The Herbert and Elsbeth Weichmann Foundation has existed since 1989. It preserves the memory of its eponyms, the Weichmanns, who spent years in exile in Czechoslovakia, France and the USA. They returned to Germany in 1948 to play a considerable role in building democracy there. 

The Foundation’s objective when established was to “work in the democratic opposition in exile against the totalitarian rule of Hitler and to keep alive the memory of the effects of these activities on post-war Germany and preserve this remembrance for future generations.”

The Foundation promotes research into the history of exile by providing grants for research projects, dissertations and academic conferences. It also addresses a wide public through events like public discussions, readings or performances that focus on the experience of exile and the individual fates of people forced to live in exile. This includes, for example, the discussion series »Citizens of Hamburg in Exile« which looks at personalities who had to leave Hamburg and Germany under the Nazi regime. The »Voices of Freedom« event series brings the theme of exile into the present by presenting courageous personalities from different parts of the world who experienced danger in the home countries. This series is carried out in cooperation with The Hamburg Foundation and the Körber Foundation. German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung is the media partner.

Publikations (excerpt):

Ego, Anneliese: Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann. Gelebte Geschichte. Hamburg: Christians 1998.
Bahnsen, Uwe: Die Weichmanns in Hamburg. Ein Glücksfall für Deutschland. Hamburg: Christians 2001
Weichman, Frank: Überlebenswege. CPI - Leck: 2011.
Wittek, Susanne: Absprung über Niemandsland. Hamburger Exil-Biographien im 20. Jahrhundert. Bremen: Edition Temmen 2014.