What a year-end! While most people sink into the raclette coma between the years, the hacker community in Hamburg has become a reality. 39C3 hit. Under the motto ‘Power Cycles’ The CCH (Congress Center Hamburg) took place from 27 to 30. December 2025 again to the epicenter for technology, politics and digital utopias.
Here's your deep dive into the chaos in case you missed it or just want to revel in the memories again.
The motto: Power cycles
After the big comebacks of the last years, this time it was about the rhythm: Power cycles. On the one hand, this stands for the classic ‘turn off and restart’ (the ultimate solution to any IT problem), but also for social cycles, power structures and the question of how we can sustainably transform systems.
The process: Four days in congress time mode
Congress follows its own biorhythm. Time is relative here:
Day 1 (arrival & opening): The CCH is filled with flashing lights, mate boxes and around 16,000 ‘beings’. The opening ceremony set the tone: Critical, optimistic and a bit chaotic.
Day 2 & 3 (Deep Dive): Absolute content overload. Up to five parallel tracks featured lectures ranging from hardware hacking to political activism.
Day 4 (degree & departure): While the New Year's Eve firecrackers were already popping outside, the ‘closing’ took place indoors; Tears in the eyes included before the large decomposition began.
The highlights: What's stuck
There were More than 170 presentations, but a few of them have particularly shaped the Congress:
The Kangaroo revolution: Marc-Uwe Kling and Linus Neumann in a humorous but razor-sharp exchange about digital independence. An absolute must for the good mood.
Cory Doctorow: The old master of net criticism spoke about a ‘post-American, enshittification-resistant internet’. As always entertaining, sharp-tongued and a wake-up call against the platform monopolies.
Meredith Whittaker (signal): Together with Udbhav Tiwari, the signal boss warned of the AI hype. Your point: ‘AI Agent, AI Spy!’ We need to be careful that AI does not become the ultimate monitoring tool.
Security Nightmares 39C3: Frank Rieger and Ronen Steinke look back on the IT security year. Informative, creepy and as always very entertaining.
Hardware hacking at its best: From ‘Asahi Linux“ (Linux on Apple Silicon) up to a hacker who Old French TV Box After ten years of work, he finally blushed to play DOOM on it. It's classic!
The ‘chaos children’: This year's focus was particularly on the young. Young hackers (some only 11 years old!) gave lectures on why chat control does not protect their generation, but endangers it.
Neuroexploitation by Design: A deep look into the abysses of algorithms in gambling products, eye-opening and important.
Infrastructure review: If you want to know how to provide stable Wi-Fi, telephony and power in the CCH for 16,000 hackers. Pure nerdry!
The central source: media.ccc.de
- All talks at a glance: 39C3 Overview at media.ccc.de
- The timetable (to browse): 39C3 Timetable
The absolute goldmine for all records is and remains the official portal of the Chaos Computer Club. Here you will find not only the videos in top quality, but also the different sound tracks (original, German translation, English translation).
Press releases: That's what the others say
The 39C3 also reverberated in the classic media:
Mirror online: “2025 has demonstrated drastically how dependent Europe is on US tech companies. The 39C3 demonstrates pathways to true digital sovereignty.”
taz: “You are happy about the offspring here. The hall cheered louder than the tech billionaires when the young people presented their alternatives to big tech.”
Netzpolitik.org: “Four days of courage. In times of surveillance and shift to the right, Congress offers practical tips to strengthen democratic spaces.”
Conclusion: Have you successfully restarted your system?
The 39C3 was more than just a tech conference.
He was a necessary power cycle for his own motivation. In a world that is turning faster and faster politically and technologically, the Congress offers the space to pause, reflect and, most importantly, craft together for a better future.
Take the energy (and probably one or the other mild “congress flu”) into the new year. See you at 40C3!
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