Alexandra Hildebrandt (née Weissmann, born on 27 February 1959) is a German human rights activist and museum director of the

Checkpoint Charlie Museum The Checkpoint Charlie Museum (german: Das Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie) is a private museum in Berlin. It is named after the famous crossing point on the Berlin Wall, and was created to document the so-called "best bord ...

. In 1995, she married the museum's co-founder and former director

Rainer Hildebrandt Rainer Hildebrandt (born December 14, 1914 in Stuttgart, died January 9, 2004 in Berlin) was a German anti-communist resistance fighter, historian and founder of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. He was involved in the resistance to the communist reg ...

, and they remained married until his death in 2004. She is internationally noted for leading the construction of the

Freedom Memorial The Freedom Memorial (german: Freiheitsmahnmal) was a memorial to the victims of the Berlin Wall in the vicinity of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. It opened on October 31, 2004, and was praised by both victims of the GDR communist re ...

, which was controversially demolished in 2005. The focus of Alexandra Hildebrandt's work is the preservation and advancement of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the rehabilitation of the victims of the GDR-Regime, and the clarification of more destinies of refugees who suffered death at the East–west border. In 2004 she endowed the international human rights award, the ''Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Medal'', which is given annually in recognition of extraordinary, non-violent commitment to human rights. From 2010 until 2013, Hildebrandt worked to secure the release of oligarch turned political activist, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Initially she started with an exhibition in her

, to raise awareness about the fate of Khodorkovsky after Khodorkovsky's lawyers and family asked her for help. Eventually, she involved former German Foreign Secretary,

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, in her international campaign to free Khodorkovsky. In 2013, Khodorkovsky was released from prison after serving some ten years. Hildebrandt remarried in 2016 and has eight children.

Laureates - Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Human Rights Award

* 2005:

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

(posthumously), Zheng Yichun * 2006:

Suzanne Mubarak Suzanne Mubarak ( ar, سوزان مبارك , née Thabet; born 28 February 1941) is the widow of Egyptian former president Hosni Mubarak and was the First Lady of Egypt during her husband's presidential tenure from 14 October 1981 to 11 Februa ...

* 2007: Óscar Elías Biscet, Normando Hernández Gonzales,

Harald Poelchau Harald Poelchau (5 October 1903 in Potsdam; 29 April 1972 in West Berlin) was a German prison chaplain, Religious socialism, religious socialist and member of the resistance against the Nazis. Poelchau grew up in Silesia. During the early 1920's ...

(posthumously), Muhammad Mugraby * 2008:

Rudolf Seiters Rudolf Seiters (born 13 October 1937 in Osnabrück) is a German politician of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party. From 1989–1991, he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the Head of the Office of the German Chancellery. From ...

, Juri Samodurow * 2009:

Bogdan Borusewicz Bogdan Michał Borusewicz (; born 11 January 1949) was the Marshal in the Senate of Poland, Polish Senate from 20 October 2005 to 11 November 2015. Borusewicz was a democratic opposition activist under the History of Poland (1945-1989), Communist ...

* 2010:

Imre Pozsgay Imre András Pozsgay (''Pozsgay Imre'', ; 26 November 1933 – 25 March 2016) was a Hungarian Communist politician who played a key role in Hungary's transition to democracy after 1988. He served as Minister of Culture (1976–1980), Minister ...

, Jurij Schmidt, Mikhail Khodorkovsky * 2011: Antonia Rados * 2012:

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

* 2013:

Guy von Dardel Guy Fredrik von Dardel (26 August 1919 – 28 August 2009) was a Swedish physicist who researched particle physics and participated in the establishment of CERN. Biography Dardel was the son of Fredrik Elias August von Dardel by his marriage to ...

Nina Lagergren Nina Viveka Maria Lagergren (''née'' von Dardel; 3 March 1921 – 5 April 2019) was a Swedish businesswoman and the half-sister of Raoul Wallenberg, and the leading force to find out what happened to him after his disappearance. She was the fou ...

(half sister of

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

* 2014:

Rupert Neudeck Rupert Neudeck (; 14 May 1939 – 31 May 2016) was known for his humanitarian work, especially with refugees. He started his career as a noted correspondent for Deutschlandfunk, a German public broadcaster.Christoph Koch: Wie wird man eigentlich � ...

Andrei Makarevich Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich PAR (russian: link=no, Андре́й Вади́мович Макаре́вич; born 11 December 1953 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest ...

Wolf Vostell Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happenings and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are c ...

(posthumously) * 2015:

Sergei Khrushchev Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev (russian: Сергей Никитич Хрущёв; 2 July 1935 – 18 June 2020) was a Russian engineer and the second son of the Cold War-era Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev with his wife Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva. ...

* 2016:

Pál Maléter Pál Maléter (4 September 1917 – 16 June 1958) was the military leader of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Maléter was born to Hungarian parents in Eperjes, a city in Sáros County, in the northern part of Historical Hungary, today Prešov ...

(posthumously),

Zoltán Balog (politician) Zoltán Balog (born 7 January 1958) is a Hungarians, Hungarian Calvinism, Calvinist bishop and former politician, who served as Minister of Education (Hungary), Minister of Human Resources from 2012 to 2018. He is the bishop of the Dunamellék di ...

* 2018:

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

(posthumously) * 2019: Olga Benda, Danny Lewis Warrick Members of the jury include:

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 ...

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 ...

Avi Primor Avraham "Avi“ Primor ( he, אבי פרימור, born 8 April 1935 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli publicist and former diplomat. From 1987 to 1993, he served as Ambassador to the European Union, and from 1993 to 1999 as Ambassador to Germany. After ...

James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas, (born 31 July 1942) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West and then as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the ...

, Sara Nachama and Rainer Haushofer (nephew of

Albrecht Haushofer Albrecht Georg Haushofer (7 January 1903 – 23 April 1945) was a German geographer, diplomat, author and member of the German Resistance to Nazism. Life Haushofer was born in Munich, the son of the retired World War I general and geographer K ...

Publications

* "Es wird viel gewaltsames Sterben geben...Rainer Hildebrandt-Ein Leben für die Freiheit, Biografie Teil 1", 2014, * ''Ein Mensch Rainer Hildebrandt – Begegnungen'' Verl. Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin 1999, * ''Die Mauer.Zahlen.Daten'', Haus am Checkpoint Charlie Verlag, Berlin 2001, * "DIE MAUER. Es geschah am Checkpoint Charlie", * "Geteiltes Deutschland. Grenzschilder", * "Zitate zur deutschen Teilung, zur MAUER und zur Wiedervereinigung",

References

External links

Checkpoint Charlie Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hildebrandt, Alexandra 1959 births German anti-communists German human rights activists Women human rights activists Living people Women museum directors