Home / The Foundation / About us / 50th Anniversary / 50 years Nobel Peace Prize 50 years Nobel Peace Prize The anniversary programme 2021 On 10 December 1971, Willy Brandt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Almost 25 years after the end of the Second World War, the Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured the West German Chancellor “for his policy of reconciliation between old enemy countries”, as stated as one of the reasons. With the New “Ostpolitik”, he had “made an outstanding effort in a spirit of goodwill to create conditions for peace in Europe.” The Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation commemorated this special historical date with a comprehensive anniversary programme. The diverse events on-site in Oslo, Lübeck and Berlin as well as the numerous social media offers and livestreams were and are to encourage people to reflect on the relevance of Willy Brandt’s understanding of politics and peace today. The anniversary programme OSLO Exhibition opening in Oslo | 11 November 2021, 6 p.m. The international touring exhibition “Willy Brandt 1913-1992. A Life for Freedom, Peace and Reconciliation between Nations” provides information on the most important stages and events of Willy Brandt’s life. From 12 November 2021 to 11 February 2022, the exhibition will be on display in Norwegian at the Library of the University of Oslo – in the very city where Willy Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971. More information on the event In addition, a school competition was launched in Norway based on the contents of the exhibition. All winning entires can be found here. DIGITAL Willy Brandt speech 2021 | 3 December 2021, 7 p.m. Online lecture by Berit Reiss-Andersen, Nobel Peace Prize Committee Oslo | Lecture in English (with English and German subtitles) Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, took a look back at the Norwegian Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Prize to the German Chancellor Willy Brandt fifty years ago. She explained his “outstanding commitment”, as the Oslo citation put it, “to creating conditions for peace in Europe”. In retrospect, we know that Brandt’s New Ostpolitik did indeed lead to détente and, in the long run, to the overcoming of the hardened fronts of the Cold War. Berit Reiss-Andersen therefore also asked about the “lessons learned” from Brandt’s peace policy commitment for today’s crises and conflicts. Further information on the lecture and stream DIGITAL Discussion: Peace policy in our time| 8 December 2021, 2 p.m. – 8.30 p.m. Willy Brandt’s guiding ideas for a more peaceful world have shaped German and international politics. What do we learn from Willy Brandt’s policies to cope with challenges we face today? And what questions must a comprehensive peace policy find answers to today? Martin Schulz (Bonn), Beatrice Fihn (Geneva) and Jens Stoltenberg (Brussels) discussed these questions. Further information on the event Cooperation event of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung DIGITAL International Scientific Symposium: Making peace? Nobel laureates of the 1970s | 9 December 2021, 1 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. In the 1970s, personalities as diverse as Willy Brandt, Henry Kissinger or Mairead Corrigan were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. How were the decisions of the Norwegian Nobel Committee received in politics and society at that time? What ideas of peace and conflict regulation were associated with them? With Frank Bösch (Potsdam), Jan Eckel (Tübingen), Bernd Greiner (Lübeck), Corinna Hauswedell (Bonn/Dublin), Dan Meridor (Tel Aviv), Irina Scherbakowa (Moscow) and Benedikt Schönborn (Vienna). Further information on the symposium and livestream DIGITAL Panel discussion: Irreplaceable, but soon irrelevant? The Nobel Peace Prize today | 9 December 2021, 7.30 p.m. What relevance is attributed to the Nobel Peace Prize today and what about its universal acceptance? What expectations, but also disappointments, are currently associated with the award? Elisabeth Röhrlich (Vienna), Mathieu von Rohr (Hamburg), Karsten Voigt (Berlin) and Ursula Schröder (Hamburg) discussed these issues. Further information on the panel discussion and livestream DIGITAL 21 October until 10 December 2021 Social media: Facebook (Foundation & Willy-Brandt-Haus Lübeck) | Twitter | Instagram (Foundation & Willy-Brandt-Haus Lübeck) | YouTube | Soundcloud Whether politician or school headmaster, whether football player or former state minister, whether student or publicist: in the video series they talked about “Peace, Willy Brandt and the Nobel Peace Prize”. In “Game Changing: Oslo 1971”, pupils presented Willy Brandt’s commitment to peace policy. The interview series "Peace, Willy Brandt and the Nobel Peace Prize" Further information on the anniversary programme, press material as well as livestreams, videos and podcasts can be found at www.willy-brandt.de.
