AFFILIATES & PARTNERS

Activities allied with the Forum: the Stammtisch

The Deutsche Stammtisch is an initiative set up by Patricia Godfrey, GBF Director and Partner with Nabarro Nathanson. The motive was to bring together native English speakers involved in Anglo-German business and provide an opportunity to practice and improve their German.

Equally, it was hoped that there would be a sprinkling of ex-pat Germans sufficiently interested to be on hand to help out and correct where necessary!

The initiative has proved very successful and now has over 200 subscribers. There are four main social events in the year, ranging from a Carnival in February to the Autumn October Fest. This is supplemented by a series of breakfast meetings where topical subjects are discussed - strictly "Auf Deutsch"! Perfect German is not expected and most meetings produce roughly an equal number of English and German, ranging from a variety of professions and industries.

If you would like further details, please contact Patricia Godfrey at Nabarro Nathanson.

Activities allied with the Forum: the Königswinter Conference

Every spring some 150 people - 75 from the UK, 75 from Germany - meet for a review of current political, economic and other issues affecting both countries. Participants, who attend by invitation only, are drawn from those prominent in the political, business, academic and media fields.

This meeting is called the Königswinter Conference. It takes its name from the Rhineside spa opposite Bonn where the first conferences were held. The 50th, in what has become one of the world's oldest bilateral international conferences, will be held in the year 2000 in Keble College, Oxford. Venues alternate between Germany and Britain; in 1997 the conference was held in Berlin, in 1998 in Edinburgh.

 

The conferences began in 1950, the brainchild of two remarkable people: Lilo Milchsack, wife of a prominent Düsseldorf businessman, and Sir Robert Birley, Director of Education in what was the British Zone in Germany just after the war. It was their idea to introduce Germans from the then fledgling democracy of the Federal Republic to what was going on in a country with a tradition of political stability.

Very soon the conferences broadened out to become what they are now - an unrivalled forum for the exchange of viewpoints and information. In the process they created frindships that have often lasted over decades, helping to shape a common understanding of topical issues, and to formulate joint approaches transcending day-to-day policy differences. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Königswinter has been imitated by other international groups set up on the same basis and with the same aims.

Frank discussion, vigorous argument and friendship characterise these annual meetings. Each year the theme for the conference reflects the issues of of the day and at the same time the essential continuity in current affairs. There is always at least one discussion group on the politics of Europe and the European Union, another on strategic issues, and a third on the state of business in both our countries and beyond. The fourth group is, for many, the most attractive as it deals with some special issue that needs analysis because it stirs the emotions, be it minorities, domestic issues, the Third World or the environment.

To maintain the Königswinter tradition, about a third of the participants are 'old Königswinter hands'; to ensure renewal, a third are newcomers; and to keep a balance, a third are frequent but not regular attenders. Participants are invited very much with their expertise in mind, and in the expectation that they will play a full part in the group discussions, which are comparatively informal and not open to the press. It is in this sort of discussion that the essential nature of the Königswinter conference lies.

Links to partner organisations with a German-British focus

Overarching focus

Anglo-German Foundation
The Foundation's mission is to enhance mutual British-German understanding and co-operation by supporting joint research and discussion of the challenges presented by changing patterns of economic activity.

Institute for German Studies
The Institute for German Studies is the leading multi-disciplinary centre for contemporary German Studies in the United Kingdom. Established in 1994 as a joint venture between the DAAD and the University of Birmingham. The Institute provides a unique research-led social-science based perspective on Germany. Its research and postgraduate programme focuses on the politics, economics, international relations, history and culture of contemporary Germany.

Königswinter
The Königswinter Konferenz is organised by the German-British Society (Deutsch Britische Gesellschaft e.V.) and the British Königswinter Steering Committee, and brings together MPs, policy specialists and academics from both countries. Meetings are held alternately in Germany and Britain.

German Embassy in London

British Embassy in Berlin

Cultural focus

Goethe Institut London
Promotes international cultural cooperation by organising a broad variety of events to present German culture. The Goethe-Institut London offers workshops and teacher training seminars for teachers of German as a second language and also provides an extensive examination programme. The information centre serves as a resource for study of contemporary Germany and for those interested in teaching and studying German as a foreign language.

British Council
The main priorities of the British Council's work in Germany are partnerships and services in the two areas of arts and culture and education and the English language. Work is done with teachers, city and regional governments, Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes, DAAD, galleries, the media, information professionals, university literature departments and other partners to develop cultural and educational activities between Germany and the UK.

The British-German Association
The Association aims to strengthen understanding and friendship between the peoples of Britain and Germany. It organises a wide range of cultural and educational events.

Political Focus

Friedrich Ebert Foundation, London Office
The London Office is part of the international network of the German political foundation, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). It was established in 1988 to promote better understanding in British-German relations, mainly by means of seminars and reports on political trends in Britain and Germany.

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
Co-operation with Great Britain has been of great importance for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation since it established an office in London in 1981. Politically and economically, Great Britain is one of the most important partners of Germany. As a result, the activities of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Great Britain are aimed at strengthening and deepening the close relationship.

UK-German parliamentary group

Sonnenberg Association

Business focus

German-British Chamber of Commerce
The German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce in London, founded in 1971, is a business to business organisation of some 1,000 British and German member firms. It provides business contacts, information and advice to its members and many thousand of non-members in both countries.

GERMAN INDUSTRY UK: The Association of German Industry in the United Kingdom
A private organisation consisting of 100 board members of German industrial companies in the UK. They represent 230 companies, of which 150 sell in the UK, and 80 manufacture in the UK.

British Chamber of Commerce in Germany
With a membership base of around 8000 companies and individuals involved in British-German industry, services and trade, the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. provides expert advice on doing business in both countries, whilst at the same time providing access to valuable commercial contacts.

 

Academic focus

Association for the Study of German Politics
The Association was established in 1974 to promote the study and teaching of German politics and society in the UK amongst new and established scholars and to encourage postgraduate students. The Association publishes, with Frank Cass & Co, the Journal German Politicsand also publishes a major book series in conjunction with Ashgate Publishing. The Association holds annual Conferences which rotate between Germany and the United Kingdom, and the same is true of the Graduate Network.

DAAD
The London Office of the DAAD was first established in 1927 and re-opened in 1952. Its main concern is the provision and administration of DAAD scholarship programmes for the United Kingdom and Ireland, providing information about German institutions of higher education, the recruitment of DAAD Lecturers for British and Irish universities and the distribution of publications on study & research and scholarship opportunities in Germany. The DAAD London Office is also the point of contact for German DAAD scholarship holders in the UK and Ireland.

German Historical Institute
The German Historical Institute London (GHIL) is an independent academic institution and is part of the Foundation 'German Historical Institutes Abroad'. The Institute promotes research on modern history, in particular on the comparative history of Germany and Great Britain, on the British Empire/Commonwealth and on Anglo-German relations within the context of the international system. It aims to encourage contact between British and German historians.

Conference of University Teachers of German in Great Britain and Ireland
The CUTG was founded in 1932, with the aim of meeting annually 'to discuss matters pertaining to the study of German in all its branches, to promote the study thereof, to encourage research, and generally to foster high standards of competence among university teachers of German.

Institute for Germanic Studies, University of London School of Advanced Studies The Institute is primarily a research institute serving the needs of postgraduate students and scholars from the United Kingdom and abroad. The focus of the Institute is its Library, which is the largest research collection of its kind outside the German-speaking countries. Its particularly strong collection in the area of exile material led in 1995 to the foundation of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies at the Institute

The Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature based at the Institute seeks to explore the Austria contribution to modern German-language literature contribution with writers-in-residence and through a programme of lectures, seminars, workshops and reading groups co-ordinated by an Austrian Lektor.

 

The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies publishes insights into the factors shaping German-American and transatlantic relations. Drawing on experts on both sides of the Atlantic, it produce original analyses that explain differences, illuminate common interests, and identify cooperative solutions to shared problems.

School Level/Educational

The Voyage
Fosters youth contacts inside and outside school, youth exchange and language learning, joint projects and stays abroad.