Bertelsmann Stiftung

The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. The foundation states that it promotes "reform processes" and "the principles of entrepreneurial activity" to build a "future-oriented society".

Since 1993, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has held the majority of capital shares in the Bertelsmann Group. It holds 80.9% together with the Reinhard Mohn Stiftung and the BVG Stiftung but has no voting rights.

At the end of the 1970s, there were discussions concerning who would follow Reinhard Mohn as chairman of Bertelsmann. Against this background and because he believed that the state must be able to count on its citizens' willingness to assume responsibility and take the initiative, Mohn founded the Bertelsmann Stiftung on 8 February 1977. It was officially approved by the authorities on 14 March 1977. The Bertelsmann Stiftung was initially endowed with 100,000 Deutsche Marks in capital. About two years later, it began its work.

In 1979, Hans-Dieter Weger was appointed the first managing director. He developed the concept of an operational foundation that develops and oversees its own projects. One of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's first activities was the baseline study Kommunikationsverhalten und Buch ("Communication Behavior and the Book"), which was prepared in cooperation with Infratest. The Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Bertelsmann Group also provided support for the construction of the Gütersloh municipal library.

In 1982, the Bertelsmann Stiftung presented its first public report of its activities. In the report's foreword, Karl Carstens, president of the Federal Republic of Germany, praised the "achievement of foundations in the public sphere." In the meantime, the Bertelsmann Stiftung had come to play a central role in Reinhard Mohn's sociopolitical activities. Mohn functioned as the foundation's sole executive and was supported by a newly created advisory board from 1983 onwards. In addition to Reinhard Mohn and Hans-Dieter Weger, the board's members were Kurt Biedenkopf, Gerd Bucerius, Friedhelm Farthmann and Eberhard Witte. In 1985, a publishing house was founded as part of the foundation in order to handle the growing number of publications. Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung still exists today.

In 1988, the Bertelsmann Stiftung awarded the Carl Bertelsmann Prize (now known as the Reinhard Mohn Prize) for the first time. The recipients were employer organizations and trade unions in the construction, chemistry and metalworking industries. Today, the award continues to honor internationally renowned figures who have developed pioneering solutions to social and political challenges. In addition to working in Germany, the Bertelsmann Stiftung initiated several international projects in the 1980s, such as the Kulturraum Europa (European Culture Space). Further examples include a program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the construction of the Biblioteca Can Torró in Alcúdia on the island of Majorca.

Kurt Biedenkopf was elected as the first chairman of the advisory board in 1987, and Reinhard Mohn himself took over this position in 1990. Horst Teltschik then joined the foundation, a development that received a great deal of media attention. The former foreign policy adviser to Helmut Kohl became managing director of the Bertelsmann Stiftung in early 1991 and began focusing on the foundation's internationalization. At the end of the 1980s, the Bertelsmann Stiftung offices were built opposite the Bertelsmann corporate headquarters. Mikhail Gorbachev was a guest during his first trip to Germany after the demise of the Soviet Union.

In addition to Reinhard Mohn, Ulrich Saxer and Werner Weidenfeld were appointed to the Bertelsmann Stiftung executive board in 1993. New management was also hired. In the same year, Reinhard Mohn transferred the majority of the capital shares in the Bertelsmann Group to the foundation, a move intended to ensure continuity at the company. The transaction increased the foundation's stake in the company from 21.3% to 68.8%, being the largest shareholder. In the 1993 transfer agreement, however, shareholdings and voting rights were strictly separated, so that the foundation cannot exercise any significant influence on the Bertelsmann Group, which is still largely controlled by the Mohn family. As the foundation receives dividends for its holdings in the company, the transfer of shares resulted in a significant increase in the organization's budget.