava, and Secretary General, José Borghino, joined the celebration with Jobava taking part in a dynamic panel entitled ‘Meet the Presidents!’. This consisted of the Presidents of the three international associations of which the Börsenverein is a member — Gvantsa Jobava from the IPA, Sonia Draga of the Federation of European Publishers and Fabian Paagman of the European and International Booksellers Federation — discussing their shared perspectives and overlapping nature of their work lobbying politicians and promoting the social, economic and cultural impact of book sector around the world.