Banquet hall with guests at tables and an illuminated stage in the background.

Prize for Under­standing and Tolerance

Every year since 2002, the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) and the Society of Friends and Supporters of the Jewish Museum Berlin Foundation have jointly awarded the Prize for Understanding and Tolerance.

This prize honors individuals in politics, business and culture who have made an exceptional contribution to understanding and tolerance, the promotion of human dignity, the integration of minorities and the coexistence of different religions and cultures.

The JMB publishes the current year’s prizewinner in the press section of its website.

The award ceremony traditionally takes place within the framework of a gala dinner, to which the museum welcomes numerous friends and supporters from politics, business, culture and media. Proceeds from the evening’s donations support the educational work of the museum.

Two cone shaped trophies in blue boxes.

Prize for Under­standing and Tolerance; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann / David Ausserhofer

Award Winners

The following people have received the Prize for Understanding and Tolerance to date:

Year awarded Award winner
2024 Margot Friedländer, eyewitness to history
Delphine Horvilleur, writer and rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France (JEM)
2023 Corinne Michaela Flick, Founder and Chair of the CONVOCO! Foundation
Wolfgang Ischinger, President of the Munich Security Conference Foundation Council
2022 Herta Müller, writer and Nobel Prize winner
Barrie Kosky, theatre and opera director
2021 Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria
Daniel Libeskind, architect
2020 Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
Igor Levit, pianist
2019 Heiko Maas, German Minister of Foreign Affairs
Anselm Kiefer, artist
2018 Susanne Klatten, entrepren€ 
David Grossman, writer
2017 Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany
Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens AG
2016 Renate Lasker-Harpprecht and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, historical eyewitnesses
Hasso Plattner, businessman
2015 W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin
2014 Hubert Burda, publisher
Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Finance Minister
2013 Berthold Leibinger, associate of the TRUMPF Group
Iris Berben, actor
2012 Klaus Mangold, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rothschild GmbH (Frankfurt and Moscow)
Richard von Weizsäcker, former President of Germany
2011 Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2010 Jan Philipp Reemtsma, literature scholar
Hubertus Erlen, business executive
2009 Franz Fehrenbach and Christof Bosch, both as representatives of the Bosch company
Michael Verhoeven, film director
2008 Roland Berger, corporate consultant
Imre Kertész, Nobel Laureate in Literature
2007 Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany
Fritz Stern, historian
2006 Daniel Barenboim, General Music Director of the Berlin State Oper
Helmut Panke, business executive
2005 Heinz Berggruen, art collector and patron
Otto Graf Lambsdorff, former Federal Minister of Germany
2004 Michael Otto, businessman
Johannes Rau, former President of Germany
2003 Otto Schily, former Interior Minister of Germany
Friede Springer, publisher
2002 Berthold Beitz, former Chairman of the Curatorium of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation
Heinrich von Pierer, former Chairman of the Siemens AG Board

 

“If you reject the status quo and work to build a better, more tolerant world, you can improve the world and ensure a better future.”
(Daniel Libeskind, award acceptance speech 2021)
(6 items)
  • Five people stand on a blue carpet as a group smiling.

    Laudator Baron Eric de Rothschild, prizewinner Delphine Horvilleur, JMB director Hetty Berg, prizewinner Margot Friedländer and laudator former Federal President Joachim Gauck (left to right); Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer 

  • Three women are standing on a blue carpet and smile.

    The prizewinners Delphine Horvilleur and Margot Friedländer with JMB Director Hetty Berg (left to right); Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer

  • A woman stands at a podium desk and delivers a speech.

    Welcoming speech by Hetty Berg, Director Jewish Museum Berlin; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer
     

  • Three people are standing together and smiling, two of them holding their prizes.

    JMB Director Hetty Berg, prizewinner Delphine Horvilleur with the Prize for Understanding and Tolerance and laudator Baron Eric de Rothschild (left to right); Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer

  • A woman stands at a podium desk and delivers a speech.

    Prizewinner Delphine Horvilleur during her acceptance speech; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer

  • A woman stands at a podium desk and delivers a speech.

    Prizewinner Margot Friedländer during her acceptance speech; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann / Ausserhofer

Pink flowering trees in the garden of the museum.

Your Support

Your Support: The many ways to support the JMB
Making a Donation: Support important projects with your donation
FRIENDS OF THE JMB: Promote the JMB in the long term and sustainably
Partnerships with Businesses & Foundations: Design innovative programs together with the JMB
Donating Part of One’s Estate: Design innovative programs together with the JMB
Donating Objects: Help the museum tell another facet of German-Jewish history
Current page: Prize for Understanding and Tolerance: Every year, the JMB and the FRIENDS honor exceptional individuals for their engagement

Contact

Johanna Brandt
Managing Director FRIENDS OF THE JMB
T +49 (0)30 259 93 553
j.brandt@jmberlin.de

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