Instead of a foreword
In the spring of this year (2025), we received two very sad pieces of news.
Our long-time colleague and former director of the wannseeFORUM Foundation, Gabriele Naundorf, passed away on March 25, 2025. Many colleagues joined Gabi's family in a memorial gathering to say their goodbyes. The wannseeFORUM Foundation owes Gabi a great debt of gratitude. Colleagues praised her immense dedication to extracurricular youth education, particularly her support of girls' and women's education. She was a pioneer in this field. She consistently cared for the staff, the building, and the garden. Without her commitment as director of the wannseeFORUM Foundation, Villa Joergers would not have been transformed into a listed historical monument. (See Gabi Naundorf's obituary )
On April 25, 2025, we received the news that Hanna Biamino, a member of the Board of Trustees, had passed away. We will remember her as an inspiring and dedicated colleague and thank her for her contributions to the wannseeFORUM Foundation. (See Hanna Biamino's obituary)
Review of the work of the board in 2024
This year, we board members practiced in three disciplines:
- keep Calm
- Target and achieve goals,
- and react flexibly to unexpected changes.
Andreas Hilliger served as Second Chairman until November 2024 and then moved to the Board of Trustees. Rita Eichelkraut was elected Second Chairwoman, and Dr. Barbara Schöler-Macher and Meinhard Jacobs enriched the board's work with their extensive knowledge. They contribute their experience, advice, and practical support. Clemens Mücke joined the board as a new member. A good choice. Now we are once again five people dedicated to the foundation's future.
The dual leadership of Nicole Hasenjäger and Roman Fröhlich took on their tasks responsibly, and communication between them was very good.
The major project of creating a new website was undertaken by the management team and overseen by Rita Eichelkraut. This involved a great deal of consideration and decision-making, as high standards were set for the website's design: informative, modern, accessible, clear, versatile, inclusive of all committees, and so on.
In the area of education, we agreed on a new division of tasks proposed by Roman Fröhlich and his educational team (see the report from the head of the institution). In light of the rapid changes in the digital world, media literacy once again became an independent focus, separate from the main focus on social issues and political participation.
In December 2023, the Berlin House of Representatives decided to double the basic funding for all seven youth education centers. We didn't receive written confirmation until the end of March 2024. Part of the funding was used for building maintenance, accessibility improvements, and digitalization, while the other part went towards our seminar operations.
This was a real windfall for the wannseeFORUM. However, the decision to undertake construction work and its implementation required swift action. Nicole Hasenjäger did an outstanding job here. She implemented decisions, coordinated construction work and tradespeople, and calmed our guests and staff amidst all the disruption that arose during the seminar operations.
We experienced a major event at the end of September. The Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centers had announced a three-day visit. Gordana Berjan and Bogdan Imre thoroughly examined the foundation. The purpose was to renew the Quality Label. Roman Fröhlich proved to be a charming host who guided us through the program with excellent preparation. I was impressed by how thoroughly Gordana and Bogdan gathered information in their discussions with the center's management, the educators, the youth advisory board, the board of directors, Sabine Behn from the board of trustees, participants in a school seminar, and also with a representative from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens and Youth, a representative from the AdB (Association of German Youth Centers), and a representative from the Senate Department for Education, Family and Youth. Naturally, the rooms, accommodations, and food at the wannseeFORUM were also inspected.
These three days felt to me like a kind of "inspection" for extracurricular educational work, examining whether and how the quality standards are implemented at the wannseeFORUM. Overall, we received very positive feedback and suggestions on how the work can be further developed. The written report for the renewal of the quality label is now available.
Immediately afterwards, we celebrated our summer festival together with Gordana as our special guest. The organizing committee had planned the event excellently. (See summer festival report.) Our guests were able to learn all about the work of the teaching team, take advantage of interesting activities and discussion groups, and fully enjoy the house.
At the end of the year, prompted by a coaching session, we took the time to reflect on our extensive volunteer work:
How do we understand our responsibilities on the board? Who among us takes on which area of responsibility? How do we, together with the management, create meaningful structures for our collaboration?
More information can be found in the 2025 annual report.