Limmat Foundation

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The Limmat Foundation is a non-profit umbrella foundation under Swiss law based in Zurich . It was founded in 1972 by Opus Dei members and related parties. The Limmat Foundation is the intersection of an international network of Opus Dei-related foundations and banks and the central front organization of the Roman Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei in Switzerland .

The work of the Limmat Foundation is inspired by Christian values ​​without being confessional. She realizes social projects at home and abroad, the project focuses on development through training . The purpose of the foundation is broad and provides worldwide support for people in need and non-profit institutions. The donors can help decide which specific projects they support.

The foundation resides in a villa in Zurich- Fluntern . It is named after the Limmat River that flows through Zurich.

History and meaning

The first Opus Dei members came to Switzerland from Spain in 1956 to disseminate the work of priest Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás , and in 1961 they settled in the Fluntern district in Zurich, which is now also the headquarters of the Limmat Foundation. This emerged from the FGM Foundation for International Cooperation , a branch of the Spanish Opus Dei Foundation Fundación General Mediterránea , which was established by the lawyer and banker Arthur Wiederkehr in Zurich in the 1960s. Through them part of the profits of the Banco Atlántico in Barcelona were channeled, which the Catalan industrialist and supernumerarian Casimiro Molins Robit directed. This gave Zurich a key position in the international financial activities of Opus Dei. The Limmat Foundation was founded on March 13, 1972 with a capital of 42,000 US dollars by Arthur Wiederkehr and also served the tax-privileged transfer of Opus Dei funds from Spain. Co-founders were Opus Dei members Toni Zweifel (1938–1989), who headed the foundation as managing director until his death, and Hans-Georg Rhonheimer, who served as foundation president until 2004. Doubt, a Swiss-Italian millionaire's son who got to know Opus Dei while studying engineering at the ETH Zurich , shaped the structure of the foundation for 17 years until he died from leukemia in 1989. He came up with the concept of an umbrella structure for the foundation and the idea to concentrate the foundation's activities particularly on the training of multipliers , the "training of trainers". His beatification has been practiced since 2001.

The establishment of foundations to collect donations and funds that can be used for the goals of Opus Dei is one of the common practices in the environment of the organization. According to research by Opus Dei researcher Peter Hertel , the founder of the foundation Arthur Wiederkehr himself was apparently not an Opus Dei member. He was chairman of the board of directors of Nordfinanz Bank in Zurich, which acted as the house bank of the Spanish Rumasa group. The founder and director of Rumasa was José María Ruiz Mateos , who, according to his own statements, had joined Opus Dei around 1963 as a supernumerary . Wiederkehr also had ties to the Italian banker Roberto Calvi , who was involved in obscure activities related to Vatican finances.

Due to the small size of the Swiss Opus Dei structures, the Foundation has been closely linked to the German section of Opus Dei in terms of personnel since the 1980s. With an estimated fortune of 25,500,000 Swiss francs (as of 2002), she is perceived as the “international financial head of Opus Dei”. The budget, which was given for 1993 at 880,000 US dollars, comes mainly from private sources of finance (1993: 78 percent) and a considerable part from the Foundation's own funds (1993: 20 percent), while in 1993 only around 2 Percent of spending was financed from public funds and grants. In 2011, the foundation (including sub-foundations) supported around 130 projects with total assets of more than CHF 99 million. In particular, she cooperates in Colombia with the Spanish Opus Dei foundation Fundación Codespa .

In 2002 there was a personnel scandal in the Foundation's Patronage Committee. FIFA , also based in Zurich, financed a sports facility for Colombian street children with the Limmat Foundation. After the Foundation's links to Opus Dei had been revealed in the Swiss press, the then General Secretary of FIFA, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, left the Foundation's Patronage Committee shortly before his replacement in the FIFA executive branch; its spokesman described Opus Dei as a "controversial organization". The later Swiss Sports Minister Ueli Maurer ( SVP ), at that time also a patronage member and foundation director at the Limmat Foundation, expressed incomprehension for this step. The subject of Opus Dei was "clearly addressed" when the project started in 2001.

Since its inception, the foundation has carried out 964 social projects in 78 countries (as of 2017).

Organization and staff

The Limmat Foundation consists of the nine-member board of trustees, the management and the endowment councils. The Board of Trustees oversees the project center and its management. The managing director is François Geinoz, a member of Opus Dei who is also President of ProFonds Switzerland. Other members of the management are Juan José Alarcón (project manager), Franz Benito (internal controlling) and André Meier (finance manager).

By 2002, six out of eight board members are said to have been Opus Dei members. As early as the 1990s, the Cologne-based Opus Dei functionary Hans Thomas was a member of the Board of Trustees, who succeeded Hans-Georg Rhonheimer as President of the Limmat Foundation in 2004 and is considered a key figure in the management of Opus Dei-related associations in German-speaking countries. He heads the Lindenthal Institute in Cologne and is Secretary General of the German Rhine-Danube Foundation in Munich , which is an important financial center for the German section of Opus Dei and manages assets of an estimated 5.3 million euros (as of 2008). Thomas was replaced as President by Elisabeth András-Ottrubay in 2013, but remained on the Board of Trustees until March 2017. There are also personalities close to Opus Dei, such as Heinrich Liechtenstein , who teaches finance at the IESE Business School in Barcelona and is also a board member of the Liechtenstein Academy Foundation at Freudenfels Castle . One of the foundation's covert employees in the 1990s was the Opus Dei numerator Peter Kopa , who is said to have coordinated transfers through informal contacts with Opus Dei-controlled financial institutions in Spain.

The patronage committee includes personalities from business, politics and sport who, with their membership, show their sympathy and support for the foundation and its work. Among them are numerous well-known entrepreneurs, aristocrats such as the banker Archduke Rudolf von Österreich , who lives in Switzerland , politicians such as Ueli Maurer (SVP), Arthur Loepfe ( CVP ) or Gabi Huber ( FDP ), trade and development diplomats such as the former Red Cross director and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Jean-Pierre Hocké or the former Federal Council representative for trade agreements Nicolas Imboden as well as representatives of well-known Swiss corporations such as Victorinox , Lindt and Nestlé .

Thematic focus

The foundation exclusively pursues charitable purposes at home and abroad; The purpose of the foundation as stipulated in the articles of association includes "any kind of support for needy and worthy physical persons and non-profit institutions."

The focus of the project is the training of trainers, the training of women, and the prevention and care of street children . The projects are implemented by verified local partners who have to provide substantial partial financing for the projects. Most local partners are networked with the structures of Opus Dei on site. The projects are designed in such a way that they can be continued after the Limmat Foundation has withdrawn. The geographic focus is on Central and East Africa , South America , Southeast Asia and the countries of the former Soviet Union . Conservative family policy, especially the fight against abortion and against gender mainstreaming , branded as “hyperfeminism” by the relevant foundation representatives , forms an ideological focus of the projects. The Limmat Foundation publishes the quarterly magazine Family and Education , with which it propagates its family policy goals.

The impact of projects is regularly determined in order to measure the quality and, if necessary, improve it. A separate tool was developed to measure impact ( impact evaluation ), the Socio-Economic Welfare Index , which is based on the index of sustainable economic prosperity .

The foundation has been supporting the prevention and care of street children since 1996, mainly in Colombia, but also in African countries. These projects are financed to a large extent from the proceeds of a golf tournament: The Esmeralda Charity Cup is held on golf courses in Switzerland and neighboring countries. The main sponsor has been the Swiss Valartis Bank since 2009 (as of 2011).

Umbrella foundation with endowments

Schematic representation: Foundation, endowment and earmarked fund

The Limmat Foundation was the first foundation in Switzerland that the structure of an umbrella foundation ( Umbrella Foundation has given). As a “foundation of foundations”, the umbrella foundation has deliberately defined its goals broadly. The umbrella foundation makes its infrastructure available to patrons so that donors can achieve their own goals. To this end, they can set up so-called sub-foundations within the Limmat Foundation. There are no statutory regulations in Switzerland for umbrella foundations or endowments (also known as “sub-foundations” or “patronage”); the structure is subject to private autonomy . Sub-foundations are largely autonomous, but not legally competent foundations with their own purpose, their own regulations and assets and their own (sub) foundation board, whose staff can overlap with those of the foundation board of the umbrella foundation. Since certain tasks of a board of trustees cannot be delegated under Swiss foundation law, endowment boards are more like advisory boards or special representatives than real foundation bodies.

An endowment causes much lower administrative costs than a foundation with its own legal personality. Alternatively, patrons can also set up earmarked funds. The investment funds are in both cases a pool fed and managed together. The Limmat Foundation offers four so-called “internal portfolios” with different investment strategies. With these solutions, funders achieve synergies with project partners and with other sources of funding.

Every endowment or fund benefits from the central infrastructure of the Limmat Foundation, the so-called project center. These include a. their tried and tested contacts, their many years of experience in project selection and implementation, as well as the professional quality of their asset management. The equity of the project center generates a profit that is used to cover the administrative costs of the foundation and, in part, of the endowments. As a result, according to the company's own account, an average of 95% of the funds can flow directly into the projects.

Under the umbrella of the Limmat Foundation there are 16 sub-foundations and 60 earmarked funds (as of 2017). The painter and sculptor Karl Lukas Honegger , who founded the patronage Karl Lukas Honegger in 1993, set up an exemplary donation to secure the future of his work.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Holy Mafia of the Pope. In: Der Spiegel 2/1995, p. 50 f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Gordon Urquhart: Opus Dei: The Pope's Right Arm in Europe. Published by Catholics for a Free Choice , Washington DC 1997.
  3. ^ Peter Hertel: Creeping takeover. The Opus Dei under Pope Benedict XVI. Publik-Forum Verlag, Oberursel 2007, ISBN 978-3-88095-161-7 , p. 152 f.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Anna Catherin Loll: Commandment of silence. In: Handelszeitung , year 2011, year-end double number 51/52, p. 2.
  5. ↑ a b c Limmat Foundation - Swiss umbrella foundations. In: dachstiftungen.ch. January 31, 2016, accessed June 20, 2019 .
  6. ↑ «Sacrilege» in Zurich? Visit to Opus Dei. ( Memento from February 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) In: Fluntermer. The quarterly magazine for Fluntern. Dornbusch Medien AG, Zurich 2017, accessed on February 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ a b c Peter Hertel: "I promise you heaven". Spiritual claim, social goals and ecclesiastical significance of Opus Dei . 4th edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1990, ISBN 3-491-77804-2 , p. 55-66 .
  8. ^ Robert Hutchison: Their Kingdom Come. Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei. Doubleday, London 1997, ISBN 0-385-40496-4 , p. 167; 173 f.
  9. ↑ Toni Zweifel . Brief portrait on the Foundation's website, accessed on September 19, 2017.
  10. ↑ a b c From the wealthy egocentric to self-giving in everyday life. Article on the website of Opus Dei in Switzerland, September 22, 2017, accessed on February 18, 2018.
  11. ↑ John L. Allen Jr.: Opus Dei. Doubleday, New York 2005, p. 208; Klaus Steigleder :  Opus Dei . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 25, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1995, ISBN 3-11-014712-2 , pp. 302–304 (here: p. 304) .; Peter Hertel: An uncanny power? Ecclesiastical and social influence of Opus Dei. In: Harald Schützeichel: Opus Dei. Goals, aspiration and influence. Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 1992, pp. 121-145 (here: pp. 124 f.).
  12. ^ Pietro Calderoni: Parla Ruiz Mateos - La Cassaforte dell 'Opus Dei, in: L'Espresso, 4 Maggio 1986 (interview) . Rome, S. 34 ff .
  13. ↑ Peter Hertel: An uncanny power? Ecclesiastical and social influence of Opus Dei. Düsseldorf 1992, p. 126.
  14. ↑ a b c Thomas Kistner : FIFA Mafia. 2nd edition, Knaur Verlag, Munich 2013, note 159 f.
  15. ^ Peter Hertel: Creeping takeover. The Opus Dei under Pope Benedict XVI. Oberursel 2007, p. 156.
  16. ↑ Hans Thomas: Long-running Opus Dei suspicion. Review of Peter Hertel's Opus Dei book Creeping Takeover (2002) on the Opus Dei website, accessed on 19 September 2017.
  17. ^ A b c Peter Hertel: Creeping takeover. The Opus Dei under Pope Benedict XVI. Oberursel 2007, p. 140 f.
  18. ↑ a b c Annual Report 2017 (PDF; 2.8 MB) of the Limmat Foundation, Zurich 2018, p. 31.
  19. ↑ Information on the website of the Rhine-Danube Foundation , accessed on June 23, 2019.
  20. ↑ Meinrad Heck : In the name of the Lord. Online dossier at edition-zeitlupe.com , accessed on September 22, 2017.
  21. ^ Entry on Hans Thomas in the Moneyhouse , accessed on September 19, 2017.
  22. ↑ a b Entry on the Limmat Foundation in the fundraiso.ch foundation directory, accessed on February 17, 2018.
  23. ↑ Profile on the Liechtenstein Academy website , accessed on June 23, 2019.
  24. ^ Peter Hertel: Creeping takeover. The Opus Dei under Pope Benedict XVI. Oberursel 2007, pp. 150–152.
  25. ↑ Patrick Mülhauser: Archduke Rudolf of Austria: "We live to serve." In: SRF , March 6, 2016, accessed on February 18, 2018.
  26. ↑ Annual report 2014 (PDF; 1 MB) of the Limmat Foundation, Zurich 2015, p. 27.
  27. ↑ Lanzan iniciativa por la primera infancia en el Valle. In: El País (Colombia), March 5, 2017, accessed February 16, 2018.
  28. ↑ ECC self-presentation , accessed in September 2017.
  29. ↑ Annual report 2009 (PDF; 4 MB) of the Limmat Foundation, Zurich 2010, p. 26.
  30. ↑ a b The patronage of Karl Lukas Honegger. Karl Lukas Honegger's website , accessed June 24, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Goran Studen, François Geinoz: Earmarked funds and foundation-like asset ties (PDF; 350 kB). Foundation Governance (2nd part). In: Expert Focus 4/2018, pp. 272–277 (here: 274).
  32. ↑ Goran Studen, François Geinoz: Earmarked funds and foundation-like asset ties. Accounting issues (3rd part). In: Expert Focus 5/2018, pp. 421-428 (here: 428).