Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation

The Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation aims to promote science. The foundation was established in 1958 on the initiative of entrepreneur Ernst von Siemens. The managing director was the philosopher Heinrich Meier until March 2022.[1] In the summer semester of 2022, the literary scholar Marcel Lepper took over the management.[2] Since February 22, 2023, the foundation has been temporarily managed by Carola Schütt, who previously held the commercial management.[3] Armin Mohler, who popularized the concept of the conservative revolution, chaired the foundation for many years from 1964 to 1985, making the foundation a central place for the “New Right” of the time.[4][5][6]

Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation
Formation1958 in Munich
FounderErnst von Siemens
PurposePromotion of science
HeadquartersSchloss Nymphenburg
Managing Director
Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
Websitehttps://www.cfvss.de
A square, two-storey building, painted in alternating yellow and white, with a decorative gable and a brick roof.
The Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation building in Munich
Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, managing director

History

Ernst von Siemens, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG from 1956 to 1971, established the Foundation from his private assets. It bears the name of his father Carl Friedrich von Siemens, who was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Group between 1919 and 1941. From 1964 the foundation's managing director was the publicist Armin Mohler, and in 1985 Heinrich Meier succeeded Mohler. Since October 2023, the foundation has had a award-winning politician and administrative official as its managing director, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen.

The foundation under Armin Mohler 1964–1985

Mohler used the foundation mainly for political events. An example of this is a famos series on Carl Schmitt organized by Mohler in 1978. The lectures were then published by Propyläen-Verlag under the title Der Ernstfall as the second volume in the Foundation's series of publications, even though Schmitt was academically and journalistically isolated because of his commitment to Nazi Germany. Speakers were Among others Knut Borchardt, Paul Carell, Hellmut Diwald and Christian Meier. The series was understood as a tribute to Schmitt. Other publications of the foundations also dealt with persons or topics related to the New Right.

In 1980, the historian Ernst Nolte gave a lecture at the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation entitled Zwischen Geschichtslegende und Revisionismus (Between Historical Legend and Revisionism), which the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published, thus triggering the Historikerstreit, the so-called historians' dispute.

The foundation under Heinrich Meier 1985–2022

Today the foundation has the following priorities:

Critique

Numerous experts on right-wing extremism, such as Peter Glotz consider the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation under the management of Armin Mohlers to be a think tank of the New Right and assign the foundation to the New Right.

References
  1. Homepage of Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung, accessed on 8. Februar 2013
  2. Marcel Lepper appointed Managing Director of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation. Accessed on 5. November 2021.
  3. The team of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation. Accessed February 28, 2023
  4. Die "Neue Rechte" und die Carl-Friedrich-von-Siemens-Stiftung: Das Fremde ausstoßen, Süddeutsche Zeitung 2. March 2023
  5. Knut Cordsen: Siemens-Stiftung: Marcel Lepper äußert sich erstmals zu Rauswurf. Bayerischer Rundfunk, 11. April 2023, accessed 18. April 2023.
  6. Bargeld im Altherrenclub – Was führte zum Eklat um die Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung, der Literaturwissenschaftler Marcel Lepper im Gespräch (Ankündigung auf der Programvorschauseite), Reformbedarf. Marcel Lepper zur Geschichte der C.F.v.Siemens Stiftung, mit Michael Köhler, Deutschlandfunk 11. April 2023, 9.53 minute Audio-Version
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.