Stuttgart/Berlin, 06.11.2019 – Federica Mogherini, outgoing High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be honoured by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) with its Theodor Wanner Award 2019.
Prof Dr Dr hc Ulrich Raulff, president of ifa:
„With Federica Mogherini, the Theodor Wanner Award 2019 recognises an outstanding European politician who has not only campaigned for peace and understanding, but also set an important signal with her strategy on the importance of culture in EU external relations“
Ronald Grätz, secretary-general:
„In doing so, the awardee has provided substantial support to the constructive role that culture can play in international affairs, not least in peace processes, in European integration, and in addressing civil society, whilst at the same time contributing to intercultural understanding within the Union.“
The presentation of the award will take place on Wednesday 18 December 2019, 17.30 at Allianz Stiftungsforum Pariser Platz, Berlin. Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, will hold the laudatio.
Since 2009, ifa has granted the Theodor Wanner Award to people who, with their scientific, social, socio-political, artistic or entrepreneurial commitment, have achieved excellence for peace, international understanding and dialogue between cultures. The prize is commemorative of Theodor Wanner (1875-1955), whose initiatives founded the Deutsche Auslands-Institut (DAI – German Foreign Institute), today's ifa.
The Theodor Wanner Award is endowed with € 10,000. The award money is dedicated to a specific project selected by the awardee.
The Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs is the patron of the Theodor Wanner Award. Past award recipients were Daniel Barenboim, General Music Director of the Staatsoper Berlin and Director of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Carla Del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals in the Hague for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, Ernesto Cardenal, liberation theologian, cultural politician and poet, as well as the multi-media artist and peace activist Yoko Ono, the human rights organisation Human Rights Watch and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
About Theodor Wanner
Theodor Wanner (1875-1955) was a Stuttgart citizen, patron of the arts, patriarch and at the same time a busy manager. His name is synonymous with bourgeois, Swabian entrepreneurship. Motivated by his own experience abroad, he founded and established countless cultural initiatives, such as the Württembergische Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften (Association of Württemberg Patron of the Arts) and the Deutsches Ausland-Institut (German Foreign Institute, DAI), the predecessor to today's Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa). Theodor Wanner was the long-year chairman of the Handelsgeographischer Verein (Association of Trade Geography), which gave rise to the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde (State Museum of Ethnology), today the Linden Museum, in Stuttgart. Theodor Wanner is an embodiment of lasting, personal commitment to cultural dialogue.