It was founded in 1971 by Gerd Bucerius and carries the name of the founder, the title of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, which he co-founded, and the nickname of his second wife, Gertrud Ebel, Ebelin.

The first scholarships in the 1970s were awarded to young journalists, to enable them to study at Harvard University in Cambridge/US as part of the ZEIT Fellowship programme.

In the 1980s, Gerd Bucerius began to actively support stronger competitiveness in higher education in Germany, and gave substantial funds to the private University Witten/Herdecke.

In the 1990s, the foundation increased its investments in academia and set up the Gerd Bucerius-Juraprogramm a scholarship programme for young lawyers.

The mission statement of the foundation opens with the following words: 'Civil society is called upon to find solutions to the many challenges in the present and future.

In the tradition of its founders, Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius, Zeit-Stiftung is part of the liberal and cosmopolitan civil society it wishes to promote.

Furthermore, the Zeit-Stiftung aims to provide funding and grants to 'young, gifted, international researchers engaged in interdisciplinary studies'.

[4] The foundation aims to promote public debates on current issues and critical analysis of controversial political and social topics.