HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION Atlantik-Brücke was conceived in the hardest of times: at the end of the Second World War. A grass roots mechanism for establishing and maintaining communication with the United States was an essential part of Germany. Atlantik-Brücke was founded in Hamburg in 1952 by Eric M. Warburg, scion of a long-established German-Jewish banking family. His career and developments in Germany took him to New York for his apprenticeship, back to his family‘s bank in Hamburg, to America to escape the Nazi regime, into the American army and again to Europe, as part of the victorious Allied forces. Back in Germany after the war, Warburg realized that American public opinion needed to see a more accurate, less hateful picture of Germany. Accomplishing that goal required allies on both sides of the Atlantic. Thus the idea of Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany was born. The core of the original Atlantik-Brücke (then called the “Komitee Transozean Brücke”) was composed of politicians, journalists and businessmen of impeccable credentials, including a concentration camp survivor and a member of the resistance movement. These representatives of Germany‘s true elite established contacts with leading American figures in business, politics, and the media, to convey a realistic picture of post-war Germany. In the process, they established the basic principles of Atlantik-Brücke‘s activities: networking, information, and education. Political life in the Federal Republic of Germany centered in its provisional capital, Bonn, which lead Atlantik-Brücke to open an office there in 1978. Three years later, Beate Lindemann was appointed program director and later executive vice-chairman at the Bonn office. A fire destroyed the original Hamburg office and Atlantik-Brücke consolidated in Bonn, its home until German unification. In 1984, Walther Leisler Kiep, a prominent politician and successful businessman, assumed the Atlantik-Brücke chairmanship. Under the Kiep-Lindemann leadership, Atlantik-Brücke greatly increased the scope and range of its activities. Throughout these years, Eric Warburg served as Atlantik-Brücke‘s guiding spirit. In 1988, Atlantik-Brücke honored its founder by establishing the Eric M. Warburg Award, with Eric Warburg himself as the first recipient. By the time of his death, two years later, his post-war vision had finally come true: Germany was once again whole and free- united with unwavering American support. The unification of Germany confronted Atlantik-Brücke with new challenges. 45 years of East German Communist dictatorship left deep marks of anti-Americanism and a general lack of political experience. Atlantik-Brücke immediately established new exchange programs, broadening its membership, and holding events in Eastern Germany. The federal government‘s move from Bonn to Berlin necessitated an operating base in the reestablished German capital. In 1994, Atlantik-Brücke opened a Berlin office in the historic Magnus-Haus in the heart of Berlin‘s governmental district. Five years later, when the government officially moved to Berlin, the Magnus-Haus office replaced the Bonn office and Berlin became the headquarters of Atlantik-Brücke. In 2002, Atlantik-Brücke celebrated its 50th anniversary in Berlin and President George H.W. Bush, as the VIII Eric M. Warburg Award winner, gave the speech containing the words quoted on our welcome page. After 16 years of successfully chairing Atlantik-Brücke, in 2000 Walther Leisler Kiep handed over the chairmanship to long-time member Arend Oetker, another leading figure of the German business community. At their annual meeting on June 9, 2004, the members of Atlantik-Brücke unanimously elected Walther Leisler Kiep honorary chairman, thus paying tribute to his long-standing commitment to the German-American friendship and partnership. One year later, in June 2005, Thomas Enders, another well-known businessman representing the next generation, replaced Arend Oetker as chairman. From its beginnings with fewer than a dozen members, Atlantik-Brücke today has grown to well over 500, with a broad range of programs. But the fundamentals have remained unchanged. Membership – individual and corporate – is still by invitation only. About half of all members represent the German business community, including virtually all of Germany‘s largest enterprises. Roughly one quarter are representatives from Germany‘s political life. Leaders from trade unions, business associations and foundations, prominent lawyers, journalists, and scholars make up the other three quarters of Atlantik-Brücke‘s membership. Lean management is a core principle of Atlantik-Brücke‘s work. Its affairs are run by the executive vice-chairman – since 1984 Beate Lindemann. The secret to Atlantik-Brücke‘s success lies in its original networking concept: bringing together the right people for specific purposes. The Atlantik-Brücke staff can rely on an increasing network of members and supporters who readily provide necessary expertise and material help. Nearly all of its programs are organized in cooperation with partner institutions that bear a good deal of the organizational and financial burdens while providing invaluable substantive input. Atlantik-Brücke also receives some financial support from German foundations and for the German-American Young Leaders Conferences from the German Federal Foreign Office.			History and Organization