Atlantik-Brücke (, ''Atlantic Bridge'') is a leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and

Atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, the ...

. Founded in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The association organizes invitation-only conferences, seminars and colloquia. Through various programs for "Young Leaders", military officers, journalists, and students, Atlantik-Brücke fosters

social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

s among current and future leaders in business and world affairs. Atlantik-Brücke also awards prizes in honor of Vernon A. Walters and

Eric M. Warburg Erich Moritz Warburg (15 April 1900 – 9 July 1990) was a German and American businessman and a member of the prominent Warburg family of German-Jewish bankers. Early life and education Warburg was born to a Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany on ...

. Atlantik-Brücke annually presents the George H.W. Bush award, an award given to those who have improved German and U.S. relations. It was first given in August 2015 to its namesake, U.S. statesman Pres. George H.W. Bush at his residence

Walker's Point Estate Walker's Point Estate (or the Bush compound) is the summer retreat of the Bush family, in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast United States, on Walker's Point. The estate served as the Summer ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. In 2014, the German political cabaret show ''Die Anstalt'' named the Atlantik-Brücke as one of several "

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-friendly elite networks" that "are little more than transatlantic swinger-clubs". After exposing that several high-ranking German journalists and media moguls are members of the Atlantik-Brücke (among other American lobbying organisations), the broadcast criticised multiple widely circulated German newspapers as "being akin to local editions of the NATO press office". Following the broadcast, several journalists whose connections to the Atlantik-Brücke were exposed attempted to sue the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

for broadcasting the show. The lawsuit was struck down by the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

in 2017, which ruled that no personal rights were violated and that the characterisations made by ''Die Anstalt'' were "quite accurate".

Young Leaders

The two Atlantik-Brücke Young Leaders conferences receive more than 500 applications per year, from which 120 Young Leaders are chosen with the help of a steering committee of political, business and academic leaders. Sixty young leaders are chosen for the German-American Conference (30 Americans and 30 Germans) and sixty are chosen for the European Conference. As of 2011, the German-American Young Leaders Conference has been running for 33 years.

Prominent Young Leaders alumni

Christian Wulff Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously served as minister president of the ...

, Former Federal President of Germany *

Thomas de Maizière Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière (; born 21 January 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence f ...

, Former Federal Minister of Interior *

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (born 5 December 1971), known professionally as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, is a German businessman and politician of the Christian Soc ...

, Former Federal Minister of Defense * Michael Otto, chairman of the supervisory board of Otto Group *Jürgen Großmann, Chairman of the Managing Board of RWE * Thomas Enders, President and CEO of Airbus Industries *Paul-Bernhard Kallen, chairman of the Board of Hubert Burda Media Holding *Hans-Gert Pöttering, Former President of the European Parliament *

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

, Senior U.S. Senator from New York *

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (, ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who currently serves as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture since 2021. He is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. Between 2008 and 2018, Özdemir co-chaired the Gr ...

, Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens *

Edelgard Bulmahn Edelgard Bulmahn (born 4 March 1951) is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She served as Member of the German Bundestag between 1987 and 2017. She was Federal Minister of Education and Research from 1998 to 2 ...

Member of Parliament; Former Federal Minister of Education and Research * Michael Vassiliadis, chairman of the Board of IG BCE – Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union *

Wolfgang Ischinger Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger (born April 6, 1946) is a German diplomat who served as chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022. From 2001 to 2006, Ischinger was the German ambassador to the United States, and from 1998 to 200 ...

, Former German Ambassador to the United States and Chair of the Munich Security Conference *

Richard Burt Richard R. Burt (born February 3, 1947) is an American businessman and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Germany and was a chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Prior to his diplomatic career, Burt worked as ...

, Former United States Ambassador to Germany *Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. *

Kai Diekmann Kai Diekmann (born 27 June 1964 in Ravensburg) is a German journalist. From 1998 until 2000 he was editor of ''Welt am Sonntag'' (English: World on Sunday). From January 2001 to December 2015 he was chief editor of ''Bild''. He is also a member o ...

, Editor-in-Chief of BILD Zeitung *Katja Gloger, Editor-at-large, STERN Magazin *

Joshua Bolten Joshua Brewster Bolten (born August 16, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician. Bolten served as the White House Chief of Staff to U.S. President George W. Bush, replacing Andrew Card on April 14, 2006. Previously, he served as the Director o ...

, Former White House Chief of Staff, President George W. Bush *

Jens Spahn Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician who served as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he has bee ...

, Former German Federal Minister Of Health *

Tobias Lindner Tobias Lindner (born January 11, 1982 in Karlsruhe) is a German economist and politician of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen who has been serving as member of the Bundestag since 2011, as a list member for Rhineland-Palatinate. Since December 8, 2021, he h ...

, State Secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Geoffrey Okamoto, Former First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund * Danyal Bayaz, Finance Minister, Baden-Württemberg

Extract of member list

Below you can find an extract of the member list of the Atlantik Brücke e.V. * Philip D. Murphy, former United States Ambassador to Germany *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, former Secretary of State of the United States of America *

Josef Ackermann Josef Meinrad Ackermann (born 7 February 1948) is a Swiss banker, former Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, and former chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank. He has also been a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, th ...

, former CEO of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, Germany *

, former Secretary of Defense of Germany *

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

, former Chancellor of Germany *

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Cha ...

, former Chancellor of Germany *

Rupert Stadler Rupert Stadler (born 17 March 1963) is a German businessman and former chairman of the Vorstand (CEO) of Audi AG. He was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the Volkswagen emissions scandal. He was in custody in Germany until being released ...

, former chairman of

Audi AG Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

* Torsten Oltmanns, Global Marketing Director at

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Roland Berger (from 2001 to 2015 Roland Berger Strategy Consultants) is an international management consultancy headquartered in Munich. With 2,400 employees and 52 offices in 35 countries, it has a presence in all major industrialized and emer ...

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

, former

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

, former

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantik-Brucke Lobbying in Germany Germany–United States relations Non-profit organisations based in Berlin Political and economic think tanks based in Germany

Young Leaders

Prominent Young Leaders alumni

Extract of member list

References

Further reading

External links