American Academy in Berlin

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American Academy villa in Berlin, 2013

The American Academy in Berlin is a privately financed, independent, impartial research and cultural institution in Berlin , which is dedicated to maintaining and improving long-term intellectual, cultural and political relationships between the USA and Germany . For this purpose, an independent selection committee of the Academy nominates around twenty scholars each year for a semester-long research stay at the Hans Arnold Center, a historic villa in Wannsee on the banks of the lake of the same name . The scholarship holders from the fields of humanities , social , political , cultural and the arts share their project work with colleagues in Germany and an international audience at lectures, readings, discussions, concerts and film screenings. The Academy's program of events includes almost 100 public events each year. The organization's board of trustees consists of several dozen influential executives from German and American business, the financial sector and academia. A second location of the American Academy in Berlin is in New York City.

In addition to its scholarship program, the Academy promotes the exchange of current affairs by welcoming distinguished American visiting scholars and thought leaders from the fields of politics, law, business, finance, journalism, the humanities, and the arts. The American Academy in Berlin has already hosted over 500 scholarship holders and hundreds of guest lecturers.

The institution was founded in September 1994 by a number of prominent Americans and Germans, including Richard Holbrooke , Henry Kissinger , Richard von Weizsäcker , Fritz Stern and Thomas Farmer. In 2008, Der Spiegel called the Academy "the world's most important center for American intellectual life outside the United States". The American Academy is fully funded by private donations from individuals, companies and foundations on both sides of the Atlantic, especially the Arnhold-Kellen family, whose sponsorship forms the cornerstone of the Academy.

The Wannsee Villa, which today houses the American Academy, was designed by the architect Johannes Otzen in 1886 and was once the home of the chemist Franz Oppenheim . The banker Hans Arnhold later lived there with his wife Ludmilla and their two daughters Ellen Maria and Anna-Maria. After the Arnholds were forced to emigrate to the USA, the house was appropriated and lived in in 1937 by Walther Funk , Minister of Economics of the Third Reich and later President of the Reichsbank. The Arnhold family regained ownership in 1953 and sold the villa to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1958. During the division of Berlin after the Second World War, the house was in the American sector and was used there for a wide variety of purposes: including as accommodation for refugees from the communist Eastern bloc and in the last decades of the Cold War as a recreation center for the US Army until the American forces left the reunified Berlin in 1994. After a complete renovation thanks to financial support from the Kellen-Arnhold family and other sponsors, the villa was opened in 1998 as the American Academy in Berlin.

Prices

Berlin Prize

The American Academy in Berlin annually awards the Berlin Prize Scholarship to Americans from the fields of art, literature, humanities, politics, economics and music.

The Berlin Prize includes a monthly grant as well as partial meals and a residence in the Hans Arnhold Center of the Academy. In addition, the Academy accommodates renowned American guest researchers from a wide variety of disciplines for shorter stays. The so-called Distinguished Visitors included Paul Krugman , James Wolfensohn , Tom Daschle , Samuel Nunn and Stephen Breyer .

Former Berlin Prize scholars

Henry A. Kissinger Prize

The Henry A. Kissinger Prize is awarded annually to a renowned European or American personality in the field of international diplomacy. Previous winners are:

Publications

The American Academy in Berlin publishes the Berlin Journal annually. The magazine presents a selection of essays, prose, art and poems by the scholars and distinguished visitors.

Richard C. Holbrooke Forum

The Richard C. Holbrooke Forum brings together international scholars, policy experts and government officials in a series of workshops to discuss some of the most complex problems facing modern diplomacy. The core topics are: statecraft and values, ongoing government crises, dynamics of transformation and securing peace: coexistence and reconciliation after conflicts.

"phoenix chimney talk"

The TV broadcaster phoenix records the conversation format "Fireside chat" in the fireplace room of the American Academy in Berlin at irregular intervals . The one-hour program focuses on an outstanding figure from public life and contemporary history with her biography and her views.

See also

Web links

Commons : American Academy Berlin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Cultural Ambassador: Germany's Second US Embassy. Der Spiegel, July 3, 2008, accessed on February 25, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Wannsee Recreation Center , on berlin.de, accessed on February 26, 2020
  3. ↑ “Twenty-first Century Realism” - Ambassador Power in Berlin. US Embassy, ​​June 9, 2016, accessed February 25, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Schäuble receives Kissinger Prize. BZ, June 20, 2017, accessed February 25, 2020 .
  5. ↑ The last upright Republican: John McCain doesn't want Trump at his funeral. Tagesspiegel, May 7, 2018, accessed on February 25, 2020 .
  6. ^ Angela Merkel Receives the Henry A. Kissinger Prize. American Academy in Berlin, January 21, 2020, accessed on February 25, 2020 .
  7. ^ Berlin Journal. Retrieved February 25, 2020 .
  8. ↑ phoenix chimney talk. Retrieved April 5, 2020 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 25 ′ 28.8 ″  N , 13 ° 10 ′ 47.1 ″  E