Completion of Pavilion 5

The foundation's buildings had already been expanded with the addition of Pavilions 3 and 4 in 1996. The third addition to the Bertelsmann Stiftung compound is completed in the summer of 2001. The official opening ceremony takes place on September 7. The number of Bertelsmann Stiftung employees had topped 200 in 1999. Of these, 160 now work in the new pavilion.


Dr. Gunter Thielen named chair of the Board of Trustees

On Oct. 1, 2001, Reinhard Mohn turned over leadership of the Bertelsmann Stiftungs Board of Trustees and Executive Board to Dr. Gunter Thielen, chair of the ARVATO AG Management Board and member of the Bertelsmann AG Executive Board. Reinhard Mohn remains a member of both Bertelsmann Stiftung boards.


2001 Carl Bertelsmann Prize: Shaping change – Strategies of transformation

The images of 1989 have long since become powerful historic symbols: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the cutting of the barbed-wire fence between Hungary and Austria, the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe. With the overcoming of communism and the end of the East-West conflicts, euphoric hopes stirred around the world for a new political and social order of peace and prosperity. The historic experience of this past epoch is fundamental: Only the combination of democracy and a market economy can ensure the possibility of stability, justice and peace within a society and in the international community of states. In turn, neither a market economy without political freedom nor a democracy without a market economy will be viable for the long term. The 2001 Carl Bertelsmann Prize is awarded to Poland and Bolivia, represented by the following agents of change:

Leszek Balcerowicz, former minister of finance, deputy prime minister and now president of the National Bank of Poland, for his achievements in economic transformation. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the first prime minister of the Republic of Poland, for his contributions to political integration, constitutional reform and institutional development. Mazowiecki understood how to harness political forces and maintain social solidarity. Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Wyborcza, who demonstrated remarkable civic-minded courage as a dissident and later as a commentator on public affairs, as the voice of Poland's civil society. Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Wyborcza, who demonstrated remarkable civic-minded courage as a dissident and later as a commentator on public affairs, as the voice of Poland's civil society.

Dr. René Blattmann Bauer, the nonpartisan minister of justice under Gonzalo Sánchez de Losada (1993–1997), for his contribution to establishing the rule of law and expanding participation via comprehensive judicial reforms. The Defensoría del Pueblo, established in 1998, under the leadership of the current Defensora Ana María Campero de Romero, for further advancing the rule of law through its critical review of law observance and for expanding participatory mechanisms such as dialogue programs and conflict mediation.


2001 International Bertelsmann Forum: Europe without borders

In January 2001, the fifth International Bertelsmann Forum meets in the Weltsaal at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. Attended by high-ranking government officials from 21 European nations, the USA and Israel, the event confirms the stature of the foundation's work. Participants include the presidents of Ukraine, Slovenia and Lithuania, the chancellors of Germany and Austria, the prime minister of Spain, nine foreign and defense ministers and senior representatives of the European Commission.


2001 NEUE STIMMEN International Singing Competition

The NEUE STIMMEN International Singing Competition has become a premium event for young singers and now offers a good look at how the world of opera and operetta has grown. The rapid rise in the number of participants is impressive. While just 36 singers competed for three prizes at the first competition in 1987, the jury listens in 2001 to more than 1,200 young men and women from nearly 50 countries. Like no other competition, NEUE STIMMEN and its preliminary rounds in 17 cities bring singers from around the world to Gütersloh, guaranteeing the highest level of quality. As a result, the event draws attention to the very best voices. Singers such as Nathalie Stutzmann, Vesselina Kasarowa, Roman Trekel or Eteri Gvasawa have made the leap to major international careers on this stage. Burak Bilgili, a bass singer from Turkey, takes first place. Second and third places go to the Wo-Kyun Kim from Korea and Anna Samuil from Russia.


1st International Cultural Forum in Cairo

This project aims to promote intercultural understanding and to develop an intercultural dialogue network between Egypt and Germany. It also plans to develop joint solutions to future globalization issues. The Egyptian-German Cultural Forum that took place on February 21, 2001, in Cairo is the first event in the Bertelsmann Stiftung's new international dialogue series.

As a parallel event, a master class for Egyptian and European opera singers is held at the Cairo Opera House. Its closing concert on the evening of February 21 also concludes the Cultural Forum.


2nd International Cultural Forum in Tokyo

The German-Japanese Cultural Forum is also linked with the singing competition. A gala concert in Yokosuka is held as the finale to the Asian preliminary round for the 2001 NEUE STIMMEN International Singing Competition. On the following day, the conference for the second cultural forum takes up the topic "Corporate culture and business – a German-Japanese dialogue." Participants discuss the significance of corporate culture as a success factor from the perspectives of business and academia. The focus is on the cultural and economic challenges arising from the tensions related to maintaining national cultural identities, on the one hand, and ongoing globalization, on the other. Speakers include Prof. Yoshiaki Takahashi (Chuo University, Tokyo), Takuma Yamamoto (Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo), Takashi Nawa (McKinsey, Tokyo), Dr. Ekkehardt Wesner (member of the Volkswagen AG Supervisory Board), Prof. Florian Coulmas (Gerhard Mercator University Duisburg) and Prof. Wolfgang Dorow (Viadrina University, Frankfurt/Oder).