ZEIT-Stiftung
 | |
| Founded | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Gerd Bucerius |
| Type | Charitable foundation |
| Focus | science, arts and education |
| Location |
|
Area served | worldwide |
Key people |
Chairman of the Board Michael Göring Chairman of the Board of Trustees Manfred Lahnstein |
Revenue | 21,9 million € (2013) |
| Endowment | 760 million € (2013) |
Employees | 31 |
Volunteers | 0 |
| Slogan | Promoting Scholarship - Enriching the Cultural Heritage - Developing Competencies |
| Website | www.zeit-stiftung.de |
The Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius (house style: ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius) was founded in 1971 by Gerd Bucerius (1906–1995). The name refers to the founder, his second wife Gertrud Ebel (1911–1997) whose nickname was Ebelin, and to the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, which was co-founded by Gerd Bucerius. The foundation is registered in Hamburg. Its main aim is to fund projects in research and scholarship, arts and culture, as well as education and training.
Early projects of the founder
The first scholarships in the 1970s were awarded to young journalists who were able to work at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA, with a ZEIT Fellowship. In the 1980s, Gerd Bucerius actively supported stronger competitiveness in higher education in Germany, and gave substantial sums to the private university Witten/Herdecke. In order to promote Hamburg's literary scene, the founder acquired a villa on the Outer Alster Lake, and made it available rent free to the City of Hamburg and the Literaturhaus-Verein, that since 1989 has been running the venue as Literaturhaus Hamburg. In the 1990s, the foundation enhanced its involvement in academia and set up the Gerd Bucerius-Juraprogramm, a scholarship programme for highly qualified young lawyers. Until his death, Gerd Bucerius, through his foundation, was able to fund 90 projects amounting to a total sum of 15 million €. Upon the death of its founder in 1995, followed by that of his wife in 1997, the couples' private assets were bequeathed to the foundation in their entirety. Over the past ten years, the foundation has allotted a funding total more than 153 million €. (The figures reflect the total at the end of the year 2013).
Organization
The statutory organs consist of a Board of Directors and a Board of Trustees. Following the death of the founder, Professor Dr. Michael Göring was appointed Executive Director in 1997; he has been President of the Board since 2005. Since 1995, Professor dres. h.c. Manfred Lahnstein has acted as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Mission statement
The foundation is an independent charitable foundation under German law. It regards itself as an integral part of an active civil society, where it aims to promote private endeavour. The foundation carries out its activities in the spirit of civic responsibility with a view to strengthening civil society. In accordance with its statutes, the focus of its activities is on research and scholarship, and arts and culture, as well as education and training. Innovation, creativity and sustainability are the guiding principles for the foundation's investment in promoting knowledge, sponsoring culture and developing competencies.
Conditions for grants
The foundation mainly funds projects initiated and run by it. It also funds the projects of applicants from Hamburg, Germany, and other countries, provided that their ventures comply with the statutes and conditions for grants of the foundation. In 2013, the foundation was able to dispose of revenues of ca. 21,9 million € accrued from the assets of the foundation. As one of the largest privately funded foundations in Germany with assets of 760 million € (end of financial year 2013) the foundation has also established institutions of its own, and in doing so has undertaken sustainable and long-term commitments. The foundation is flanked by the two independent institutions Bucerius Law School and Bucerius Kunst Forum that are representative of its engagement in research, the arts, and education.
Research and scholarship
The flagship of this area of enterprise is Germany's only private law school, the Bucerius Law School, which was founded in 2000. The foundation's investment in research and scholarship is centred on the humanities; currently the leading project is the PhD scholarship programme on migration studies, Settling Into Motion. The summer school History Takes Place is an urban studies programme. In Israel the foundation runs the Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society at the University of Haifa. The Transatlantic Academy in Washington D.C., initiated and funded by the foundation in collaboration with other organizations, develops policy solutions for current social and political questions. The foundation was one of the initiators of the German Historical Institute Moscow.
Arts and culture
In 2002 the foundation established the Bucerius Kunst Forum on Hamburg's city hall square as an exhibition venue for the arts. It shows four exhibitions every year, always with their own additional programme, and there are also independent concert and events series. The foundation also provides funding for projects in Hamburg's other museums, for example creating an academic archive of the collection of copperplate engravings. The foundation helps to preserve listed buildings in Hamburg and East Germany and supports the Hamburger Lessingtage at the Thalia Theater, which testify to the lasting relevance of one of Hamburg's leading literary figures. The foundation also supports master classes at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and the scheme Preisträger in Residence (prize winner in residence) at the music festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as the festival Sommerliche Musiktage in Hitzacker, all of which demonstrate the foundation's continued engagement in the diversity of North Germany's musical landscape.
Education and training
The ZEIT-Stiftung aims to improve schools. It provides studies and career advice for secondary pupils and has set up the campus project Mehr Migranten werden Lehrer for young people from migrant backgrounds. The reading scheme Bucerius LERN-WERK Lesen promotes reading skills in schools in North Germany. With the initiative vernetzt# - Wie wollen wir leben? as well as a series of panel discussions, the foundation makes an active contribution to the wider debate on current topics and viewpoints in education. Since 2000, the prize Bibliothek des Jahres (library of the year), the only nationwide library prize, has been awarded to user-friendly libraries. As part of its investment in journalistic programmes, since 2000 the ZEIT-Stiftung has awarded the Gerd Bucerius-Förderpreis Freie Presse Osteuropas (Gerd Bucerius Prize Free Press of Eastern Europe), which encourages journalists and publications to continue independent reporting in the face of obstacles and repression. The Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance and the Asian Forum on Global Gouvernance each year brings together young leaders from politics, business and finance, academia, the media and NGOs to join experts in a discussion on strategies and concepts for successful governance in the face of mounting global challenges.
Publications
The foundation's own publication series, Hamburger Köpfe, portrays leading personalities of Hamburg past and present, such as, most recently, Salomon Heine and Fritz Höger. Furthermore, the foundation publishes a series on immigrants in Hamburg who have had an impact on the city and its culture. The titles Italien in Hamburg, Russland in Hamburg and Portugal in Hamburg were followed recently by Skandinavien in Hamburg and China in Hamburg. Both book series are published by Ellert & Richter Verlag. Bucerius Law School and the Bucerius Kunst Forum both have publication series of their own.