The Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. is a German foundation established in 1931 by the

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 ...

merchant Alfred Toepfer. The foundation is committed to promoting European unification and ensuring cultural diversity and understanding between the countries of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

History

The rich industrialist Alfred Toepfer is considered, by the contemporary historiographic criticism, a controversial figure; philanthropist and lover of the arts, he had a significant role in the culture, politics and economic environment of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

from the 30s until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The activity of Toepfer in between the two World Wars, is well documented by a massive cultural promotion of the ideas of ''common ethics and identity'', obviously symbiotic with

Nazi ideology Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was freque ...

. Toepfer however, after the war, denied any kind of Nazi involvement completely and categorically. The substantial abdication of his politic and ideologic past, is recognised by critics nowadays in the important range of prizes instituted by the foundation,* ''Die Kulturpreise der Stiftung F.V.S. 1935-1945 he Cultural Prizes of the F.V.S. Foundation 1933-1945'' A documentary presentation by Jan Zimmermann, in the series 'Akzente für Europa' Accents for Europe'Christians-Verlag hristians Publishers Hamburg 2000. which are: * The

Herder Prize The Herder Prize (), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Southeast Europe whose life and wor ...

, established in 1963 and named for

Johann Gottfried von Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He was ...

, is a prestigious international prize, dedicated to the promotion of scientific, art and literature relations, and presented to scholars and artists from Central and

Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

whose life and work have improved the cultural understanding of European countries and their peaceful interrelations. * The

Shakespeare Prize The Shakespeare Prize was an annual prize for writing or performance awarded to a British citizen by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation. First given by Alfred Toepfer in 1937 as an expression of his Anglophilia in the face of tense internatio ...

was an annual prize for writing or performance awarded to a British citizen. * The Robert Schuman Prize for European unity was a prize awarded annually in memory of former French Prime Minister,

Robert Schuman Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 1886 – 4 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born France, French statesman. Schuman was a Christian democrat, Christian democratic (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. ...

. The foundation cooperates also with the most important German universities and renowned cultural associations. The

Heinrich Tessenow Medal The Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal (Heinrich-Tessenow-Medaille) is an architecture award established in 1963 by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. of Hamburg in honour of Heinrich Tessenow. It is awarded by the Heinrich-Tessenow-Gesellschaft e.V. ...

is a prestigious architecture prize, created by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. in 1963 in memoriam of

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

architect

Heinrich Tessenow Heinrich Tessenow (7 April 1876 – 1 November 1950) was a German architect, professor, and urban planner active at the time of the Weimar Republic. Biography Tessenow is considered together with Hans Poelzig, Bruno Taut, Peter Behrens, ...

. The prize is annually assigned by the Heinrich-Tessenow-Gesellschaft e.V. and among the rewardeds are

Giorgio Grassi Giorgio Grassi (born 27 October 1935) is one of Italy's most important modern architects, and part of the so-called Italian rationalist school, also known as ''La Tendenza'', associated most famously with Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi that emerg ...

(1992), Juan Navarro Baldeweg (1998),

David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, , (born 18 December 1953) is a British architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985, which grew into a global architectural practice with offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai, and Santiago d ...

(1999),

Eduardo Souto de Moura Eduardo Elísio Machado Souto de Moura (; born 25 July 1952), better known as Eduardo Souto de Moura, is a Portuguese architect who was the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2011 and the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2013. Along with Fe ...

(2001) besides the

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

winners

Sverre Fehn Sverre Fehn (14 August 1924 – 23 February 2009) was a Norwegian architect. Life Fehn was born at Kongsberg in Buskerud, Norway. He was the son of John Tryggve Fehn (1894–1981) and Sigrid Johnsen (1895–1985). He received his architect ...

(1997) and

Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor (; born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm and not being a prolific architect, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Pri ...

(1989).

Notes

a. The name of its founder was added in occasion of his centennial birth, in the 1994. b. The award, first given in 1966, was discontinued in 2000.

References

External links

English-language homepage

{{Authority control Arts foundations based in Europe Organizations established in 1931

History

See also

Notes

References

External links