Anglo-German Club
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The Anglo-German Club in Hamburg is an association to promote international and especially German-British relations for the benefit of the general public. It was founded in 1948 on the initiative of the British Military Government's Regional Commissioner for Hamburg, Sir John Dunlop . The club has resided since it was founded at Harvestehuder Weg 44 on the Outer Alster in a villa built in 1860, which was confiscated by the British occupying forces from 1945 and which was initially rented to the Anglo-German Club after it was returned to the owners. The building has belonged to the club since 1989 and the property is secured by leasehold. The Anglo-German Club is now considered an influential forum for German-British and international relations, business and politics and as an exclusive gentlemen's club .
history
founding
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Hamburg was in the British zone of occupation and was administered by a British regional commissioner. Among the 1,500 houses and apartments confiscated by the military government was the villa of the Müller family at Harvestehuder Weg 44, which was used by the British as officers' quarters. Although Hamburg was already considered the most British of all German cities in the 18th and 19th centuries due to its trade contacts, there were repeated conflicts between the British military government and the Hamburg Senate under Mayors Rudolf Petersen (1945/46) and Max due to the great housing shortage Brauer (1946–1949), which was aggravated by the fact that, in addition to the Hamburgers and many refugees, around 30,000 British people worked in the Hanseatic city in the summer of 1947. This tense situation gave the British Regional Commissioner Sir John Dunlop the idea in 1948 of founding a club based on the British model in the rooms of the villa, which had been used by British officers to date, which was supposed to restore relations between British and Germans to the old friendly basis. He succeeded in winning a number of prominent politicians from the Hanseatic city as founding members, including Mayor Max Brauer and later mayors Kurt Sieveking (then Senate Syndicate and liaison to the military government), Paul Nevermann (then Senator for Construction) and Herbert Weichmann (then President of the Court of Auditors). Important business representatives of the city, such as the President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce Albert Schäfer , the Vice President Erik Blumenfeld , the President of the Hamburg Central Bank Karl Klasen and the publishers Ernst Rowohlt , John Jahr and Axel Springer also became founding members . The latter received his license in the Anglo-German Club in October 1948 with permission to print the Hamburger Abendblatt from the director of the state press office, Erich Lüth .
From the beginning, the focus was not only on the reconciliation between the British and the Germans, but also on the international connections between politics and business, which initially served to restore Germany's international acceptance.
development
Since the 1960s, when the private banker Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler took over the chairmanship as a partner of the Berenberg Bank , the Anglo-German Club has increasingly developed into a business club with a focus on banking. Bundesbank President Karl Blessing founded a “Wednesday round” of Hanseatic bankers here. The then Federal Minister of Economics, Karl Schiller , became a founding member in 1948 when he was 37 years old. Political exchange remained a focus. In the years that followed, Federal Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl met here for confidential talks behind closed doors during their chancellorship. Since then, the list of speakers has mostly consisted of entrepreneurs and bankers like August Oetker , Theo Sommer , Michael Otto or Josef Ackermann , national politicians like Peer Steinbrück or Federal President Joachim Gauck and international guests like Michail Gorbatschow and Shimon Perez . However, the German-British tradition was never forgotten. German and British ministers came together here for informal meetings and speakers such as British politicians Douglas Hurd and Michael Heseltine or authors such as Frederick Forsyth and John le Carré took up the founding idea. Prince Andrew was even allowed to sit under his mother's portrait . There is no published list of speakers. When asked about prominent guests who were admitted here, the long-time President Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler used to answer with a counter-question: "Which not?"
In 1997, Claus-Günther Budelmann not only succeeded Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler as a partner in Berenberg-Bank, but also succeeded him as Chairman of the Anglo-German Club, but in 2007 he also followed the tradition of founder John Dunlop and became the British Honorary Consul in Hamburg.
Events
The regularly recurring events include the “men's dinner” as well as dinner with women, with prominent English and German guests from politics, business and culture, an annual golf tournament, the Christmas dinner with well-known artists, and the garden party, which takes place every year in honor of Queen Elizabeth II of England on the occasion of her birthday.
The club also supports institutions such as the English Church in Hamburg and awards grants to German students to study in England or to British students to study at a German university.
organization
The club currently has a good 1000 members, including 70 juniors. For membership, the interest in German-British relations, the support of a full member and the endorsement of two other members, i.e. the approval of three “guarantors”, are a prerequisite. Acceptance is decided upon by the board. In the clubhouse, men are asked to wear jackets and ties and women are asked to wear appropriate clothing.
The board consists of the chairman, his deputy, the secretary, the treasurer and four assessors. Honorary chairmen are the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Berlin (until 2006 the Consul General of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Hamburg) and the First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg .
The chairmanship is honorary. The previous chairmen are:
- 1948 to 1949: Sir Vaughan Berry (1891–1979), civil governor of the British military government for Hamburg.
- 1949 to 1968: Sir John Dunlop , former Regional Commissioner of the British Military Government, British Honorary Consul in Hamburg
- 1968 to 1997 Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler (1907–1997), private banker and partner of Berenberg Bank
- Since 1997: Claus-Günther Budelmann (* 1944), private banker, partner of Berenberg Bank and from 2007 to 2015 British honorary consul in Hamburg
Villa at Harvestehuder Weg 44
In 1860 the Bielenberg family had the well-known Hamburg master builder Martin Haller build what is now the villa as a residential building at Harvestehuder Weg 44. In 1901 it was sold to the Hamburg coffee merchant and consul of El Salvador Gustav Müller (1856–1936). At that time the property was 14,000 m² in size, bordered directly on the Alster and, in addition to the villa, also comprised an old thatched farmhouse with a cowshed and chicken yard, a duck pond and pasture land. In 1911 Müller sold the southernmost 4,000 m² of the property, had the farmhouse demolished and instead built a greenhouse and a gardener's house that was connected to the house. The villa itself was converted to its present form by the now 76-year-old Martin Haller and, with its open colonnade to the front door, was given the style of a Northern Italian country house. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the property was confiscated by the British occupying forces and used as a residence for British officers. After the occupation ended, the house was returned to the owner family, who rented it to the Anglo-German Club. After the city of Hamburg initially claimed the garden land as a public green area and finally also the shoreline as a public path, the community of heirs sold the property, which is now only 4,117 m², including buildings to the city, which also signed a lease with the club. In 1989, the Anglo-German Club finally acquired the house and the leasehold on the property.
Inside the building there is now a large lounge with a fireplace and a wide view of the Alster, a spacious fireplace room on the ground floor with half a dozen sitting areas, a bar on each floor, the spacious restaurant with 60 seats, also with a view of the Alster, and two large function rooms on the upper floor.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.anglo-german-club.de/de/der-club/index.php
- ^ "For four years the gentlemen of the Hanseatic city" , article in "Die Welt am Sonntag" from September 20, 2009.
- ^ Anglo-German Club - The Club
- ↑ Thirty Years of the Hamburger Abendblatt ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Speech by Axel Springer on the 30th anniversary of the Hamburger Abendblatt on October 28, 1978.
- ↑ "Revealed! Hamburg's closed society ” , article in the Hamburger Abendblatt from May 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Access for women - only if accompanied" , article in "Der Hamburger", issue 15.
- ^ "The banker's discreet charm" , article in the Hamburger Abendblatt from April 20, 2009.
- ↑ “A Toast to the Queen” , article in “Die Welt am Sonntag” from June 15, 2014.
- ↑ “Tradition is cultivated in the Anglo-German Club” , article in “Die Welt” from January 15, 2000.
- ↑ “Anglo-German Club honors co-founder Sir John Dunlop with bronze plaque” , article in “Die Welt” from January 20, 2003.
- ^ Anglo-German Club - The House
Coordinates: 53 ° 34 ′ 41.7 " N , 9 ° 59 ′ 56.7" E