The Kreisau Initiative e.V. was set up by East and West Berliners in the summer of 1989 – before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Its aim was to sponsor ideally and materially the set-up and maintenance of an international youth community centre and memorial in what was German Kreisau until 1945 and subsequently Polish Krzyżowa. We are represented on the boards of the Polish Kreisau Foundation for European Understanding and cooperate closely on concepts for and the implementation of projects in and around Kreisau/Krzyżowa.

As a non-governmental, non-profit organization we draw people’s attention to Kreisau in cooperation with our partners. Our office in Berlin guarantees continuous and professional cooperation with the Kreisau Foundation, e.g., financing and organizing common projects such as events in Kreisau and Berlin. Through our public relations and networking, and our consulting and fund-raising we promote civil society engagement for the special “European locality of Kreisau/Krzyżowa”.

The Kreisau Initiative has for several years organized youth meetings and individual projects in close cooperation with the Kreisau Foundation for European Understanding, bringing school pupils and young adults from Germany, Poland, Western and Eastern Europe, Turkey, Israel and Palestine together in Kreisau. The aim of each German-Polish or multinational exchange is to trigger the sustainable participation of young people and to provide them with the competence they need to become active citizens. Moral courage, social and political engagement, tolerance, understanding between nations and commitment to democracy and human rights, all of which formed the basis for action in resisting the dictatorships of the twentieth century, take centre stage here.

We are currently working on projects with the following priorities:

  • Inclusive teaching
  • Politics and human rights
  • History
  • Migration
  • Intergenerational dialogue

For more information see www.kreisau.de.