As the largest shareholder of today’s Thyssenkrupp company, the Foundation exclusively uses its earnings it receives for charitable purposes and supports projects in the fields stated in the statute: science, culture and arts, education, health and sports.

The idea of transforming the company into a Foundation dates back to discussions between Krupp and his personal chief representative Berthold Beitz in the 1950s.

In September 1966, Alfried Krupp drew up his last will and established an incorporated charitable Foundation under civil law, which he appoints as the sole heir to his complete private fortune and company assets.

[10] The Foundation serves exclusively and directly charitable purposes and takes action in the fields of science, education, healthcare and sports as well as literature, music and fine arts.

[12] The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation is subject to the supervision of the district government of Düsseldorf and directly and exclusively pursues tax-favoured purposes within the meaning of the German Fiscal Code.

[2] The Board of Trustees currently consists of Ursula Gather (chairwoman since 2013),[13] Christoph M. Schmidt (deputy chairman since 2020), Thomas Brandt,[14] Rainer Esser,[15] Ulrike Groos,[16] Isabel Corinna Knauf,[17]  Armin Laschet,[18] Sabine Lautenschläger,[19] Bernd Pischetsrieder,[19] Gabriele Sadowski[19] and Kersten von Schenck.

The statutes intend the Foundation to act in the spirit of the founder and his ancestors in decisions regarding its participation in the corporation that is continuing the Fried.

In this context, the sale of 20 percent of the thyssenkrupp steel business to the EP Corporate Group (EPCG) investment group owned by Czech entrepreneur Daniel Křetínský, which was agreed in 2024, led to criticism from employees towards the Foundation: The Foundation would not only have an obligation to the charitable purposes, but as a still significant shareholder of thyssenkrupp AG, it should also protect the interests of the workforce in line with company tradition, which is seen as jeopardized by the investor entry.

To equate this Foundation mandate with a lack of concern for thyssenkrupp employees is a distortion of the facts and a confusion of issues.

[24] The Foundation owns the Villa Hügel and the Hügelpark, which are being preserved in keeping with their status as monuments and are open to visitors.

The former guest house, which is located opposite Villa Hügel in the extensive Hügelpark has been the headquarter of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation since 1968.

The mansion consists of 399 rooms within an area of 11,000 square metres of usable space and is located in the Hügelpark, which is right above the Ruhr valley and Lake Baldeney with a size of 41 hectares.

[26] The park area belonging to the Villa Hügel is the so-called Hügelpark, which Alfred Krupp had planned out and built since 1869.

[29] The promotion of projects with a longer-term impact in the fields of literature, music and fine arts as well as the support of young artists in different programmes, such as Catalogues for Young Artists and Contemporary German Photography is a core element of the fine arts and culture statuory area.

[40] The Thomas Mann Fellowships are at the core of the programme, in which participants are meant to spark debates on current and future topics during their stay.

[41] In 1984, Berthold Beitz, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation until his death in 2013, founded the Kulturstiftung Ruhr.

According to the founder’s wishes, the Foundation is meant to “reconnect the Ruhr region more closely again to the international fields of intellectual power”, “reaffirm its tradition as a significant cultural landscape” and therefore help to overcome the resignation, which began to paralyse intellectual life in the big industrial cities in the 1980s.

[43] Since its inception, the Foundation engaged in projects dedicated to enhancing German-Jewish communication and supported efforts of working towards a better understanding of Jewish culture within Germany as well as a well-founded study of German history during the National Socialist era.

The Institute is intended to fund the scientific focus points of the University of Greifswald, to bring together scientists from different disciplines to work together on focal topics, to carry out interdisciplinary research projects, to cultivate international scientific relationships with a focus on the Baltic Sea region and to promote young and aspiring scientists.

The aim of this programme is to support outstanding young scientists in their scientific further development and to help them build an international network.

The Foundation covers the personnel and material costs of an endowed professorship for a limited timespan (usually 5 years) until the position is continued by the university.

The Student X-ray laboratory Schülerröntgenlabor RöLab was created in Remscheid in rooms of the Deutsches Röntgen-Museum to familiarise adolescents with the technology of image-producing processes.

From modest beginnings, initially reserved for factory employees, the medical care establishment called “Krupp Hospital” have become proverbial in Essen around 50 years later.

Today’s Alfried Krupp Hospital has two locations in the Essen districts of Rüttenscheid and Steele and offers comprehensive medical and nursing care.

[60] The location in Essen-Steele (formerly Lutherhaus Steele) is in medical association with Alfried Krupp Hospital Rüttenscheid, but is legally independent.

For this reason, the Foundation has developed a low-threshold training curriculum for the promotion of physical activity in day nursery centres and elementary schools in cooperation with the University of Duisburg-Essen.

[66] Based on the report, the Foundation launched an initiative supported by the Essener Sportbund (ESPO), which is now in its second round, helping ten sports clubs in Essen to establish structures and train club members in order to prevent sexualised violence in Children’s and youth sports.

A digital application is being developed to accompany the publication with the aim of making the topic as accessible and location-independent as possible and to reach young target groups in particular.

Candidates holding a permanent or fixed-term professorship at a university within the Federal Republic of Germany for the first time can be nominated for the prize.

The funds can be used for personnel costs for staff and scholarship holders, material and travel expenses to support research work, as well as for subject-related personal use.