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Why does one establish a foundation?
"For charity or to express gratitude for all the success one has had? As a reminder to future generations or rather to ensure lasting memory of one’s name? Many factors may have some influence on the decision, but the strongest motivation is certainly the desire to support and foster special matters of concern. Anyone, whose economic success becomes public, naturally receives a wide range of requests to support projects in various areas. While some requests are granted, many cannot be fulfilled, either because of insufficient means or because there may be projects the individual is reluctant to support.
A foundation adds structure to the philanthropic spirit. A foundation has policies that define the main activities to be sponsored, and it has a board to control expenses. In our case, it is all about the support of science, culture, religion, and social commitment. These are broad fields, but we have already achieved quite a bit in all of them. And we are committed to achieve even more."
Professor Dr. techn. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Berthold Leibinger
The Foundation's Goals
The Berthold Leibinger Stiftung pursues the following goals:
These goals are realized through the promotion of classical and temporary literature, theatre, music, historical research as well as scientific projects, through the support of people in need as well as by renovating and decorating houses of prayers and community centers.
The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Berthold Leibinger founded the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH in 1992 as a non-profit organization to fund cultural, scientific, religious, and charitable institutions from the earnings of the foundation’s capital.
From 1978 to 2005, he was president of the managing board and managing partner of Trumpf, manufacturer of machine tools and lasers for materials processing. From 2005 to 2012, Berthold Leibinger was the chairman of the supervisory board of the Trumpf group and since then, he has been chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation.
The board of trustees advises and consults the foundation. It consists of the following six members:
The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Berthold Leibinger founded the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH in 1992 as a non-profit organization to fund cultural, scientific, religious, and charitable institutions from the earnings of the foundation’s capital reserve. He is the son of an art dealer in East Asian antiques, born in Stuttgart. He graduated from high school in 1950 and began an apprenticeship as a mechanic at Trumpf & Co., a machine tool manufacturer in Stuttgart. He studied mechanical engineering at the Stuttgart Technical University. After his education, he started to work as a development engineer at Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG. From 1958 to 1961, he worked as a development engineer at Cincinnati Milling Machines in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. After he returned to Trumpf in 1961, he assumed the position of head of the engineering division and developed the first punching and contour nibbler with numeric control in 1968. Leibinger successively acquired shares in the company and, in 1966, became a managing partner of the company and its technical director.
From 1978 to 2005, he was president of the managing board and managing partner of Trumpf. In the early 80s Trumpf developed their own lasers and laser systems. Trumpf is considered the world market and technology leader in this field. From 2005 to 2012, Berthold Leibinger was the chairman of the supervisory board of the Trumpf group. He obtained the doctorate degree Dr. technicae in 2014 from the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. Above and beyond his company, Berthold Leibinger held voluntary positions on a regional, national, and international level. He had distinguished himself through his commitment to the community as chairman of the board of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and as chairman of the Freundeskreis des Schiller-Nationalmuseums [Friends of the Schiller National Museum] and of the Deutsches Literaturarchiv e. V. [German Literature Archives]. From 2013 until his death, he has been chairman of the board of trustees of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung.
Vice Chairwoman of the Trustees of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Vice Chairwoman of the Trustees of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and manageing partner, President and Chairwoman of the Managing Board of Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller is responsible for the strategic development of the company, corporate communication, brand management, real estate management and sustainable business, legal affairs, M+A, and HR (Labor Director). Born in 1959 in Wilmington, Ohio, USA. Studied German, English and Japanese language and literature in Freiburg, Germany, Middlebury, VT, USA, and Zurich, Switzerland, earning her doctorate. Since 1985, worked in the Press and Public Relations office of the Trumpf Group and from 1988 to 1990 for the Trumpf Corporation in Japan.
From 1992 to 2010 Managing Director, Berthold Leibinger Foundation GmbH, since 1994 holding partner of the Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG and since January 2003, Executive Vice President, Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG. In November 2005, Dr. Leibinger-Kammueller was appointed President of the Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG, the management holding of the Trumpf Group. Dr Leibinger-Kammüller also performs many honorary functions in the scientific, cultural, and social sectors. She is also a member of the Supervisory Boards of Siemens AG, Voith GmbH, and Axel Springer AG, as well as of the Advisory Board of the Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and the BW-Bank.
Martin Klumpp studied protestant theology in Tübingen, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland, and carries additional qualifications in psychology for marriage guidance as well as family and life issues. During his rectorate at the Hospitalkirche Stuttgart, he also established and managed the Hospitalhof training center. As the city dean in Stuttgart he was the prelate of the Evangelische Landeskirche for the Stuttgart parish as well as the canon at the Stuttgart Stiftskirche. Klumpp retired in 2005.
While being named co-founder and long-time volunteer at Hospiz Stuttgart, Klumpp’s work focused on discussion groups for people in mourning. Klumpp was also chairman of the development association, as well as chairman of the Verein Evangelische Ausbildungsstätten für Sozialpädagogik colleges in Herbrechtingen, Reutlingen, Schwäbisch Hall and Stuttgart. In addition, Klumpp serves as deputy chairman of the Evangelische Seminarstiftung with protestant theological seminars in Blaubeuren and Maulbronn and is a member of the board of trustees of the foundation Stiftung Evangelisches Stift.
Andreas Tünnermann received his diploma and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Hannover in 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1997, he earned his habilitation. From 1992 to 1997, he was head of the department of development at the Laser Zentrum Hannover. In the beginning of 1998, he joined the Friedrich Schiller University Jena as professor and director of the Institute of Applied Physics. In 2003, he was appointed as director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena.
His main research interests include scientific and technical aspects associated with the tailoring of light. Andreas Tünnermann is author of more than 900 papers published in renowned international journals and a sought-after expert in optics and the photonics industry. He is founder and member of the board of directors of the industry driven cluster OptoNet Jena, one of the most dynamic regional optics clusters in Europe.
Jossi Wieler was born in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, and studied stage directing at Tel Aviv University. His first production was staged at the Habima National Theatre in 1979. He was the assistant director at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf from 1980-82 and afterwards staged his own productions in Heidelberg, Bonn, Stuttgart, Basel, Hamburg, Zurich, Munich and repeatedly at the Salzburg Festival. In 1994, he was awarded “Stage Director of the Year” for his production of Elfriede Jelinek’s Wolken.Heim. His theatrical productions were invited to numerous national and international festivals. In Tokyo, he staged Herr Paul in 1997 and Yotsuya Ghost Story in 2005, both with Japanese actors. In 2002, he received the Konrad Wolf Award by the Berlin Academy of the Arts, in 2005 the German Critic Award, and in 2009 the Nestroy Award for Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel) by Elfriede Jelinek.
At the Stuttgart Opera, Jossi Wieler worked with Sergio Morabito on many productions, for example, La clemenza di Tito, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Siegfried, Don Carlo, Norma, Moses und Aron, Una cosa rara, La Juive and Katja Kabanova. In 2002 and 2012, Wieler and Morabito were elected “Directorial Team of the Year” and received the Deutsche Theaterpreis DER FAUST in 2006 (Doktor Faust) and in 2012 (Die glückliche Hand/Osud) in the category of “Best opera staging.” In 2015, Jossi Wieler was presented with the “Cultural Award of Baden-Württemberg” and in 2016, with the “Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg.” From 2011 to 2018 Jossi Wieler was the artistic director of the Stuttgart Opera.
Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Walther Zügel, born in 1933, had been chairman of the board of directors of the Landesgirokasse Stuttgart (now part of the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg) for more than 21 years. He was member of several supervisory boards and advisory committees, among others Behr, Fischerwerke, Lidl, Porsche, Schuler, Stihl, Stuttgarter Hofbräu and Trumpf. Besides his professional activities, he has been active in all kinds of art and culture institutions. For more than 34 years, he was the chair of the Stuttgarter Galerieverein. He is furthermore the co-founder of the Förderkreis des Deutschen Literaturarchivs, of the Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Akademie and of the Akademie für gesprochenes Wort.
He is former chairman of the board of the Gesellschaft der Freunde und Förderer der Staatstheater Stuttgart, and for more than 30 years, he has been chairman of the board of the Freunde und Förderer der Wilhelma, co-founder of the Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart and of the Heilbronn Business School. For many years, he served as vice president of the chamber of commerce of the Stuttgart region, he is honorary doctor of the University of Hohenheim, as well as honorary senator of the universities of Hohenheim and Stuttgart. He holds the courtesy title of Professor of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, the Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Staufermedaille as well as the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
In total the funding has amounted to more than 17 million euros until July 2018. Almost 7 million euros have supported science related projects and about 7.7 million euros have been dedicated to cultural projects. The foundation gave about 1.5 million euros for religious endeavours and social projects received almost 1 million euros.
The figures for the last fiscal year 2017/18:
Science
Culture
Religion
Social Commitment
Our Assets
The foundation´s capital amounted to about 16.6 million euros (June 30, 2018). In addition, the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung holds a 5 percent share of the Trumpf Group via the Berthold Leibinger Beteiligungen GmbH.
Our Brochure:
As a non-profit company, operations of the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung are supervised by the board of trustees. The general management is responsible for choosing the funding activities. Please feel free to get in touch with any member of the foundation if you have questions.
General Management, Press Relations
General Management, Press Relations
Office and Event Management
Office and Event Management
Finances, Press Relations, Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis/Zukunftspreis
Finances, Press Relations, Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis/Zukunftspreis
In 2006, Gerda and Dr. Fritz Ruf, daughter and son-in-law of the founder of Hüttinger Elektronik in Freiburg, formed the Fritz Hüttinger Stiftung.
More information on the Fritz Hüttinger Stiftung
The purposes of this foundation, which is legally dependent on the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung, include the advancement of science and research, especially of innovative technologies in the field of electrical energies, the promotion and nurture of community organizations and charity.