Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation

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The seat of the foundation is the Forum Willy Brandt Berlin on Unter den Linden boulevard (the building is to be demolished by the end of 2020).

The Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation ( BWBS for short ) is a legally responsible federal foundation that serves the memory of Willy Brandt . It is one of the six political memorial foundations set up by the Federal Republic of Germany . The foundation has its headquarters in Berlin and a branch in Lübeck.

Foundation purpose

The foundation was established in 1994 by law of the German Bundestag as a federal foundation under public law. Its task is to “remember the work of Willy Brandt for freedom, peace and unity of the German people and the safeguarding of democracy for Europe and the Third World , the unification of Europe and for understanding and reconciliation among the peoples and for the North - To maintain the southern dialogue and thus to contribute to an understanding of the history of the 20th century and the development of the Federal Republic of Germany. ”The focus of the foundation's work lies in historical research as well as historical-political educational work.

The BWBS has three committees: the five-member board of trustees , the board of directors consisting of three honorary members and the international advisory board with 15 experts. The board of directors manages the business of the foundation and implements the fundamental decisions of the board of trustees. The chairman of the board represents the foundation externally and is the superior of the employees. He is supported by a full-time managing director to take care of current affairs. The international advisory board advises the foundation on current projects. The BWBS employs 35 people (as of March 2020). The BWBS is financed as an authority from the federal budget and is subject to the legal supervision of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

Locations

The Willy-Brandt-Haus Lübeck in July 2007 before the renovation was completed

Forum Willy Brandt Berlin

The Forum Willy Brandt Berlin offers changing exhibitions as well as a program of historical and political education with smaller events. The forum was housed in the Schöneberg Town Hall from 1996 to 2010 and in the Elisabeth Selbert House (Unter den Linden 62–68) from 2010 to 2019. It is currently located at Behrenstrasse 15 until the new Elisabeth Selbert House will be completed.

Willy Brandt House Lübeck

Since December 2007, the foundation has had a branch in the Willy Brandt House in Lübeck in the city of Willy Brandt's birth. The building is made available by the city free of charge and is used by both the BWBS and the city's monument preservation office. The renovation, which cost almost 2.8 million euros, was supported by the German Foundation for Monument Protection . The building has a significant past for the city of Lübeck. So it was the seat of the circle society and the higher appeal court . Willy Brandt never lived in the house, he was born in the St. Lorenz district and grew up there.

Exhibitions

The temporary and permanent exhibitions in Berlin and Lübeck are a core element of the foundation's work. In addition, the traveling exhibition "Willy Brandt - Freedom Fighters, Peace Chancellor, Bridge Builders" has been on tour in German-speaking countries since October 2019. From autumn 2020 the international touring exhibition “Willy Brandt. A Life for Freedom, Peace and Reconciliation between the Nations ”to remember the statesman worldwide. Entry to the exhibitions is free.

Historical-political education / museum education

At both of its exhibition locations, the BWBS offers an extensive educational accompanying program for various target groups. The program includes guided tours, workshops and project days on topics from 20th century German history. In addition, advanced training for teachers and seminars for orientation courses are offered. For this purpose, the foundation also cooperates with other educational institutions or adult education centers.

Events

The BWBS regularly organizes book presentations, panel discussions, lectures and interviews with contemporary witnesses in Berlin and Lübeck. The two most important event formats in Berlin are the Willy Brandt Talk and the Willy Brandt Lecture . The Willy Brandt speech and the series “ Subjects Willy Brandts - Subjects of Our Time” will take place in Lübeck . Important personalities from politics, culture, science and business are invited. In recent years, the author Naomi Klein , the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the politician Federica Mogherini have spoken . Important speeches and discussions of the events are published in the booklets of the Foundation's series of publications.

Historical research

The BWBS conducts its own historical research and encourages scientific research. She regularly organizes scientific workshops or conferences and cooperates with research institutions worldwide. A long-term focus of work was the completion of the ten-volume Willy Brandt source edition - Berlin edition . In addition, the publication series Willy Brandt Studies appears , which deals with topics from Willy Brandt research. In the Willy Brandt Documents series , out-of-print writings by Brandt are being reissued and further manuscripts and correspondence on relevant individual issues in his political life are published.

Every two years the BWBS awards the Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History and annually awards up to two Willy Brandt Small Research Grants to support young scientists.

Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History

Since 2005, the foundation has awarded the Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History every two years . The award is given to an outstanding scientific work that either directly deals with the work and legacy of Willy Brandt or with a chapter of contemporary history that is connected to his name and political life.

Excellent works were:

  • 2019 Michael Frey: From the Third Way to the Third World: The Cold War and the Emergence of the New Left in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, 1956–1965
  • 2017 Scott Krause: Bringing Cold War Democracy to West Berlin, 1933–1972: A Shared German-American Project
  • 2015 Kristina Meyer: The SPD and the Nazi past 1945–1974
  • 2011 Claudia Hiepel: Willy Brandt and Georges Pompidou - Franco-German European policy between new beginnings and crisis
  • 2009 Petri Hakkarainen: Amplifying Ostpolitik: the Federal Republic of Germany and the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), 1966–1972
  • 2007 Robin M. Allers: Almost a special relationship - German-Norwegian relations and the expansion of the European community in the Brandt era (1966–1973)
  • 2005 Daniel Friedrich Sturm : Disagreed on unity. Social Democracy and the Unification of Germany 1989/90

Willy Brandt online biography

The BWBS maintains the Willy Brandt online biography on the life and work of Willy Brandt, which is available in German, English and Norwegian.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Law on the establishment of a Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation
  2. ^ Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation
  3. ^ Forum Willy Brandt Berlin
  4. ^ Willy Brandt House Lübeck
  5. ↑ exhibitions
  6. ↑ Verlag JHW Dietz Nachf., Edited by Helga Grebing , Gregor Schöllgen and Heinrich August Winkler
  7. ↑ Berlin edition
  8. ^ Studies and documents
  9. ^ Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History
  10. ^ Willy Brandt Small Research Grants
  11. ^ Willy Brandt Prize for Contemporary History
  12. ↑ Willy Brandt's online biography
  13. ↑ Corresponding links: