Funding activities

Culture

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In the cultural environment, we focus on selected institutions and projects in the fields of classical music, spoken language and literature.

Another focus is on the culture of remembrance in coming to terms with the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. International understanding and democracy are also important to us. This is why we are also involved in various fellowship programs.

Classical music

Spoken language and literature

Culture of remembrance

Relations between different peoples and democracy

Classical music

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Classical music

Many cultural institutions are pursuing new approaches to expand their target groups. This is done, for example, through new educational programmes, digitalization or cooperation with other institutions. We support our cooperation partners on this path into the future. Our funding projects have a regional focus on Stuttgart and the region. Below we present selected projects that we have supported over several years.

Podium Esslingen

Having the courage to try out new things, to experiment and to tell pertinent stories through music – this is what matters most to the young PODIUM musicians. PODIUM Esslingen was established by young people in 2009 as an alternative chamber music festival. In just a few years, it has developed into a versatile, multiple award-winning platform for innovations in the area of classical and contemporary music.

Internationale Bachakademie

A lively presentation of Johann Sebastian Bach's music is the hallmark of the International Bach Academy Stuttgart. The program includes subscription series, the Bach Week for professional young musicians from all over the world and the Stuttgart Music Festival. In addition, young people are given access to musical masterpieces through dance and singing in the "BachBewegt!" project.

Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Akademie

The Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Akademie für Gesang, Dichtung und Liedkunst (International Hugo Wolf Academy for Singing, Poetry and Art Song, IHWA) looks back on a rich and varied history as one of the world’s oldest institutions dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the art song.

Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra is one of the oldest chamber orchestras in the world. Its repertoire ranges from baroque works to contemporary music. A particular focus is on the research and artistic use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), in order to expand the orchestra's artistic spectrum of expression.

Students of the Barenboim-Said Academy; © Peter Adamik

Leibinger Professorship of the Barenboim-Said-Academy (BSA)

The state-recognized Barenboim-Said Academy has been teaching talented young musicians, primarily from the Middle East and North Africa, in the pedagogical spirit of Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim since 2016. The aim is to train musically excellent, curious and reflective people. The Israeli professor Yael Kareth teaches Transcultural Music Education and Mediation at the Academy, a unique and innovative project in the German-speaking university area. You can find more information here.

Submit a funding request

We are open to new projects, especially if their content affects several of our funding areas at the same time or if they open up topics for new target groups.

Before submitting your funding request, please contact us at
+49 7042 2607 004


Your application must contain the following information:

Applicant (person/institution)
Brief description of the project (maximum 3 A4 pages)
Objectives of the project
Naming of possible co-sponsors
Cost and financing plan
Time frame of the project
Reference to the focal points of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Current notice of exemption
Your bank details (IBAN & BIC)

Contact

If you have any questions about funding in the field of classical music within our cultural funding activities, please contact:

Markus Wener
Send email

Spoken language and literature

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Spoken language and literature

Human language is fundamentally different from the communication of other living beings: It not only puts our thoughts and feelings into words, but also influences them. It also reflects constant social change.

We therefore promote projects in the field of spoken language and support this genre in particular with our "Theater in Public Space" funding line. In the field of literature, we are committed to the preservation of literary legacies. We also award the annual Comic Book Prize.

Below are some of the projects and institutions supported by the Berthold Leibiger Stiftung over several years.

Berthold Leibinger Professorship for Applied Rhetoric

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Kipp has held the endowed professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart since 2021. In the Applied Rhetoric and Speech Studies program, students learn to expand their own rhetorical skills, but also to teach people - from politics and business to radio and television.

Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach

The Berthold Leibinger Stiftung supported the German Literature Archive Marbach in acquiring important estates and documents from Erich Kästner, Franz Kafka and Siegfried Lenz, among others. In November 2022, the estate of Rainer Maria Rilke was purchased. This means that one of the most important author archives of the 20th century is now available to international researchers and the public.

LOKSTOFF!

LOKSTOFF! makes theater visible, brings it to the people and arouses their curiosity. The open and committed collective not only plays in public space, but also thematizes it and involves its audience. This also addresses target groups that are less inferior to theater art.

Submit a funding request

We are open to new projects, especially if their content affects several of our funding areas at the same time or if they open up topics for new target groups.

Please contact us by phone before submitting an application at
+49 7042 2607 004


Your application must include the following information:

Applicant (person/institution)
Brief description of the project (maximum 3 A4 pages)
Objectives of the project
Naming of possible co-sponsors
Cost and financing plan
Time frame of the project
Reference to the focal points of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Current notice of exemption
Your bank details (IBAN & BIC)

Contact

If you have any questions about funding in the area of spoken language / literature within our cultural funding activities, please contact:

Markus Wener
Send email

Culture of remembrance

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Culture of remembrance

Germany's cultural heritage includes its history, including its darker facets. We support charitable activities that are dedicated to remembering the Holocaust so that these anti-Semitic and fascist acts of violence never happen again in our country. As part of our activities in the field of remembrance culture, we are a cooperation partner of the Rahel-Straus (Youth) Prize, which we award annually together with the Baden-Württemberg state working group of the "Against Forgetting - For Democracy" association.

The following is a selection of projects supported by the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung.

The Simon family with friends by the sea, Norderney, June 27, 1930; Jewish Museum Berlin, donated by Herbert and Elisabeth Simon. Jens Ziehe

Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB)

The Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) has set itself the goal of making its archives and collection objects accessible online to all interested parties worldwide. A bequest from the Adler-Salomon family has enabled the JMB to lay the foundations for the digital cataloging of its collections. Thanks to this legacy, the digitization of around 370 of the approximately 1,800 family estates archived at the JMB is now underway, providing insights into over 250 years of life experience of often widely ramified Jewish families from Germany to the present day.

You can find more information here.

Jewish Culture Weeks Stuttgart

The annual Jewish Culture Weeks bring interested people closer to Jewish life and contribute to cultural exchange in urban society with a rich program of lectures, music, readings and guided tours.

Susanne Wetterich

I said, 'Goodbye'. Kindertransport to Great Britain 1938/39

In 1938/39, over 10,000 mostly Jewish children had to say goodbye to their families. It was a farewell that enabled the children to escape Nazi persecution. They came to Great Britain on the so-called Kindertransport and were placed in foster families or shared accommodation. Parents and children hoped to see them again soon.

The exhibition, which was initially shown in the Paul Löbe House of the German Bundestag, presents selected documents from five Jewish families. These provide an insight into the ambivalent emotions of the parents left behind in the Nazi state, who wavered between the hope of a reunion and the fear of permanent separation. You can find more information about the exhibition here.

The exhibition will be on display at the Württemberg State Library from 25.10.2024.

A catalog was created for the exhibition, which is also available digitally.

Read now

Submit a funding request

We are open to ideas for new projects, particularly if the outcome is relevant to more than one of our funding areas or if the project makes content accessible to new target groups.

Please contact us by telephone before submitting an application.

Your application must contain the following information:

Applicant (person/institution)
Brief description of the project (maximum 3 A4 pages)
Objectives of the project
Naming of possible co-sponsors
Cost and financing plan
Time frame of the project
Reference to the focal points of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Current notice of exemption
Your bank details (IBAN & BIC)

Submit funding request

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Your contact person

If you have any questions about funding in the area of remembrance culture within our cultural funding activities, please contact:

Isabel Schwab
Send email

Relations between different peoples and democracy

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Democracy is the cornerstone of our social order and thrives on dialog between different opinions and value preferences. This can reduce prejudices and defuse impending conflicts. In a globalized world, direct encounters, intercultural learning and scientific exchange help to create a more peaceful world.
The following is a list of some of the partners that the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung supports.

Thomas Mann House

During his California exile in 1942, Thomas Mann built a house in Pacific Palisades / Los Angeles that was to become a place of artistic creation and intellectual exchange on the great questions of his time for ten years.

In November 2016, the Federal Foreign Office acquired the property and converted it into a residence of the Federal Republic of Germany. ‍‍

The Thomas Mann House aims to create a lively place for transatlantic debate where outstanding personalities can discuss fundamental political, social and cultural issues of the present and future with each other and with the host country. ‍‍

The Berthold Leibinger Stiftung supported the furnishing of the house and annually sponsors the fellowship program.

The Thomas Mann Fellowships enable scholars as well as thought leaders and intellectuals who live or have lived in Germany to address the pressing challenges of our time and to foster intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and the USA.

On the occasion of the announcement of the first Fellows, Berthold Leibinger emphasized his close ties with the U.S., which, like his love of Thomas Mann as a writer and critical homo politicus, was a major reason for the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung's strong commitment.

Thomas Mann House Fellows

  • Margarytha Surzhenko
    Autorin
  • Dr. Nils Christian Kumkar
    Soziologe
  • Dr. Ronen Steinke
    Journalist und Jurist
  • Dr. Hila Amit
    Autorin
  • Oliver Polak
    Comedian und Autor
  • Johannes Müller
    Regisseur und Dramaturg
  • Steven Walter
    Kurator und Konzertgestalter
  • Prof. Dr. Robert Riener
    Professor für Gesundheitswissenschaften und Technologie
  • Dr. Uwe Jean Heuser
    Journalist
  • Dr. Rana Deep Islam
    Unternehmensberater
  • Prof. Dr. Susan Neimann
    Philosophin
  • Sandra Kegel
    Journalistin
  • Dr. Sonja Hesgasy
    Islamwissenschaftlerin
  • Susanne Beyer
    Journalistin
  • Igor Levit
    Pianist und Aktivist
  • Prof. h.c. mult. H.c. Susanne Baer, Rechtswissenschaftlerin
  • Aida Baghernejad, Journalistin
  • Georg Diez, Autor und Journalist
  • Theresia Enzensberger, Autorin
  • Julia Franck, Schriftstellerin
  • Dr. Johannes Gerschewski, Sozial- und Politikwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Dieter Gosewinkel, Historiker und Jurist
  • Prof. Dr. Sabine_Hark, Soziolog_in
  • Ciani-Sophia Hoeder, Journalistin und Autorin
  • Prof. Dr. Rahel Jaeggi, Philosophin
  • Friedemann Karig, Journalist und Autor; Moderator
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrike Klinger, Kommunikationswissenschaftlerin
  • Dr. Pola Lehmann, Sozialwissenschaftlerin
  • Igor Levit, Pianist und Aktivist
  • Dr. Kai Hinrich Müller, Musikwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Andrea Römmele, Kommunikations- und Politikwissenschaftlerin
  • Dr. Kai Hinrich Müller, Musikwissenschaftler
  • Dr. Sophie-Charlotte Opitz, Kuratorin und Medienwissenschaftlerin
  • René Aguigah, Journalist
  • Prof. Dr. María do Mar Castro Varela, Politikwissenschaftlerin und Professorin für Allgemeine Pädagogik und Soziale Arbeit
  • Prof. Dr. Nikita Dhawan, Politikwissenschaftlerin
  • Dr. Carolin Görgen, Amerikanistin
  • Ghayath Almadhoun, Schriftsteller
  • Maria Exner, Journalistin
  • Marlene Grunert, Journalistin
  • Alice Hasters, Autorin
  • Felix Rohrbeck, Wirtschaftsjournalist
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Reckwitz, Soziologe
  • Rosario Talevi, Architektin und Kuratorin; Redakteurin
  • Swenja Zaremba, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaftlerin sowie Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin Interkulturalität und Globalisierung
  • Dr. Rubina Zern-Breuer, Historikerin und Innovationsforscherin
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrich Johannes Schneider, Bibliothekar und Wissenshistoriker
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Bieber, Politikwissenschaftler
  • Dipl.-Ing. Doris Kleilein, Architektin und Autorin
  • Dipl.-Ing. Friederike Meyer, Architekturjournalistin und Redakteurin sowie Autorin
  • Prof. Dr. Christine Landfried, Politikwissenschaftlerin
  • Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Nitsche, Informatiker
  • Prof. Dr. Claus Pias, Medienwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf, Informatiker
  • Prof. Sunhild Kleingärtner, Archäologin
  • Mohamed Amjahid, Journalist
  • Magdalena Kröner, Kunstjournalistin
  • Birte Meier, Journalistin
  • Prof. Dr. Claus Leggewie, Soziologe
  • Prof. Dr. Heike Paul, Amerikanistin
  • Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst, Professor für Politische Theorie und Philosophie
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers, Rechtswissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn, Politikwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pörksen, Medienwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Marx, Literaturwissenschaftler
  • Mohamed Amjahid, Autor und Journalist
  • Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst, Politikwissenschaftler
  • Doris Kleilein, Architekturjournalistin
  • Friederike Meyer, Architekturjournalistin
  • Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Marx, Literaturwissenschaftler
  • Birte Meier, Fernsehjournalistin
  • Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers, Rechtswissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Heike Paul, Amerikanistin
  • Prof. Dr. Claus Pias, Medienwissenschaftler und -historiker
  • Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pörksen, Medienwissenschaftler
  • Prof. Dr. Katharina Sykora, Kunsthistorikerin
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn, Politikwissenschaftler
  • Dr. Armen Avanessian, Philosoph
  • Dr. Damian Borth, Direktor des Kompetenzzentrums Deep Learning, Deutsches Forschungsinstitut für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI)
  • Prof. Dr. Ilse Helbrecht, Geographin, Direktorin das Georg-Simmel-Zentrum für Metropolenforschung (GSZ)
  • Prof. Dr. Stefan Keppler-Tasaki, Literaturwissenschaftler
  • Burghart Klaußner, Schauspieler und Autor
  • Andreas Platthaus, Journalist und Autor
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Reckwitz, Soziologe
  • Dr. Lisa Riedner, Sozialwissenschaftlerin

Honorary Fellow

  • Prof. Dr. Frido Mann, Psychologe und Autor

Frido Mann reports on his website about his time as Honorary Fellow at the Thomas Mann House, where he lived with his grandparents for a long time: fridomann.de

  • Prof. Dr. h.c. Ph.D. Jutta Allmendinger, Präsidentin des Wissenschaftszentrums Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinrich Detering, Professor für Neuere deutsche Literatur und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
  • Burghart Klaußner, Schauspieler und Autor (auf 2019 verschoben)
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Yiannos Manoli, Inhaber der Fritz-Hüttinger-Professur für Mikroelektronik und Institutsleiter des Hahn-Schickard Instituts für Mikro- und Informationstechnik
  • Dr. phil. Sylke Tempel (†), Journalistin und Buchautorin

American Academy

Founded in 1994 on the initiative of then U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke and Henry Kissinger and Richard von Weizsäcker, the American Academy has set itself the goal of creating knowledge and challenging existing views through exchange. The Fellowship Program, funded by the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung since 2006, is at the heart of the Academy's work. Since 1998, it has made possible approximately 20 to 25 semester-long residencies each year for fellows from the fields of science, art and politics who work on academic and artistic projects in Berlin.

Goals of the Berthold Leibinger Fellowship Program

Since its inception, the Berthold Leibinger Fellowship has already enabled 18 scientists to spend four months as Fellows. The fellows each pursue a scientific project with which they have applied in advance and on the basis of which they were selected by the independent selection committee. They present their work as part of the so-called "Leibinger Lecture".

The main aim of the fellowship program is to create opportunities for exchange with experts in Berlin and Germany, thereby making an important contribution to the expansion of transatlantic networks that will continue beyond the immediate stay.

American Academy Fellows

  • Peter H. Christensen, Arthur Satz Professor of Humanities an der University of Rochester, Associate Dean der School of Arts and Sciences und Direktor des Humanities Center

    Mehr erfahren
  • Mabel O. Wilson, Nancy und George Rupp Professorin für Architektur, Planung und Denkmalpflege; Professorin für Afroamerikanistik und afrikanische Diasporastudien, Columbia University
  • Alma Steingart, assistant professor of history, Columbia University
  • Bertrall Ross, Justice Thurgood Marshall Professor of Law at the University of Virginia Law School.
  • Nathalie Peutz, Associate Professor of Anthropology, New York University Abu Dhabi

Global Ethic Foundation

The Tübingen Global Ethic Foundation was founded in 1995 by the Swiss theologian Hans Küng to further develop and practically implement the Global Ethic project he conceived. The goals of the foundation are the teaching of ethical and intercultural competence as well as dialogue and cooperation between religions. To this end, it carries out a wide variety of projects - also internationally - in the areas of schools and education, religion, politics, culture and society. Since 2012, it has been running a Global Ethic Institute at the University of Tübingen with a focus on business, corporate and globalization ethics.

Submit a funding request

We are open to ideas for new projects, particularly if the outcome is relevant to more than one of our funding areas or if the project makes content accessible to new target groups.

Please contact us by phone before submitting an application at +49 7042 2607 004

Your application must include the following information:

Applicant (person/institution)
Brief description of the project (maximum 3 A4 pages)
Objectives of the project
Naming of possible co-sponsors
Cost and financing plan
Time frame of the project
Reference to the focal points of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Current notice of exemption
Your bank details (IBAN & BIC)

Submit funding request

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Contact

If you have any questions about funding in the area of international understanding and democracy within our culture funding activities, please contact:

Markus Wener
Send email