
The Charlemagne Prize (; full name originally , International Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen, since 1988 , International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen) is a prize awarded for work done in the service of
European unification. It has been awarded since 1950 by the German city of
Aachen
Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is locat ...
. It commemorates
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
(), ruler of the
Frankish Empire and founder of what became the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
, who was the first to unify Western Europe following the
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...
. Traditionally the award is given to the recipient on
Ascension Day in a ceremony in the
Aachen Town Hall. In April 2008, the organisers of the Charlemagne Prize and the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
jointly created a new
European Charlemagne Youth Prize, which recognises contributions by young people towards the process of European integration.
Patrons of the foundation are
King Philippe of Belgium,
King Felipe VI of Spain, and
Henri, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
History

On 19 December 1949, presented to the reading group "Corona Legentium Aquensis", which he had founded, his proposals for the prize: "We have the honour of proposing annual presentation of an international prize for the most valuable contribution in the services of Western European understanding and work for the community, and in the services of humanity and world peace. This contribution may be in the field of literary, scientific, economic or political endeavour."
The sponsors of the prize, the city of Aachen, refer to Charlemagne as the "Founder of
Western Culture
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
", and assert that under his reign, the city of Aachen was once the spiritual and political centre of the whole of what is now western Europe.
The first Charlemagne Prize was awarded to
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the
Pan-European Movement.
Following the presentation of the award to the Italian Prime Minister
Alcide de Gasperi in 1952, the International Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen has repeatedly sent messages going far beyond Germany and promoting the "unity of Europe".
The award sponsors assert that the list of Charlemagne Prize winners reflects the history of the European process of unification, commonly referred to as
European integration. They continue that it has been awarded to founding fathers of a
United Europe such as
de Gasperi,
Schuman,
Monnet and
Adenauer, and to those who have embodied hope for integration such as
Edward Heath,
Konstantinos Karamanlis, and His Majesty
Juan Carlos I.
The sponsors promote that the Charlemagne Prize is not only an expression of gratitude for lasting services for the unity of Europe, but also an encouragement and an expression of hopes and expectations directed towards the future. They quote Kurt Pfeiffer: "the Charlemagne Prize reaches into the future, and at the same time it embodies an obligation – an obligation of the highest ethical value. It is directed at a voluntary union of the European peoples without constraint, so that in their newfound strength they may defend the highest earthly goods – freedom, humanity and peace – and safeguard the future of their children and children's children."
In April 2008, the organisers of the Charlemagne Prize and the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
jointly created a new
European Charlemagne Youth Prize, which recognises contributions by young people towards the process of European integration.
Recipients
* 1950
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi
* 1951
Hendrik Brugmans
* 1952
Alcide de Gasperi
* 1953
Jean Monnet
* 1954
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...
* 1956
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
* 1957
Paul Henri Spaak
* 1958
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. ...
* 1959
George C. Marshall
* 1960
Joseph Bech
Joseph Bech (17 February 1887 – 8 March 1975)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourgish politician and lawyer. He was the prime minist ...
* 1961
Walter Hallstein
* 1963
Edward Heath
* 1964
Antonio Segni
* 1966
Jens Otto Krag
* 1967
Joseph Luns
* 1969
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
* 1970
François Seydoux de Clausonne
* 1972
Roy Jenkins
* 1973
Salvador de Madariaga
Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo (23 July 1886 – 14 December 1978) was a Spanish "eminent liberal",
diplomat, writer, historian and pacifist who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded the Charl ...
* 1976
Leo Tindemans
* 1977
Walter Scheel
* 1978
Konstantinos Karamanlis
* 1979
Emilio Colombo
* 1981
Simone Veil
* 1982
Juan Carlos of Spain
* 1984
Karl Carstens
* 1986 The
People of Luxembourg
* 1987
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 ...
* 1988
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 ...
and
François Mitterrand
* 1989
Frère Roger
* 1990
Gyula Horn
* 1991
Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
* 1992
Jacques Delors
* 1993
Felipe González
* 1994
Gro Harlem Brundtland
* 1995
Franz Vranitzky
* 1996
Beatrix of the Netherlands
* 1997
Roman Herzog
* 1998
Bronisław Geremek
* 1999
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
* 2000
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
* 2001
György Konrád
* 2002 The
Euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
* 2003
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
* 2004
Pat Cox
* 2004 /
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
(extraordinary prize)
* 2005
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994.
A World War II veteran, C ...
* 2006
Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...
* 2007
Javier Solana
* 2008
Angela Merkel
* 2009
Andrea Riccardi
* 2010
Donald Tusk
* 2011
Jean-Claude Trichet
* 2012
Wolfgang Schäuble
* 2013
Dalia Grybauskaitė
* 2014
Herman Van Rompuy
* 2015
Martin Schulz
* 2016 /
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
* 2017
Timothy Garton Ash
* 2018
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
* 2019
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...
* 2020/2021
Klaus Iohannis
* 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya,
Maria Kalesnikava,
Veronika Tsepkalo
* 2023
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the
Ukrainian people
Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the second largest ethno-linguistic community. At around 46 million worldwide, Ukr ...
* 2024 /
Pinchas Goldschmidt and the Jewish communities in Europe
* 2025
Ursula von der Leyen
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004454-0010, Karlspreis Aachen, Verleihung an Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg, Paul-Henri Spaak in the 1957 ceremony
Clinton-Linden.jpg, Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, recipient in 2000, along with earlier recipients King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
and Simone Veil
Angela Merkel, Karlspreisverleihung 2008 - 1.jpg, Angela Merkel with the 2008 prize medal around her neck
By country
See also
*
European Charlemagne Youth Prize
*
Leipzig Human Rights Award, originally called the "Alternative Charlemagne Award", formed in opposition to Clinton's recognition with the award
* , formed in opposition to Kissinger's recognition with the award
References
[
]
External links
*
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{{Authority control
Humanitarian and service awards
Awards established in 1949
German awards
European awards
Aachen
European integration
Municipal awards
1949 establishments in West Germany