In January 2016, Wikipedia had its 15th anniversary and celebrations were held in many locations across the world. At Wikimedia Deutschland, we marked this occasion throughout the entire year. In December, as a gift to Wikipedia’s active contributors, we entrusted a disc with Wikipedia articles in nearly 180 languages to a private mission to outer space. The global Wikipedia community decided collectively which articles should be immortalized on the moon as a snapshot of the knowledge of mankind. The initiative shows how far the idea of an encyclopedia that everyone can openly edit in just 15 years has come. It is the most successful project of its kind, used by millions of people – and it would be unthinkable without the effort of thousands of volunteers.

Fifteen years after Wikipedia’s birth, open knowledge means a lot more than free articles on a website: communities write, take pictures, follow projects, meet virtually and in person. We support them at Wikimedia Deutschland and try to inspire even more people to participate. We develop software that makes work in the projects easier. We are, moreover, committed to establishing a political and legal framework so that knowledge can also be openly shared and used in the future. On this webpage, we not only take a look at these three areas of emphasis, but at all the areas that shaped the work of our organization in 2016.

Wikipedia is only possible thanks to the people who contribute to it. This is also true of the work of Wikimedia Deutschland and our many members – 50,000 at the start of 2017 – and donors. Many thanks to everyone who supported us in 2016!