100 years of FES – find out more

About the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Get to know us!

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Dr. Sabine Fandrych und Martin Schulz vor der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bonn
Image: FES/Reiner Zensen

Welcome to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung!

 

Thank you for visiting us and for your interest in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Since our foundation in 1925, we have borne the name of Friedrich Ebert, the first democratically elected President of Germany. Our values - freedom, justice, solidarity and peace - are firmly anchored in Social Democracy and the trade union movement.

Together with you, we want to tackle the major challenges of our time and develop innovative ideas for a social democracy. Whether through education, consulting or networking - we are shaping the future for a just and solidary society, in Germany and worldwide.

This website is a reflection of our diverse activities. Please feel free to take a look around!

Martin Schulz and Sabine Fandrych

What we do

We connect people

We connect people and their ideas to form a network of Social Democracy. In Germany and over 100 countries around the world, we work with a wide range of partners on forward-looking projects – at the local, national and global levels.

 

We empower people for politics

We endeavour, promote and work for a society based on solidarity that truly offers equal opportunities for all members of society to participate in politics, economic life and culture. To this end, we empower, inform and train each and every individual who ascribes to these goals.

 

We are the Social Democracy barometer for future trends

We analyse political trends from a progressive perspective and seek to bring about a future society founded on solidarity with sound arguments. We share our knowledge and innovative ideas with all those who want to make a contribution.

 

We support talented and committed young people

Because Social Democracy can only thrive if all people, regardless of their social and cultural background, have the same opportunities, we support students and doctoral candidates, especially those from working class and immigrant families.

 

We preserve the legacy of Social Democracy

Our foundation was named after the first democratically elected German President, Friedrich Ebert, in 1925. This makes us one of the oldest political foundations in the world. We nurture and keep alive the historical roots of Social Democracy and the trade unions to remind us time and again of the struggle for freedom, justice and solidarity.

 

We get things rolling

We want to inspire others with our values and services. Each and every day anew. That’s why our teams are made up of bright minds and committed individuals who perform their activities in an agile manner, with appreciation for one another and a clear focus. We view criticism and mistakes as an opportunity to review our actions and generate new ideas for our work as a team.

Facts & Figures

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

1,589

staff members worldwide, including at the foreign offices (2023).

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

202 million euro budget,

mainly from federal and state budgets (2023).

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

157.079 participants,

in 2,348 educational events e.g. discussion forums, symposia and exhibitions, in person and online in Germany (2023).

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

2,723 undergraduate and graduate students funded,

including 279 foreign students (2023).

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

1,100.000 volumes

in the largest specialized library on the subject area of the German and international labor movement. More than 30 million hits per year on the internet services.

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Image: FES / adlerschmidt

56,000 meters of written material

in the most traditional archive of all German political foundations on the history of social democracy, the trade unions, their personalities and other emancipatory movements (2022).

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Our mission, code of conduct, and more

Facts and figures about the FES

Faces and structure of the FES