What We Do

Democracy thrives on the participation of everyone. In order to preserve it and make it future-proof, it is necessary to constantly address the questions of the time and strengthen democratic coexistence. At the same time, it is important to protect democracy from its internal and external enemies. With our work we want to encourage people to take action and support them in exercising their democratic rights and actively working for an open, solidarity-based and just society.

Our Exhibitions

With the permanent exhibitions in the Forum Willy Brandt Berlin, the Willy Brandt House in Lübeck and the Willy Brandt Forum Unkel, we invite a broad audience from all parts of Germany and the world to exchange ideas. We see our locations and their exhibitions as inclusive places of learning about the history of democracy and places of encounter that also serve to discuss current and future issues.

Education and Events

With our educational and outreach offerings as well as our events, we are aimed at everyone and especially at those people who no longer have any personal memories associated with Willy Brandt. Our approaches are competency-oriented, multi-perspective and relevant to the lives of the respective target group. We use analogue, digital and hybrid formats to communicate.

The foundation offers a wide-ranging program of events. Highlights are the annual series Willy Brandt Lecture and Willy Brandt Gespräch, the Willy Brandt Rede in Lübeck and the Willy Brandt Vortrag in Bonn. We invite prominent and influential personalities from politics, culture, science and business to lectures and discussions. In the spirit of Willy Brandt, they take up topics that are of central importance for understanding our history and shaping our present and future. In recent years, speakers have included Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Russian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitri Muratov, the publicist Michel Friedman, the economic historian Adam Tooze, the Internet pioneer Jaron Lanier and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.

Science and Research

For the scientific community, we are the first point of contact for researching Willy Brandt’s biography. We evaluate the Willy-Brandt-Archive in the Archives of Social Democracy at the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Bonn, publish selected publications as well as works and writings by Brandt, research their significance in the past and present, implement innovative scientific projects and groundbreaking conferences. We cooperate with experts at home and abroad, support young scientists in particular, and answer inquiries from the media and the public.

Willy Brandt Online Biography

The Willy Brandt online biography is the most comprehensive information portal about Brandt’s fascinating political life. The multimedia website in German, English and Norwegian is a scientifically based source with numerous photos, videos, audios and digitized documents.

www.willy-brandt-biography.com