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

Atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism or North Atlanticism, is the ideology which advocates a close alliance between nations in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and in Europe on political, economic, and defense issues. The te ...

. Founded in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

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 northeastern United States, on Walker's Point. The estate served as the ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

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

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

-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 (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

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

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice ( , ) is the highest court of Private law, civil and Criminal law, criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, le ...

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 of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously ...

, 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 Germany, German businessman, journalist, podcaster, an ...

, 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 Thomas Ostrom Enders (November 28, 1931 – March 17, 1996) was an Americans, American diplomat. His father, Ostrom Enders, was President (corporate title), president of Harford National Bank, Hartford National Bank, and his uncle, John Frankli ...

, 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 the senior United States senator from New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus si ...

, Senior U.S. Senator from New York *

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (; ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany), Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the Scholz cabinet, cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz from 2021 to 202 ...

, 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, 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 businessman and former 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' ...

, 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 of ...

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

Jens Spahn Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been a member of the lower house of the federal parliament, the Bundestag (, MdB), for Steinfurt I – Borken I since 2002. Since 2025, he ...

, 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 served as member of the Bundestag from 2011 to 2025, as a list member for Rhineland-Palatinate. Since December 8, 2021, he has ...

, State Secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs *

Moritz Baier-Lentz Moritz Baier-Lentz is a German-American venture capitalist. He is a partner and the head of gaming & interactive media at Lightspeed Venture Partners, leading the firm's investments in gaming and artificial intelligence, including agentic simu ...

, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners *

Geoffrey Okamoto Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto (born January 18, 1985) is an American economist and government official who served as first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Okamoto previously served as the acting assistant secretary f ...

, Former First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund *

Danyal Bayaz Danyal Bayaz (born 15 October 1983) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as State Minister of Finance in the government of Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann since May 2021. From 2017 u ...

, 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,

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

, former United States Ambassador to Germany *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, 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 Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of ...

, former CEO of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, Germany *

, former Minister 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 and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

, 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. He was the longest ...

, 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. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the company ...

* Torsten Oltmanns, Global Marketing Director at

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Roland Berger is a global strategy consulting firm headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company was founded in 1967 and has since established a global presence. Currently, Roland Berger employs around 3,500 people at more than 50 locations. I ...

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician 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 East Germany. During the P ...

, former

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, former

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

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