Political and Cultural Youth Education at the wannseeFORUM
The “Wannseeheim für Jugendarbeit e.V.” was founded almost 70 years ago. Since the beginning, young people from Berlin and the surrounding area, and later from Europe and all over the world, have met in the villa on Lake Pohlesee – a foothill of the Kleine Wannsee – to get to know different lifestyles in an atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect and to live democracy in joint project work. In 2011, the association evolved into today’s “WannseeFORUM Foundation”.
Fields of work
Foundation work
The listed country house of the wannseeFORUM Foundation is located directly on Lake Pohlesee, a lake in the Kleine Wannsee chain. It was built in 1906 by order of the banker Carl Joerger. The maintenance and renovation of such a prestigious building, together with its garden, which is also a listed building, for youth work is one of the Foundation’s tasks, which is always a new challenge. Donations are therefore not only welcome, but necessary.
Political and Cultural Youth Education
As an institution, the wannseeFORUM Foundation is not committed to any particular party or religion or any other interest group and represents fundamental democratic values. We stand for cosmopolitanism, diversity and equal rights for all, regardless of gender, religion, social and cultural background. Our special profile is the combination of political and cultural education. The wannseeFORUM works as a cooperation partner with other institutions at home and abroad. We see ourselves as a reliable partner that implements projects and ideas in committees and together with other institutions and organisations and actively participates in social discourse on current issues.
Conference venue
Interested groups and institutions can rent our rooms and our conference service. With its listed country house, the coachman’s house and the modern seminar house Atrium, the wannseeFORUM invites its guests to experience seminars and conferences in a special ambience. The extensive lakeside property with its old trees makes it possible to hold discussions in green surroundings and relax from the stresses of everyday life.
Board of the Foundation
Barbara Kühn
1st Chairperson
kuehn (at) wannseeforum.de
Andreas Hilliger
2st Chairperson
hilliger (at) wannseeforum.de
Rita Eichelkraut
Board member
eichelkraut (at) wannseeforum.de
Dr. Natan Hogrebe
Board member
hogrebe (at) wannseeforum.de
Dr. Barbara Schöler-Macher
Board member
schoeler-macher (at) wannseeforum.de
Board of Trustees
Sabine Behn
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
behn (at) wannseeforum.de
Prof. Dr. Cillie Rentmeister
Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
rentmeister (at) wannseeforum.de
jugendBEIRAT
In the summer of 2021, the WANNSEEforum-mitMACHEN project was launched to strengthen the participation of young people in the wannseeFORUM foundation. The aim of the project, which was funded by the Youth Democracy Fund (Jugend-Demokratiefon), was to establish a youth advisory board, led by young people, for young people.
On 11 June 2022, the youth advisory board wannseeFORUM was ceremonially introduced as a body of the foundation.
Through seats on the board of trustees, mutual consultations with the pedagogical team, the possibility to independently carry out projects at the house and to address their own ideas regarding decisions, the youth voice is structurally anchored in the foundation.
Information, impressions and news from the Youth Advisory Council in the
- Instagram account @jugendbeirat_wsf
- Articles by and about the jugendBEIRAT on wannseeforum.de
- Contact: jugendbeirat (at) wannseeforum.de
Statutes
The statutes of the wannseeFORUM foundation are available for download (in German) here. Our Respect Charter is available for viewing here.