# Chaos Communication Congress

The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual hacker conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and online freedom of speech. It has taken place regularly at the end of the year since 1984, with the current date and duration (27–30 December) established in 2005. It is considered one of the largest events of its kind, alongside DEF CON in Las Vegas.

## History

The congress is held in Germany. It started in 1984 in Hamburg, moved to Berlin in 1998, and back to Hamburg in 2012, having exceeded the capacity of the Berlin venue with more than 4500 attendees. Since then, it attracts an increasing number of people: around 6600 attendees in 2012, over 13000 in 2015, and more than 15000 in 2017. From 2017 to 2019 it has taken place at the Trade Fair Grounds in Leipzig, since the Hamburg venue (CCH) was closed for renovation in 2017 and the existing space was not enough for the growing congress. The congress moved back to Hamburg in 2023, after the renovation of CCH was finished.
A large range of speakers are featured. The event is organized by volunteers called Chaos Angels. The non-members entry fee for four days was €100 in 2016, and was raised to €120 in 2018 to include a public transport ticket for the Leipzig area.
An important part of the congress are the assemblies, semi-open spaces with clusters of tables and internet connections for groups and individuals to collaborate and socialize in projects, workshops and hands-on talks. These assembly spaces, introduced at the 2012 meeting, combine the hack center project space and distributed group spaces of former years.
From 1997 to 2004 the congress also hosted the annual German Lockpicking Championships. 2005 was the first year the Congress lasted four days instead of three and lacked the German Lockpicking Championships.
2020 was the first year where the Congress did not take place at a physical location due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving way to the first Remote Chaos Experience (rC3).
The Chaos Computer Club announced to return to the now newly renovated Congress Center Hamburg for the 37th edition of the Chaos Communication Congress. The announcement confirms the usual date of 27-30 December, notably omitting the year it will be held. On 18 October 2022, they confirmed that the congress will indeed not be held in 2022. On 6 October 2023, the CCC announced that 37C3 will take place again on the usual dates in 2023.

## Congresses from 1984 to today

| No. | Year | Motto | short | visitors | venue place |
| 1 | 1984 | CCC'84 nach Orion'64 | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 2 | 1985 | Du Darfst | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 3 | 1986 | Damit Sie auch morgen noch kraftvoll zubyten können | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 4 | 1987 | Offene Netze – Jetzt! | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 5 | 1988 | ich glaub' es hackt | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 6 | 1989 | Offene Grenzen: Cocomed zuhauf | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 7 | 1990 | (no motto) | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 8 | 1991 | Per Anhalter durch die Netze | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 9 | 1992 | Es liegt was in der Luft | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 10 | 1993 | Ten years after Orwell | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 11 | 1994 | Internet im Kinderzimmer – Big business is watching you?! | | | Bikini-Haus in Berlin, Germany |
| 12 | 1995 | Pretty Good Piracy – verdaten und verkauft | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 13 | 1996 | Der futurologische Congress – Leben nach der Internetdepression | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 14 | 1997 | Nichts ist wahr. Alles ist erlaubt. | | | Eidelstedter Bürgerhaus in Hamburg, Germany |
| 15 | 1998 | All Rights Reversed | | 2300 | Haus am Köllnischen Park in Berlin, Germany |
| 16 | 1999 | (no motto) | 16C3 | | Haus am Köllnischen Park in Berlin, Germany |
| 17 | 2000 | Explicit Lyrics | 17C3 | | Haus am Köllnischen Park in Berlin, Germany |
| 18 | 2001 | Hacking Is Not A Crime | 18C3 | | Haus am Köllnischen Park in Berlin, Germany |
| 19 | 2002 | Out Of Order | 19C3 | 3000 | Haus am Köllnischen Park in Berlin, Germany |
| 20 | 2003 | Not A Number | 20C3 NaN | 2500 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 21 | 2004 | The Usual Suspects | 21C3 | 3500 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 22 | 2005 | Private Investigations | 22C3 | 3000 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 23 | 2006 | Who can you trust? | 23C3 | 4200 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 24 | 2007 | Volldampf voraus! | 24C3 | 4013 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 25 | 2008 | Nothing To Hide! | 25C3 | 4200 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 26 | 2009 | Here Be Dragons | 26C3 | 9000 (including streaming viewers, unlike all other numbers in this table) | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 27 | 2010 | We come in peace | 27C3 | 4000 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 28 | 2011 | Behind enemy lines | 28C3 | 3000 | Berliner Congress Center in Berlin, Germany |
| 29 | 2012 | Not my department | 29C3 | 6500 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 30 | 2013 | (no motto) | 30C3 | 9000 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 31 | 2014 | A New Dawn | 31C3 | 12000 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 32 | 2015 | Gated Communities | 32C3 | 13000 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 33 | 2016 | Works for me | 33C3 | 12000 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 34 | 2017 | tuwat | 34C3 | 15000 | Leipziger Messe in Leipzig, Germany |
| 35 | 2018 | Refreshing memories | 35C3 | 16000 | Leipziger Messe in Leipzig, Germany |
| 36 | 2019 | Resource Exhaustion | 36C3 | 17000 | Leipziger Messe in Leipzig, Germany |
| – | 2020 | remote Chaos Experience | rC3 | – | Online |
| – | 2021 | NOWHERE | rC3 2021 | – | Online |
| – | 2022 | – | cancelled due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic | – | – |
| 37 | 2023 | Unlocked | 37C3 | 14500 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |
| 38 | 2024 | Illegal Instructions | 38C3 | 15000 | Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany |

## Gallery

* Glenn Greenwald gives his Keynote at 30C3.
* „Seidenstraße” (Silk Road), a Pneumatic tube system introduced at 30C3
* Assemblies and the Pneumatic tube system at 30C3
* Sarah Harrison appears with Julian Assange for an appeal at 30C3.
* Main hall of the Leipzig Trade Fair during 34C3
* The Leipzig Trade Fair seen from the west during the 35C3