About Us
Where we come from and what we do
Our mission
Democracy is something we build together. The Kreisau-Initiative creates spaces where young people from around the world can come together, make their voices heard, and develop new perspectives. We encourage people to ask critical questions, inspire them to take action, and in doing so help build stronger communities for the future.
What we offer
Different formats, one goal: strengthen democracy
Youth encounters
Our youth encounters are opportunities to connect as equals. As a participant, you'll have the chance to meet other young people from different countries and backgrounds and discover new perspectives. In doing so, we do not simply want to pass on knowledge. It is about the big issues of our time: How do we want to live together? What responsibility do we have toward one another? And what can I personally do to stand up for myself and for others?
Trainings
Anyone who works with young people needs spaces to exchange ideas, share experiences, and learn something new. In our training courses, seminars, and conferences, as a youth work professional you can try out new methods of civic education, share personal experiences, and build connections across borders. This way, you can gain new ideas and inspiration for your work. Our goal remains clear: to empower young people and show them that their voices matter.
Other formats
In addition to our youth encounters and trainings, which form the core of our educational work, we also offer other formats. These include study visits, individual workshops, artistic projects, educational work, material development, conferences, exhibitions, and capacity-building formats.
We work in the following areas
History and civic eduation
History comes alive when we connect it to the present. We examine historical events to see what we can learn from them for the future and how we can take responsibility. What matters to us in this process is what matters to people personally. Only then can we meet as equals, understand one another, and develop ideas together about what a more just world might look like.
Intercultural and inclusive exchange
Our projects bring together people from a wide variety of backgrounds, languages, and abilities. We break down perceived barriers and show how we can all work together toward a common goal. Empathy and openness to new ideas form the foundation for getting to know one another. Our goal: to create ways of living together that include everyone.
Civic engagement
With us, participants learn to take a critical look at their surroundings and themselves. Our mission is for people to leave our projects asking themselves: what can I do to help? Because every contribution, big or small, counts when it comes to making the way we live together a little fairer.
Democracy and participation
Democracy thrives when people take part. Through workshops, simulation games, project work, and innovative methods, we show how this can be done. To help other organisations use these ideas, too, we develop materials and handbooks that we make available online free of charge or upon request.
Joining forces
Together, we can achieve more. That’s why we build on strong, long-term partnerships with organisations and institutions around the world. When we learn from one another and support each other, we can grow together and help build more supportive and inclusive communities.
Our origins
This is our story. This is what drives us.
The Kreisau-Initiative e. V. is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Berlin. It was founded by committed citizens who had already come together in the summer of 1989. In January 1990, the Kreisau-Initiative was officially registered as an association. Its founding took place at a time of profound political change in Europe.
Where we come from
There is a reason why Kreisau/Krzyżowa is at the heart of our story: on the former Kreisau estate in Lower Silesia, a resistance group opposed to the Nazi regime met several times during the Second World War, later becoming known as the Kreisau Circle ("Kreisauer Kreis"). As early as 1940, a circle had formed around Helmuth James Graf von Moltke and Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg, bringing together people from different political, religious, and social backgrounds. Through discussions and joint writings, they developed ideas about how Germany could be rebuilt after the end of National Socialism – guided by a sense of responsibility towards others and a vision of a shared Europe.
After the war, the memory of the Kreisau Circle initially remained largely confined to Germany. From the 1970s and 1980s onwards, Kreisau/Krzyżowa was rediscovered by intellectuals, civil rights activists, and opposition figures in Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. For them, the place became a symbol of overcoming political and social boundaries and reimagining Europe on the basis of freedom, dialogue, and mutual respect. Out of this cross-border network came the idea of developing Kreisau/Krzyżowa into an international place for encounters and learning. The Kreisau-Initiative, founded in 1989, was part of this wider civic awakening. It brought together people from East and West Berlin who were committed to turning this idea into reality.
In 1989/90, Kreisau/Krzyżowa became a symbol of understanding between East and West. The place gained international recognition through the German-Polish Reconciliation Mass of 12 November 1989, attended by the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It took place just three days after the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. To this day, the Reconciliation Mass remains an important symbol of the renewed ties between Poland and Germany.
From the very beginning, the Kreisau-Initiative was involved in establishing the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and the International Youth Meeting Centre. It helped secure funding for the project, raised awareness of its activities and goals in Germany, and contributed to the conceptual development of its remembrance and educational work. Beginning in the early 2000s, it increasingly developed its own educational formats and programmes in Kreisau/Krzyżowa and beyond.
Our Mission
We remain closely connected to the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and the Freya von Moltke Foundation for the New Kreisau, which was founded in 2004. Together with these and other partner organisations, we form the Kreisau Network. In addition, we are part of an international network and organise youth encounters and training programmes with organisations in over 30 countries worldwide.
With support from European youth cooperation programmes, especially Erasmus+, we have been carrying out international educational projects for many years. As an experienced and reliable organisation, we contribute our experience to the implementation and further development of the EU Youth Strategy.
Our work builds on the convictions of the Kreisau Circle ("Kreisauer Kreis") and carries them into the present: We bring together people from diverse backgrounds and create spaces where we can remember together, discuss with one another, and learn across borders. Together, we explore how we can live with one another and with our environment in ways that are respectful, responsible and fair – across borders and for generations to come.
To learn more about the origins of the Kreisau-Initiative, explore the pages below.
Our team
Get to know the people behind the initiative.
Behind the Kreisau-Initiative are people with many years of expertise who design projects with passion. Our six-member volunteer board guides the organisation. The team, made up of nine permanent staff members, develops and implements the projects.
Pentecost meeting
Kreisau/Krzyżowa is special. This is evident in its history and in what it has become today: a place where people meet and exchange ideas, remember important moments in history together, and learn from one another.
That is why, together with the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, we organise an open gathering every year over Pentecost for anyone who has long been connected to this place or would like to get to know Kreisau/Krzyżowa.
The place invites you to stay a while: playing outdoors, going for walks, taking a bike ride to Świdnica, sitting around a campfire in the evening, and discovering the history of the place are just a few of the many possibilities. Every year, there is a varied programme for children, young people, and adults alike, all of which is optional. This means everyone can choose for themselves which guided tours, excursions, and discussion groups they would like to take part in.
You can find the most important information about costs, travel, and registration every spring under “News.” If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Ulrike Kind (kind@kreisau.de).
Awards
We received awards for these projects.
For many years, we have been passionately committed to non-formal education that strengthens democracy and brings people together. The awards we have received over the years make us proud and grateful. And they show that our work is making a difference. Here you can find a selection of the prizes and awards we have received.
2022
Bernhard Vogel Education Award: “Creating Opportunities – Seizing Opportunities”
The award went to the Kreisau project “Democracy between #Hashtags, Likes and Digital Ethics”, which was implemented by the Kreisau-Initiative in collaboration with the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe. With this award, the Association of Alumni of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung honours exemplary and inspiring educational initiatives that make a tangible and lasting contribution to the development of young people. The €6,000 prize money was used to fund new activities that promote democracy.
2014
25 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall – Remembering History, Shaping the Present
In 2014, the Kreisau-Initiative was recognised for its commitment as one of the first all-German associations with the award “25 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall – Remembering History, Shaping the Present” from the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
2011
Germany is becoming more inclusive – and we're part of it!
On 25 March 2011, our inclusive projects “Brückenschlag” and “Kreisauer Modell” were recognised and honoured as examples of good practice by the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities. On the map of inclusive projects, both projects of the Kreisau-Initiative serve as “beacons” for the campaign “Germany is becoming more inclusive – and we're part of it!”, pointing the way forward.
2010
EUROPEANS FOR PEACE
The German-Polish-Czech project “Portal of Good News” was recognised by the EUROPEANS FOR PEACE programme of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (EVZ) as an outstanding project on the theme “1939–2009: Friend and Enemy in the Media”. The award ceremony took place on 6 December 2010 at the Museum of Communication in Berlin.
2010
"Active for Democracy and Tolerance 2009"
As part of the “Active for Democracy and Tolerance 2009” competition organised by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance, “MICC School” received an award. The competition aimed to recognise exemplary civil society initiatives that actively promote equal coexistence and stand against xenophobia, antisemitism, and violence.
2010
Landmark in the Land of Ideas
In recognition of its more than 20 years of commitment to fostering understanding between Germany and Poland and between Western and Eastern Europe, the Kreisau-Initiative was named a “Selected Landmark 2010” by the “Landmark in the Land of Ideas” initiative.
2008
"einheitspreis" (Unity Award)
The “einheitspreis – Citizens’ Award for German Unity” in the category “People – Actors of Unity” was awarded in 2008 to Annemarie Cordes, co-founder of the Kreisau-Initiative. As part of the central celebrations marking German Unity Day, hosted by the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) held a ceremony on 2 October at the Körber Forum in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt to honour the winners.
2007
Marion Dönhoff Prize
The Kreisau-Initiative Berlin e. V. was awarded the Marion Dönhoff Prize for International Understanding in Hamburg. The citation reads: “With this award, we honour both your unwavering commitment to German-Polish understanding and your valuable efforts to pass on the legacy of the German resistance against Hitler’s dictatorship to future generations.” The laudatory speech was delivered by Prof. Dr Gesine Schwan.
2007
Young Pathways in Europe
The German-Polish group from the “Fachaustausch” project, involving students and trainers from CJD Seelow and the No. 2 Vocational School in Stettin/Szczecin, was honoured by the Robert Bosch Stiftung as part of the “Young Pathways in Europe” programme. It was recognised as one of ten cross-border student and youth projects for its successful collaboration. The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Dr Marek Prawda, gave a keynote speech.
2007
"JugendMitVerantwortung"
The “Fachaustausch” project was awarded the “JugendMitVerantwortung” grand prize by the German-Polish Youth Office (DPJW) and was recognised as the most innovative project of 2006 in the “Extracurricular Youth Exchange” category. The awards were presented by Ministers of State Gerd Hoofe and Mirosław Orzechowski at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Berlin. The DPJW Youth Prize is awarded every three years to particularly innovative and successful projects in two categories.
2006
Award of Recognition
The “Fair Life” project received the recognition award from the Hamburg-Mannheimer Foundation “Youth and Future”. The project was honoured for giving disadvantaged young people the opportunity, as part of a European exchange programme, to get to know one another better through sport and thus break down prejudices.
2006
"Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz"
The inclusive "Fair Life" project was honored with the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance's "Active for Democracy and Tolerance 2005" award as an "imaginative and effective project."
1993
Theodor Heuss Medal
The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and the Kreisau-Initiative were awarded the Theodor Heuss Medal in recognition of their efforts to promote reconciliation between people from Germany and Poland. Since 1989, these efforts have brought together many people from different countries at and around the former estate in Kreisau/Krzyżowa.
Transparency
Transparency about our work
Transparency is important to us. In our archive, you'll find all the key documents related to our organisation and our work.